Ramp closures at 417 and St. Laurent Blvd
January 19th, 2009 Posted in Project Critique
Did you know that the Kettle Island corridor would require significant changes to the existing on and off-ramps at St. Laurent Blvd?
The following access routes would be closed:
- 417 westbound exit ramp to St. Laurent Blvd. north and south
- St. Laurent northbound entrance onto 417 east
These closures would make it much less convenient for consumers from Ottawa East (including Orleans) to access businesses on St. Laurent, including the St. Laurent Mall. As a result, these closures would very likely have a negative impact on these businesses.
They would also significantly impact traffic patterns and highway access for anyone south of the 417 trying to get onto the 417 east.
But, true to form for the current analysis, none of these considerations have been included as part of the decision-making process.
Click here for a detailed plan of these changes.
Tags: ramp closures, St. Laurent
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January 19th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
The ramp closures are not part of the Kettle Island proposal; they were announced in Aug 2007; see this article in the Orleans Star: http://www.eastottawa.ca/article-130927-Plans-to-widen-417174-focus-on-alleviating-dangerous-sections.html.
January 20th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Thanks for the info. But we should also note that because of the isolated nature of this study, no transportation plans beyond those proposed within the study have been considered by the consultants. Costs for any changes or upgrades to highways or interchanges are loaded into each option independently.
Therefore, as far as this study is concerned, changes to the 174 / 417 interchange are part of the Kettle Island proposal. Just as widening the 174 is part of the proposals for options further east, even though this is theoretically already planned by the province.
January 20th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Teresa, while most of the approved changes seem to be the same, the Aviation -> 417 Ramps are different than what was approved in the 417 East EA. The St. Laurent off-ramp from the East was open to 174 traffic only in the previous EA, but it looks like with the addition of traffic from the Parkway, they will likely close the St. Laurant ramp to traffic from the 174 as well (although detailed design has not been done).
btw the City rejected the 174 widening to Rockland
February 1st, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I find it most curious that the current plan for a Kettle Island/Aviation Pkwy. trucking corridor also calls for the closure of the Hwy 417 westbound exit ramp to St. Laurent Blvd. as well as the St. Laurent Blvd. entrance onto eastbound Hwy 417*. I can only assume that the volume of traffic going to and from a new bridge in this location has been deemed significant enough to cause major traffic flow problems if these access ramps are left operational.
Given that the Federal Government has just placed a bid on a large tract of vacant land at St. Laurent Blvd. and Hwy 417**, with the purported aim of constructing a new federal government office complex, and there will be no access to or from this complex from the east end of Ottawa using Hwy 417, I have to wonder how, with the exception of transitway users, federal government employees who live in Orleans/Cumberland/Rockland etc. and rely on Hwy 417 to commute to work, are supposed to drive to this new complex? It seems to me the government and NCC planners involved in these projects aren’t doing the best job of communicating their needs to each other.
This just goes to show that the overall transportation needs of the city must be considered as a whole, not as individual projects that might conflict with each other.
* Roche/NCE Interprovincial Crossing Environmental Assessment
(http://www.ncrcrossings.ca/en/2006-029%20kettle%20EN%20-%203.pdf)
** “Public Works makes land bid” The Ottawa Citizen January 27, 2009
(http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Homes/Public+Works+makes+land/1220595/story.html)