Members of the Planning and Housing Committee are set to discuss next week the construction of a new intersection along March Road that will likely bring slowdowns for commuters.
The area will see significant development over the next several years due to Ottawa’s designation of the Kanata North Urban Expansion Area, which envisions a mixed-use community accommodating 3,000 units. The proposed intersection would be designed and constructed by CU Development Inc. and Mattamy (Northwood) Limited, two developers transforming the area.
March Road is a two-lane, 80 km/h roadway that the city calls an “important” north-south artery in the west end. The intersection will be at the future Buckbean Road, which is near Fire Station 45.
If approved by the committee, and later council, the intersection will be a four-way light system with left and right turn signals, sidewalks, and cycle tracks with cross-rides. It is set to cost about $2.6 million.
“While I welcome this critical infrastructure, I wish to stress the importance of the intersection at Invention and March some 500 metres south, where residents currently reside, which has seen recent accidents, and greatly concerns the neighbours there,” Cathy Curry, Ward 4 Councillor said in the report. “I trust that the intersection at Buckbean Avenue will assist in better controlling traffic all along March Road.”
The report to the committee stresses impacts to traffic will happen in the short term, but the intersection will be beneficial for years to come.
If approvals continue, the report notes that the work will happen this year.
