With so much happening in our city, I hope everyone has been able to enjoy their summer so far. This month, I was able to get out to Bluesfest. It’s always a great event, and I wanted to thank all the volunteers who keep it running, including Bike Ottawa who provide an excellent bicycle parking service.
Brewer Park Pop-Up
On Wednesday July 24 from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm, the city will be hosting a “pop-up” consultation at Brewer Park, weather permitting. They want to gather park users’ feedback and see how people use the park and its amenities.
This is part of a series of pop-ups the city will be running across the city. Dates and locations of other pop-ups are posted on the project’s Engage Ottawa page.
Grande Alle Park is Fully Open
The fencing around the grassy perimeter of the Grande Alle Park has, at long last, been removed, making the lawn on either side accessible, along with benches, trash cans and bicycle parking racks. Residents have been waiting a long time to enjoy this park, and we are pleased that the farmer’s market on Saturdays will now be able to expand to its full capacity. The delay in opening the lawn was due to ensuring that the grass had adequately established before the city took over ownership of the park from the developer who constructed it. The developer has completed a few remaining tasks, including weeding and mowing, and tree planting and pruning this week, and the city will monitor the establishment of the lawn and potentially overseed in the fall. The city is also working to fix the broken bollard at the Main Street and ensure regular garbage pickup.
Commemorative Bench Installed in Central Park
We are pleased to announce that the city installed a new commemorative bench in Central Park West to honour longtime resident Christopher Bradshaw, beloved father, brother and husband, who was also a tireless community activist and former interim leader of the federal Green Party. He was founder of Ottawalk and co-founder of VrtuCar, and generally made this city a better place for everyone.
The bench is located by the accessible ramp on the northern side of the park near the Rosebery Avenue entrance. The bench was donated by Chris’s daughters, Laura and Karen, through the commemorative bench program and was approved by the city’s Heritage Planning branch and the Glebe Community Association. It will provide more seating options and improve accessibility in this popular park.
Your Capital Ward
If you have a photo you’d like to share in an upcoming bulletin, please send it to [email protected], with the subject line Your Capital Ward. Please give us your name for attribution…or tell us if you’d rather not have your name shared.
Trinity's Path2Paris—2024 Paralympics
You may have seen Trinity Lowthian wheeling up Main Street, rain or shine or snow. For the last two years she has been tirelessly training with The Ottawa Fencing Club at St Paul's University while competing internationally in wheelchair fencing.
We congratulate Trinity as she was just named to the Canadian Paralympic Team and will be representing Canada in both Sabre and Epee disciplines of Wheelchair Fencing. She is actually the first wheelchair fencer from Ottawa (and Ontario) to ever represent Canada!
To read more about Trinity’s story and to find out how you can support her on her journey please visit: Trinity's Path2Paris GoFundMe and check out Trinity's Triumph - CTV News Ottawa.
And if wheelchair fencing is new to you, you can learn more by watching this video:
Paralympic Sports A-Z: Wheelchair fencing
Casco Charity Organization's 2nd Annual Soccer Tournament
CASCO is a student-run club at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa dedicated to raising funds for CHEO annually through various events and fundraising activities such as our annual golf tournament and gala.
They are excited to announce the return of Casco's Soccer Tournament, The CHEO Cup, for its second edition, now with a thrilling Euro theme! For more information or to register for the tournament, click here.
Upcoming Construction at Riverdale and Bank
On Monday July 22, construction is scheduled to begin on Riverdale Avenue at the intersection with Bank Street. While work is being done, crews will close a single traffic lane and the western sidewalk on Riverdale between Bank Street and Cameron Avenue. Access to homes will be maintained throughout construction, and all travel lanes and the sidewalk will be opened when workers are not on site. It is expected that the work will take between three and four days.
Road Closure: Montcalm Street and Concord Street
The City of Ottawa has commenced construction on the new watermains, sewers, and associated road rehabilitation work as part of the Greenfield-Main-Hawthorne et al. Reconstruction Project. To facilitate this work, the City of Ottawa has approved the closures of Montcalm Street and Concord Street North: Montcalm Street from Greenfield Avenue to the dead end (private lane) and Concord Street North from Greenfield Avenue to Havelock Street.
Montcalm Street and Concord Street will be closed between July 22 and November 29, 2024. The scheduled closures may be modified as needed, for example if weather affects the schedule, or if conditions change.
The road closures are required for the safety of the residents and workers, as there is limited area to accommodate the open cut excavation and the necessary labour, materials and equipment.
Information for this project can be found at ottawa.ca/gmhreconstruction.
Closure of Access Ramp from Riverside Drive to Smyth Road
Please be advised that there will be a road closure near your household/business for the following time period:
Closure of access ramp from Riverside Drive to Smyth Road:
- Friday August 9th, 2024, at 20:00hrs (8:00pm) to Sunday August 11th, 2024, at 22:00 hrs (10:00pm)
The access ramp from Riverside Drive to Smyth Road will be closed to the public. There will be no access to Smyth Road Eastbound from Riverside Drive. This disruption is in place to permit the installation of a new sanitary sewer and watermain for 1919 Riverside Drive.
