Ottawa to scrap Preston Street expansion to make way for LeBreton Flats subdivision, arena

A city committee voted today to scrap a planned expansion of Preston Street in favour of a footbridge at LeBreton Flats. CTV’s Tyler Fleming reports.

The City of Ottawa will hit the brakes on a future expansion of Preston Street to assist with the planned development of a subdivision and an NHL-sized arena at LeBreton Flats.

The planning and housing committee approved a staff recommendation to remove the Preston Street extension from the Official Plan and replace it with a planned active transportation bridge through LeBreton Flats.

The National Capital Commission (NCC) submitted a request to the city to amend the Official Plan to remove the Preston Street extension from the Official Plan to help implement its LeBreton Flats Master Concept Plan, which includes housing and commercial development and a new Ottawa Senators arena.

The Official Plan included extending Preston Street from Albert Street through LeBreton Flats to Wellington Street, connecting with the Kichi Zibi Mikan Parkway.

In a report for the committee, staff said constructing the Preston Street extension as an arterial road would “attract additional traffic, worsen congestion on surrounding streets, and provide “limited mobility benefits.”

“Conversely, replacing the extension with an active transportation bridge improves pedestrian and cyclist connectivity, enhances access to rapid transit stations, and supports the Secondary Plan’s transit, walking, and cycling mode share targets,” the report said.

Staff said the cost of the new active transportation bridge would be covered by the NCC and its proponents.

“It’s really important to my community to reduce the cars that are coming into Little Italy from LeBreton Flats when there are major events like Canada Day, like hockey games when there’s a new Senators arena and with BluesFest,” Coun. Ariel Troster told CTV News Ottawa.

“Replacing that [proposed road extension] with the pedestrian and cycling bridge is actually a real win for the community.”

Councillors also directed staff to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Capital Commission and work with the NCC and Capital Sports Development Inc. to finalize a “three-party Memorandum of Understanding” for the development of transit operations, emergency access and the “functional requirements of a potential Major Event Centre.”

The NCC plans to build approximately 4,500 dwellings, 800,000 sq. ft. of commercial or office space and a potential Major Event Centre at LeBreton Flats across 10 mixed-use blocks, five residential blocks, two park blocks, one open space block, seven private lanes and six public roads.

“I’m just so excited to see that people will be living at LeBreton flats, they’ll be enjoying hockey games, they’ll be going to the brand new library, and they’ll be able to walk and cycle and take the LRT and the busses there as well,” Troster said.

Staff say an active transportation bridge is a more appropriate way to connect the districts within LeBreton Flats and for crossing the east-west O-Train corridor.

“This bridge will link the existing and planned neighbourhoods north and south of the east-west O-Train corridor and the open aqueduct,” staff said.

The NCC and the Ottawa Senators reached an agreement last August for the NHL club to purchase 11 acres of land at LeBreton Flats.

City of Ottawa/NCC Memorandum of Understanding

The report also recommends councillors direct staff to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the NCC on “broader planning considerations” that result from removing the Preston Street extension arterial road.

The agreement includes regular transit service and access to NCC-owned roads, addresses transit and city service vehicle corridors and looks at transportation needs associated with the proposed new Senators arena at LeBreton Flats.

Staff say the city, the NCC and Capital Sports Development Inc. (the Ottawa Senators) are in “active discussions to collaborate and coordinate” on items of “mutual interest” top develop LeBreton Flats, including the new arena.

“(It) would focus on construction phasing (such as moving the Cave Creek collector), managing the timing and design of Albert Street, traffic/intersection impact mitigation during and after construction, etc.,” staff said.

“Specific to the new Major Event Centre there would also be a clear understanding of items to address through the subsequent site plan applications such as new Transportation Impact Assessment and Parking Strategy for the new arena, and confirmation of how each block will be serviced.”

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