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Mayors fuming over County Road 17 report
“Should we complete the EA?” he said. “At least the EA would protect the (traffic) cor- ridors that are established.” Alfred-Plantagenet Mayor Jean-Yves Lalonde noted that the provincial govern- ment needs to be more involved in the situ- ation. He reminded counties council that the province has committed $40 million to upgrading the highway link once the EA fi- nal report is finished and recommendations presented. The federal government has also committed $40 million to the project but Lalonde observed that the province has the primary responsibility. “We need to do something in the east here,” he said. “We need to have something from the government. We need to have something from the province at the mo- ment.” Warden Jean-Paul St-Pierre told counties council that a new strategy is needed to keep the highway upgrade project viable. “I fully agree 20 years is way too long to wait,” he said. The warden noted that the Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) conference is coming up soon on the annual meetings schedule. He suggested contacting both MPP Grant Crack and MP Pierre Lemieux on the issue and also arranging to meet with provincial and federal ministers and other officials during OGRA. “I remain optimistic,” he said. “Transporta- tion is something we need to address.” Following last week’s UCPR counties council session, Warden St-Pierre and ad- ministration met with Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and his staff on the issue. During the Jan. 13 Russell Township council ses- sion, St-Pierre told his council members and the webcast audience the meeting was “very positive and refreshing” and that he has directed counties staff to continue working with AECOM on the EAP and also to look into what the costs would be for all the options to improve traffic flow between Rockland and Orléans. VISIT OTTAWA’S LARGEST FLOORING DESIGN CENTRE Ceramic Porcelain Vinyl Carpet
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L’ORIGNAL | The mayors of Prescott-Rus- sell are fuming over what they see as the latest sabotage effort of the City of Otta- wa on upgrading the highway connection between Rockland and Orléans. Some mayors sitting on the United Coun- ties of Prescott-Russell council (UCPR) have declared that the counties should focus all of its efforts instead on getting the prov- ince to take back responsibility for County Road 17. Champlain Township Mayor Gary Barton noted that traffic problems related to the county road link to Orléans-Ottawa were an issue when he was warden for the UCPR in 2006. “From my perspective, we haven’t made an ounce of progress,” Barton said. “I think our argument is with the province.” Four-laning of the County Road 17/High- way 174 connection between Rockland and Orléans is the subject of a two-year environ- mental assessment. AECOM, the consultant firm working on the assessment, provided counties council with an update report dur- ing its Jan. 8 committee of the whole ses- sion. The report noted that the City of Ottawa’s own revised Transportation Master Plan (TMP) does not foresee any chance of major upgrading of any part of the 174 Highway route east of the Trim Road intersection for at least two decades. Ottawa’s own transportation plan calls for focusing its efforts on improvements for commuter traffic west of Trim Road. That in- cludes plans to extend the light rapid tran- sit system to Place d’Orléans. Both Ottawa and the UCPR are supposed to be partners on the environmental assess- ment study (EA) for upgrading the highway link between Rockland and Orléans with the provincial government providing $5 million to cover the study cost. Ottawa has indicated reluctance in the past to become involved in such a process unless its own particular traffic concerns are addressed, like the Split interchange with St-Laurent onto the 174 where it becomes the Queen- sway. Stéphane Parisien, UCPR chief administra- tor, expressed skepticism to council about the chance that Ottawa would ever pay
serious attention to any EA report on four- laning or other upgrading proposals for the 174/17 connector route. He noted that Ottawa could end up “shelving the report” while it focused on its own TMP goals. Marc Clermont, UCPR public works direc- tor also noted “nothing on the books” in the Ottawa TMP that suggests any plans for widening of the highway connector route within the next two decades. “I am quite disappointed,” said Mayor Marcel Guibord of Clarence-Rockland. He noted that the Ottawa TMP suggests 2031 for when the city might consider wid- ening of the connector route with his mu- nicipality. Guibord said that would mean 60 years since a provincial government study urged expansion of the highway connec- tion between Rockland and Orléans to re- lieve the growing congestion.
“I don’t see anything positive in this,” he said, regarding the Ottawa TMP. “I think it’s time we tell the province, ‘You’re wasting money,’” said François St- Amour, The Nation mayor, regarding the EA process. Parisien and Clermont disagreed. Parisien said the EA process “is paramount” to suc- cess in getting improvements to the County Road 17 link and Clermont agreed. ALL THE SUPPLIERS UNDER THE SAME ROOF! SPECIALIST IN PORCELAIN TILES • custom waterproof shower • stain-free Epoxy Grout and not latex resistant grout • backsplash / floor / wall installation LA MAISON DU STORE CERODEM EURO SARANA CÉRATEC OLYMPIA CENTURA
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