Weekly newsletter: July 15, 2025

Hi everyone!

I hope July has been treating you well so far. I finally had my inaugural kayak trip of the year, paddling the Canal from Hartwells Locks to Pretoria Bridge and back. My arms and shoulders told me that night it was most definitely my first kayak trip of the year.

If you’re interested in some evening theatre, A Company of Fools↗ is making their annual stop at Stonecrest Park tomorrow (Wednesday July 16) evening at 7:00 pm to perform The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare… with a twist! The performance is free, though a $20 donation is suggested to support the troupe.

Amazon

Related sewer works have Leikin Drive closed between Beckstead and Merivale until August 11 (extended from June 29 due to a city permitting delay).

Thank you to the residents who have shared their concerns and other feedback (plus a few good ideas, too) about the sortation facility since Amazon was confirmed as the tenant last week.

The site plan application was approved on November 26, 2024, by City staff.

Provincial changes to planning legislation in 2022 shifted the authority to approve or deny applications that conform with existing zoning to City staff. Those changes also removed all consultative elements of the process and tightened timelines (to 30 days total from application to decision).

With those new rules, my role in this file is limited to responding to the development and mitigating its impacts, mostly on transportation-related matters, including:

• Restricting truck traffic from using nearby residential streets (plus signage)

• Nearby on-street parking to avoid a repeat of the numerous trailers parked on streets near the other Amazon facility

• Capacity of Fallowfield/Woodroffe, Fallowfield/Merivale

• Employee traffic, including transit service for the facility

• Considerations for the next Transportation Master Plan, including Fallowfield between Woodroffe and Prince of Wales

Since December, I’ve been working with City staff to try to achieve as much of that list as possible. Most items are in progress, and I’ll continue working on them between now and the yet-to-be-announced operational date of the facility and beyond.

Three weeks ago, I successfully added Prince of Wales north of Fallowfield to the current Transportation Master Plan for road widening, but an actual project timeline is not yet known.

The sortation facility was a major factor behind my push for Prince of Wales, and I’m grateful the majority of the rest of Committee agreed. It is pending City Council’s ultimate approval next week.

In the autumn, I’m hosting a public information session with the City’s Planner (hopefully with the developer and Amazon as well) to better inform residents of the development. Although the development has been approved, residents can still share their feedback, especially if there are operational considerations that Amazon or the City can address to mitigate the development’s impact.

Details of that information session are still being discussed, but more information will be shared by newsletter and social media once it’s available.

For reference, the approved development documents are available at Ottawa.ca↗.

Bite-sized updates

• Finchley Park – Following repair works to the ground under the swing set, as well as the swing set’s foundations, the swings at Finchley Park have been reinstalled! I gave them a try yesterday and it feels like a swing set.
  

• Greenbank/Highbury Park – Throughout the week, a crew will be on site at 1005/1045 Greenbank Road to collect soil samples and install wells for groundwater sampling. Some noise and dust may result from the work.
  
  This was a site selected for the now-cancelled sprung structure shelter, but City staff still want a complete snapshot of the conditions at the parcel as part of an effort to take inventory of all City-owned land parcels across Ottawa. More information about the sampling is available in the June 3, 2025 newsletter.
  

• Greenbank pathway – A wet start to July delayed the project by 10 days, but works have begun on resurfacing the Greenbank Road pathway between Fallowfield and West Hunt Club. Works are expected to take four to six weeks.
  
  During construction, the pathway will be closed to all users. A detour route in the shoulder of Greenbank Road was considered, but the setup and removal of that detour would have cost more than the resurfacing project itself.
  
  The resurfacing is an interim measure and will buy five to 10 years while the City seeks NCC approval for a comprehensive rebuild and upgrade.
  

• Leikin/Bill Leathem road cuts – Hydro Ottawa will be on site next week to repair the two road cuts on Longfields and on Bill Leathem west and south of the roundabout.
  

• Leikin Drive closure – The closure of Leikin Drive between Merivale and Beckstead for a sewer mainline relocation has been extended to August 11 because of a City permitting delay. The street was scheduled to reopen at the end of June, which was originally delayed to July 11 for the same reason.
  
  The sewer mainline relocation is related to the future Amazon sortation facility and is paid for by the development.
  

• O-Train Line 2 – Evening service reductions continues until the end of July to accommodate the installation of axle bearing monitoring devices on the trains. The devices were recommended by the LRT public inquiry (and made mandatory by Transport Canada).
  
  Trains will operate every 24 minutes from 8:00 pm to end of day on July 15 (tonight), July 21 to 25 (next week), and July 28 to August 2.
  

• Pop-up office – Over the summer, I will be at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market (Barrhaven) every other Sunday for pop-up office hours. I’ll be there this coming Sunday, July 20, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
  
  The farmers’ market is every Sunday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Nepean Woods Park and Ride, while the location of my tent seems to vary (but it’s not a large site). Come by and say hi!
  

• Prince of Wales sewer works – Over the next four weeks, City crews will be repairing sewage infrastructure by the southbound lane of Prince of Wales south of Crestway. The works will happen off the road and will not require any lane closures or adjustments, but please take care as crews and parked vehicles will be in the area.
  

• Recreation registration – Autumn recreation activities will be available to browse at register.ottawa.ca↗ starting July 29.

  Aquatics registration opens on Tuesday, August 12 at 9:00 pm, while registration for all other activities opens on Thursday, August 14 at 9:00 pm.
  

• Walter Baker pool closure – The swimming pool closure at the Walter Baker Sports Centre has been extended to July 27 (originally scheduled to reopen June 29). The hot tub, steam room, and whale pool are closed until further notice. More information about the extended closure will be shared once available.

Thank you, as always, for reading! Enjoy the week ahead. 
-Wilson