Ottawa City Council approved a plan to rebuild Albert and Slater St. with better sidewalks, landscaping, cycling facilities and new underground infrastructure, once the O-Train Confederation Line is in service.
Council approved the functional designs for Albert and Slater St., currently with bus-only dedicated Transitway lanes. The lanes will be decommissioned when the light-rail service is operating through downtown.
The plan includes replacing aging sewers and watermains and simplifying the road network. Albert St. will accommodate two-way traffic for 165 metres east of Empress St., and a new eastbound one-way St. will connect Albert St. to the intersection of Bronson Ave. and Slater St. Slater St. will be realigned between Empress St. and Bronson Ave. and Commissioner St. will be closed between Albert and Slater St.
Construction of the $26-million integrated road and infrastructure project, from Empress St. to Bay St., will begin no earlier than 2021 and take three years. Timing will be coordinated with the Ottawa Central Library project and the replacement of underground infrastructure.
Interim modifications to Albert and Slater St., between Bay and Waller St., will be made once the O-Train Confederation Line opens. Construction of the $6.4-million project will take place between 2019 and 2022. Work includes dedicated cycling facilities on the right side of Albert and Slater St. Between the pedestrian crossing on the Mackenzie King Bridge and Waller St., cyclists will use median cycling lanes.
WOW as a small business owner I would be running from the downtown core at the moment. You spend a fortune to start a small business downtown and then get hit with this? I agree it moves Ottawa and the Infrastructure forward, but what is being done for these businesses?