NEWS
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Surprise sinkhole sabotages commuter traffic GREGGCHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
eastbound section of Highway 174 be- tween the Blair Road and Jeanne d'Arc Av- enue interchanges to all traffic while crews excavate and prepare the site for repair. Contractors have already estimated the cost to fix the section of road, including replacing the underground storm sewer culvert, at $1.5 million but that figure could increase depending on what repair crews find. Ottawa-Orléans MPP Phil McNeely de- clared in a press statement that the sinkhole and the resulting disruption in commuter traffic patterns while repairs are underway highlights the need for a light rail transit system for the national capital region. “If we plan on further growing the East end, maintaining our great community and its property values,” stated McNeely, “then light rail must get built to Blair Road now.” Five years ago the city commissioned a white paper report, The Balance of Jobs and Housing in Orléans, which noted that the East end Orléans-Cumberland area has 0.5 jobs per household compared to West end areas like Kanata with 1.6 jobs per house- hold. The planned centralization of 10,000 Department of National Defence (DND) jobs to the old Nortel Campus to worsen the jobs-per-household situation in Orlé- ans-Cumberland and in communities fur- ther east as those federal employees face the choice of longer commutes or moving closer to where they work. McNeely noted that Orléans already has the highest public transit usage, at a 40 per cent ridership rate, of all the areas in Ot- tawa. He noted that plans to improve the Hunt Club Road extension and 417 inter- change project to Walkley and Innes roads would reduce the commuter traffic strain on Highway 174 and The Split connection at Innes. Right now those projects have en- vironmental approval but are in limbo at the National Capital Commission. “Being a city road, the 174 is a municipal responsibility,” McNeely stated. “I am confi- dent that Mayor Watson and the city have the situation well in hand.” Cause of the sinkhole is blamed on the collapse of a 50-year-old, 3.6-metre-wide storm sewer pipe that cuts across the high- way towards the Ottawa River. Dikes were set up at the sewer outflows to prevent any contaminats from the car from getting into the system work crews could remove the sedan from the hole where it had sunk 20 metres down and slipped inside the pipe. City officials report it has since moved downstream of the original entry point. Camera drones examined the portion of the pipe underneath the westbound lanes. It is newer and in good condition. A Toronto firm is delivering the new pipe and repairs will begin after it arrives. There is no fixed date yet for when the highway section will re-open.
Orléans-Cumberland | At least one portion of Highway 174 in Orléans is going to see some improvement before any proposed four-lane expansion ever takes place. That is thanks to a sudden sinkhole that opened up during the afternoon rush-hour period Sept. 4 on the eastbound lanes next to the auto park mall on Youville Avenue. One commuter, Juan Pedro Unger, drove his four-door sedan right into the Olympic pool-sized hole in the tarmac before he re- alized what it was. He was able to escape from his car and crawl out of the hole with the help of two other commuters who were able to stop before their vehicles went in. Ottawa Public Works has closed off the
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