Queensway Closures in July and August
The Ministry of Transportation’s work on the Queensway continues this summer. To complete the necessary work, they will have to close sections of the Queensway in the coming weeks:
- HWY 417 east and west bound lanes between Carling Avenue and Metcalfe Street (full closure to vehicular traffic—follow detour shown in Figure 1)
Anticipated Start Date: July 25, 2024, at 8:00 pm
Anticipated End Date: July 29, 2024, at 6:00 am
- HWY 417 eastbound on-ramps (full closure to vehicular traffic—follow detour shown in Figure 1)
- Maitland Avenue on-ramp
- Carling Avenue on-ramp
- Parkdale Avenue on-ramp (ongoing—to reopen in August 2024)
Anticipated Start Date: July 25, 2024, at 8:00 pm
Anticipated End Date: July 29, 2024, at 6:00 am
- HWY 417 westbound on-ramps (full closure to vehicular traffic—follow detour shown in Figure 1)
- O’Connor Street on-ramp
- Lyon Street on-ramp (ongoing—to reopen in fall 2025)
- Bronson Avenue on-ramp
- Rochester Street on-ramp (ongoing—to reopen in October 2024)
- Parkdale Avenue on-ramp
Anticipated Start Date: July 25, 2024, @ 8:00PM
Anticipated End Date: July 29, 2024, at 6:00 am
- Preston Street (full closure to vehicular, cycling, and pedestrian traffic—follow detours shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3)
- Between St. Anthony Street and Young Street
Anticipated Start Date: July 17, 2024, at 12:01 am
Anticipated End Date: August 6, 2024, at 11:59 pm
- Between Louisa Street and Young Street
Anticipated Start Date: July 25, 2024, at 8:00 pm
Anticipated End Date: July 29, 2024, at 6:00 am
Urban Flooding
The city is committed to ensuring our infrastructure is safe and reliant and is continuously working to improve our city’s sewer and stormwater systems to mitigate impacts from extreme weather events and climate change.
Where and how frequent urban flooding occurs depends on a number of factors, such as the amount of rain that falls over a period of time, topography, our historical drainage systems, and the size of the storm and sewer pipes.
There are things residents can do around their homes to help mitigate the risk of urban flooding. For ways to protect your home, check Ottawa.ca/flooding and Ottawa.ca/rain for more information.
Water Rate Structure Review
Council has directed city staff to review how the city recovers the costs to deliver water, wastewater and stormwater services. The review will look at the rate structure to make sure that it is still serving the needs of our residents and businesses, while still providing the funding necessary to provide exceptional services. In reviewing the water-rate structure, the city aims to implement a more equitable and transparent method of water, wastewater and stormwater billing for all.
- To maintain transparency and accountability, the fees for water, wastewater and fire supply will continue to be separate charges and will each continue to all have a fixed component.
- To better align the fixed costs to deliver services with fixed costs recovered from bills.
- To explore ways that ensure small and large users are charged a similar proportion of fixed fees on their bills.
- To explore ways that continue to reward water conservation while creating an economically competitive environment for businesses.
- To simplify rate structures for property owners.
A robust consultation plan across the city will continue into fall 2024. All feedback received will be reviewed and consolidated to inform the development of water rate structure options. These options will be presented to the Environment and Climate Change Committee, the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee and City Council in 2025.
Participate in the Water rate structure review survey(External link) between February 14, 2024 and July 31, 2024.
City of Ottawa Municipal Accessibility Plan Consultations
The City of Ottawa's Municipal Accessibility Plan (COMAP) is a requirement under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA). It is a five-year plan to identify, remove and prevent accessibility barriers across the organization by committing to specific actions and outcomes aimed at making sure people with disabilities can participate in the City's programs, services, facilities, public spaces, information and communication, and employment.
This plan must be developed and updated in consultation with the community of persons with disabilities.
The current City of Ottawa Municipal Accessibility Plan (COMAP) will expire soon. To create the next COMAP, the City's Accessibility Office will consult with the community of persons with disabilities in several ways:
- virtual (online) consultations
- in-person consultations
- an online survey
- a community toolkit for those wishing to host a consultation without City staff present
The city is seeking your input about disability-related barriers experienced when accessing the City's services, programs, public spaces, information and communication, and employment opportunities.
Fill out the survey for the City of Ottawa Municipal Accessibility Plan. This survey consists of 15 questions and takes approximately 5 to 15 minutes to complete and your participation is voluntary.
Register to attend a COMAP consultation:
- July 25: In-person consultation – Ben Franklin Place (101 Centrepointe Drive): 6:00 to 7:30 pm
- July 31: Virtual consultation online over Zoom: 6:00 to 7:30 pm
City of Ottawa Older Adult Plan Consultation
Ottawa’s population is growing, changing, and aging. According to the 2021 Census, 37% of Ottawa’s population is over the age of 50 and represents the fastest-growing age group, with those over 85 and over 100 showing particularly significant increases. In 2021, there were 172,150 older adults over the age of 65 in Ottawa, making up 17% of the population. There are now more older adults than children under 15, and by 2030, it is estimated that one in five adults will be aged 65 and over.
Ottawa’s population of older adults is becoming increasingly more diverse and needs vary greatly between sub-groups of seniors. While seniors face many challenges as they age, some contributing factors such as low income and living alone are most associated with increased vulnerability and, in turn, a heightened risk of poor health outcomes. Some groups, such as Indigenous, Black and other racialized seniors, older women, 2SLGBTQQIA seniors, newcomer seniors and seniors with disabilities, are more vulnerable to poor outcomes due to inequities within the social and health systems, in comparison to the general population.
Like many large municipalities in Canada and around the world, the City of Ottawa is responding to these demographic changes and has been implementing an Older Adult Plan (OAP) since 2012.
To create the new Older Adult Plan, city staff will consult with residents, community agencies, and city staff to determine the priorities and structure needed to facilitate the implementation of a new plan.
Please complete the survey. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
