REPRESENTATIONS TO THE CITY OF OTTAWA

 RE

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT STUDY

IN RESPECT OF

PRINCE OF WALES DRIVE WIDENING

 

We, the undersigned are owners of properties on Branchwood Street backing on to Prince of Wales.  We vigorously object to the widening of Prince of Wales for the reasons set out below, and which we submit for the purposes of the Environmental Assessment Study, which is due to take place shortly:

However, firstly, we wish to bring to your attention that apart from the public meeting which took place on April 6 and 7, 2010 we were never notified of any other meetings, to which we would have wanted to contribute.

1.         LANDSLIDES

25 to 41 Branchwood Street (in all nine properties) all back on to the Strandherd Storm Water facility and Prince of Wales which abuts the Rideau River.  20 and 22 Branchwood Street front  the Strandherd Storm Water facility.

The properties are surrounded by water and little land.  This presents a substantial risk of landslides, particularly that the land on which our properties are built slide down towards the Strandherd Storm Water facility and the river.    In addition, the ground is made up of Leda clay which is prone to liquefaction and sliding when exposed to vibration and excessive soil moisture.

The increased traffic and vibration resulting from the road widening in addition to the construction work which will erode into the little land that surrounds all that water, compounded by leda clay ground, puts our properties at risk of collapsing and/or being damaged as a result, either at construction stage or later.

 2.         NOISE POLLUTION

         Noise levels are already high.  Our properties are above Prince of Wales road level.   Current noise levels already interfere with our enjoyment of our outdoor activities and quality of life.  Should the road widening go ahead the noise levels/pollution will be intolerable which cannot be helped by berms or other noise attenuatation measures.  We will be involuntarily confined to indoor living all through the year which is totally unacceptable.

3.         EXTENT OF THE WIDENING

The proposed widening appears to be substantial - not only four lanes but also a median of 5 metres, 3.0m asphalt pathway, 2.0 cycling lanes or 2.5 m sidewalk on each side of the road.  That would be a very wide road indeed, and because there is no room to build on the river side, all of the widening, for all practical purposes, will be on our side of the road.  Thus the road will be, so to speak, in our backyards, with all its risks.

 4.         FLORA AND FAUNA

 The area of the river from Waterbridge to at least Fairpark and further south is a conservation area and with very good reason.  The river and the Strandherd Storm Water facility abound with wild life.  The road widening, through construction and thereafter, will adversely affect the flora and fauna.

 As a nation we have a duty to preserve the wild life and its habitat and the vegetation.

 5.         LOSS OF MARKETABILITY

 We paid premium prices to reside on properties abutting the Strandherd Storm Water facility and  the Rideau River in their current state.  Not only will our properties lose much of their values but it will be very difficult to sell our properties.   We will look for substantial compensation from the City of Ottawa should the road widening go ahead.

 6.         TRAFFIC POLLUTION

Increased traffic, of course, also means not only increased noise pollution but also air quality pollution, and consequently putting our and our children=s lives and health at risk.  This is totally unacceptable.

 7.         HERITAGE

 Much of Prince of Wales is a scenic route, particularly, where land is undeveloped.  It is a beautiful heritage with which we as a nation have been entrusted.  It has already been eroded into through the years but to do any more amounts to downright destruction. 

 Clearly the Rideau River Conservation Authority recognized this fact by designating that portion of the Rideau River area which lies behind our properties as a conservation area.

 It would be tantamount to criminal activity to widen the road as its character and our heritage will be,    inevitably, altered - for the worse.

 It is our duty as a nation to preserve it.  Prince of Wales widening is not the only way to deal with traffic problems particularly in this conservation area.

 8.         ALTERNATE ROUTES

 The widening of Prince of Wales is not the only way to deal with traffic problems of the future.

 (a)     In the past we were told that Woodroffe Street was to be widened to six-lanes.  Now we are told the road is being closed to all traffic at Prince of Wales.  This makes no sense whatsoever.  Woodroffe has already been widened to four lanes.  Woodroffe does not abutt any conservation, environmentally or heritage sensitive areas.  Woodroffe is the better choice to widen to take all the excess traffic.  In addition, because Woodroffe is in the centre of Barrhaven the smaller roads will not suffer with increased traffic as much.  But because Prince of Wales is peripheral to the majority of housing, this will mean unacceptably increased traffic on smaller/residential roads to get to Prince of Wales despite the extension of Strandherd Drive.

In any event the extension of Strandherd Drive and the bridge should take care of a great deal of traffic to the west and south of it - even to a substantial portion to the north of it.  Also Fallowfield and even Merivale could be widened to take care of traffic filtering through from the south of Strandherd.  There is a lot of land that can be developed to construct a road to the east.

(b)     Another alternative, which is more viable,  is to widen River Road to four lanes.  On the west side of the river we have Woodroffe and Stranderd connecting to the new bridge.  River Road should be widened from Manotick to Riverside Drive.  Not only does River Road have lower density housing than Prince of Wales, but River Road connects to Riverside Drive which is also a four lane road.

In any event all land developments should be stopped until a viable and acceptable roads are found or constructed to cope with increased traffic.

The proposed widening is going to stop at Fisher. Clearly, then, the widening is not needed to connect residents to the south of Hunt Club to down town Ottawa but rather to the east and west of Hunt Club.  However, Hunt Club Road is already traffic worn to capacity.  A new road further south of Manotick (where land is abundant) could be constructed to connect east and west.

 We were informed by the City of Ottawa that the widening of Prince of Wales was proposed only because no one could think of an alternative after it was proposed that Woodroffe be closed.  This is totally unacceptable.  Highway 416 was built in its entirety so that Prince of Wales (old Highway 16) would be preserved.   You do not widen a road with its myriad of adverse affects because you cannot think of anything else to widen.