Changes to Wellington St are Starting to Look Inevitable
Whether Ottawa City Council likes it or not.
More than traffic
Wellington Street was back in the news last week. A study prepared for Ottawa City Council noted that closing Wellington could result in more, less or the same amount of traffic on other downtown roads (!), and that the more scenario might require up to $26m in road and intersection reconfiguration costs.
I spoke to Ottawa City Council Transportation Committee on this topic, in large part to counter the misleading reporting that presented the more traffic scenario as what we should expect.
The actual study provides no opinion on whether we’d see more, less or the same amount of traffic on other downtown streets. The Ottawa-Gatineau Origin-Destination survey that was conducted in 2022 should help answer which scenario makes most sense — although close to a 18 months after data collection, we’re still waiting to see those findings.
On traffic, I argued that:
Downtown traffic should decrease as road capacity is taken away (i.e., reduced demand; the flip side of induced demand).
But more importantly, it is the decisions of Council that can determine which scenario plays out. If Councillors were to follow through on the City’s Official Plan to make transit and active transportation competitive as modes of travel, then fewer trips around the City — including downtown — would happen by car.
But, regardless, the future of Wellington is really much bigger than a traffic question.
Feds have too much at stake
For the federal government, the key issue is security. We should all be worried about the risk of someone using a car or truck to attack Parliament.
Our neighbours to the south recognized this threat many years ago, and removed vehicle access in front of the White House. A number of European countries have done the same.
The federal government had put in an offer to the City of Ottawa to take over Wellington Street. The City seemed to be stalling those negotiations until they had this traffic report.
With the report now available, expect to see an updated offer from the federal government. If the City fails to negotiate in good faith, one option could be for the federal government to expropriate the street.
The feds would undoubtedly prefer a negotiated settlement, but at what point do they put an end to Council’s foot dragging and decide that the security concerns require action sooner rather than later?
TramGO
A second factor pushing for the reconfiguration of Wellington Street is the almost-ready-for-primetime Gatineau-Ottawa Tramway.
The final report and recommendation for the TramGO was released last September, and the Quebec Government has agreed to fund 60% of Quebec-side expenditures. The ball is now in the court of the federal government to determine if it will contribute funding.
If the feds do announce support, and given the complicated multi-jusidictional nature of this project, it would make sense for consolidated (federal) oversight of the outside-Quebec sections — i.e., both the Portage Bridge and Wellington sections.
Change is in the air
Perhaps the City has a bigger strategic plan here, hoping to horse trade Wellington Street for something else.
Whatever the game is, Ottawa City Council would be wise to start looking at Wellington Street from the perspective of others. If Council drags their feet too much longer, they may end up with little more than an expropriation letter.