The federal government and the City of Ottawa will be investing millions to help build bike lanes along two busy stretches of road in the city’s east end. The funding announced Wednesday would create “separated infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians” along Orléans Boulevard from the Ottawa River Pathway to Boyer Road, and Jeanne D’Arc Boulevard from the Vineyard/Fortune roundabout to Orléans Boulevard. When completed, the lanes will connect a mix of residential and commercial areas in Orléans, connecting to libraries, schools and the future Convent Glen LRT station. The project is expected to cost $10.9 million, with the federal government putting in $5.1 million. The rest will be funded by the city. The funding was announced in a press conference with Orléans MP Marie-France Lalonde, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, and councillors Matthew Luloff and Laura Dudas. “Residents want safe, convenient ways to get around their community. These new cycling paths will make it easier to walk or cycle to local shops, parks, services and transit, while adding these connections without taking away existing car lanes,” Sutcliffe said in a news release. Dudas tells CTV News Ottawa she hopes shovels will be in the ground for the project in the next two to three years. The announcement comes as the City of Ottawa is making changes to 27 cycling infrastructure projects to comply with Ontario’s new rules on bike lanes. There are currently 124 cycling projects in the City of Ottawa’s Transportation Master Plan. Bill 60, the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act,” includes amendments to the Highway Traffic Act to prohibit municipalities from reducing or removing traffic lanes for a bike lane. City staff said last fall that the bill would likely halt three bike lane projects in Ottawa, including mainstreet mobility improvements on St. Joseph Boulevard from Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard to Belcourt Boulevard, which would have required the removal of vehicle lanes in its functional design. With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Peter Szperling
