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We were at Public Works and Infrastructure (formerly Transportation) Committee to oppose the recoupling of the Airport Parkway project components. These components—active transportation improvements and a widening of the Parkway—were wisely decoupled in 2023, and now a motion was presented to recouple them. Unfortunately, the committee voted to recouple.
Please read our delegation below, or watch it in the meeting. We encourage you to ask your councillor to oppose this motion when it comes to full Council on April 16.
Our Executive Director William van Geest's delegation to the committee.
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Thank you for the opportunity to address you.
I remember being at this committee two years ago, speaking to this same proposed project, and kicking myself. This body, at the time called the Transportation Committee, was considering the projects in the 2023 budget, of which this was one. I was noticing how much public support there was for the active transportation components and how much opposition to the widening, and how obvious the decision to decouple the two, that I thought my time was wasted. I should’ve spent my time opposing the other problematic project on the budget, the $22-million Earl Grey Underpass.
And sure enough, this committee made the easy decision to decouple the active transportation components of the Airport Parkway project from the Parkway widening—and unfortunately the Earl Grey Underpass passed without comment.
So I’m surprised to be back here, arguing against the recoupling of the MUP and the widening. I’m also aware that Council typically doesn’t revisit past decisions, unless they’re egregious or circumstances have changed—although sometimes a new council will revisit a former council’s decisions. But the decision this motion seeks to reverse was this council’s, and this committee’s.
Visualization of complete street modifications to Walkley Road from City of Ottawa presentation.
The Parkway widening, by contrast, is not needed—or at very best, any need is unclear at this time. Just over a year ago, I myself went out to the Airport Parkway during rush hour to see how bad the traffic was. I counted 22 cars per minute. The previous year I’d counted 18 cars per minute. And this was before the Trillium line was opened.
Which brings me to the next point. The LRT’s Trillium line, which fully opened a couple weeks ago, runs immediately parallel to the Parkway. The motion this committee passed in 2023 delays the widening “to allow for ridership on the expanded Trillium Line to establish.” This satisfies the Transportation Master Plan, which commits to “avoid adding new road or highway capacity that competes with rapid transit.” If we’re going to spend $1.6 billion for transportation infrastructure, we should give it a chance to attract riders.
Finally, induced demand. Research shows that when we widen roads, we get more cars. When we create active transportation facilities, we get more active users. If we widen the Parkway, where will these cars go? I’m not we need more traffic congestion in Ottawa.
The motion this committee passed in 2023 made sense: give the Trillium line two years to attract riders and then revisit the plan to widen the Parkway. A widening isn’t needed now, and I suspect it won’t be needed then. In the meantime, create safe conditions for people biking, walking, and rolling in and around the Riverside Park and Hunt Club communities.
Thank you for your attention.
