ABOVE: Traffic calming pilot on West Ridge Drive. Photo by Barry Gray.
WEST RIDGE TRAFFIC CALMING
If you ever want to inspire road rage, try driving the posted speed limit down West Ridge Drive. It’s signed at 40km/h, and if you stick to that speed chances are you’ll be tailgated, honked at, and maybe even passed. The “flex signs” help, but they don’t solve everything. Just days after a new traffic calming project was launched earlier this month, police clocked a car travelling at 21km/hr over the speed limit.
https://twitter.com/OPSWestTraffic/status/725670308506685440
Fringewood is another street with the new flex signs. It’s a winding road that leads from Hazeldean Road to Stittsville Public School. I’ve heard from a couple residents along that street that some motorists don’t slow down, treating the signs more like a slalom course. That puts pedestrians in a dangerous situation since the road has no sidewalks — just ditches.
TOWNHOMES PROPOSED FOR WILDPINE
Next week the City’s Committee of Adjustment will decide on a plan to subdivide a property on the east side of Wildpine Court to build three townhomes. The owner, Chris Laidler, wants to subdivide the property into four parcels of land so that he can build two-storey townhomes. You can read more about the plan here.
VACANT LAND SURVEY
A report prepared for the City’s Planning Committee shows that 36% of the vacant residential land in the city is in Kanata-Stittsville, the largest portion of any area in Ottawa. In short, that means we’re going to have a lot more neighbours in the coming years. The report says that there’s enough vacant land designated for residential development to meet demand until 2039.
Major landowners include KNL Developments (13%), CRT Developments (10%), and Richcraft Homes (10%). The 15 owners with 10 or more hectares accounted for 82% of the total land supply, according to the report.
