(via Stittsville councillor Shad Qadri)
I am pleased to share that the City will be paving the shoulders on Carp Road from Kittiwake Drive to Westbrook as of tomorrow, November 17th. This is a project that has been greatly anticipated by residents for some time. Originally, the shoulder-paving project was only planned from Rothbourne to Westbrook but working with the City, I was able to extend the project to start at Kittiwake as the shoulder was needed to be done in this section as well.
While I do understand that many residents have been hoping that Carp Rd would undergo widening in the near future, unfortunately, due to budget constraints, the widening of Carp Rd is not in the foreseeable future until at least 2020. In the meantime, it is my hopes that this project will help to ensure road conditions are maintained at a consistent quality for the benefit of community members who use the road moving forward until that time comes.
Please see below information on the shoulder paving project and on the future Carp Road widening.
Carp Road Shoulder Paving
The City has contracted Tomlinson to pave the shoulders along Carp Road between Kittiwake Drive to Westbrook. Weather permitting, shoulder paving will start tomorrow, Friday Nov 17th and be completed by end of day Saturday the 18th. Tomlinson plans to start on the west shoulder and work southbound from Westbrook to Kittiwake. Then, from there, they will move to the other side and work back to Westbrook. Final grading and tie-ins will be completed next week.
Impacts on traffic associated with this grading work will be limited as it can be completed on the shoulder with minimal roadway encroachment. Two lanes will be maintained at all times (one in each direction). Weekday work (tomorrow) will be restricted to off peak hours to limit impacts on traffic. The cost for the shoulder paving work is $130,000.
Carp Road Widening Project
The widening of Carp Road is a major infrastructure project needed for our community. I know this is a major route for residents and I am continuing to work with the Mayor’s Office and with the City’s Transportation staff to allocate funding for this project. Stittsville is rapidly growing and the City needs to ensure that we have the transportation routes necessary for residents to access Highway 417.
The Environmental Assessment Study for widening Carp Road (Highway 417 to Hazeldean Road) has been completed and the next step is to complete the detail design phase of the project based on the recommended plan established by the EA study. As we move closer to the implementation time, the City’s Infrastructure Services Department will undertake the detail design work for this project.
The City’s Transportation Master Plan (Council approved document, last updated in 2013), identifies widening of Carp Road as a Phase 2 project which means a tentative timeline of sometime between 2020 and 2025 in the affordable plan. However, I have been advised by City staff that the Development Charge (DC) revenue is not at the level that the City expected and therefore the rate of project implementation has been affected for Phase 1 projects. Consequently, this has a ripple effect on Phase 2 and Phase 3 projects. As the DC revenue situation improves, the City will be able to pick up the pace of implementation in accordance with the available funding. At this time and over the next several years, the City is still working on Phase 1 projects.
Please note also that the next TMP Update is planned for completion by end of 2021 or early 2022 and will also re-examine where growth is happening, revisit affordability and project priorities.
In Stittsville there is a large amount of growth taking place and we need to widen this road to help accommodate this growth; as such, I am reviewing the matter of the Development Charges further and will continue to push for this project date to be moved up.
More information regarding other planned road projects in the community will be shared with the community in an upcoming edition of my eNewsletter.