Almost daily, as the city councillor for College Ward, I see families squeezing down the narrow edge of a Highway 417 overpass to reach the other side — to get to school, to daycare, to shopping. It’s scary. And what happens when people are too scared to walk or cycle? They drive.
And daily, I receive emails from residents who are frustrated with congestion, speeding and buses not getting them where they need to go on time.
We now are being given the chance to start addressing it all.
With a new agreement between the Province of Ontario and the City of Ottawa, we will see four spans across Highway 417 replaced with enough width for an actual sidewalk, and actual cycle tracks with protection from the vehicles. They are: the Richmond Road interchange; Pinecrest interchange; Woodroffe interchange; and Maitland interchange.
Since these spans are replaced only every 75 years, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for two levels of government to work together and invest in a vision that creates real choice for people about how they want to get around. And we did. The cityis contributing $5.4 millionfrom its active transportation budget to pay for one, and the province is absorbing the cost of the other three in question.
Four interchanges will get bike lanes in future.
Why is this so significant? The provincial Ministry of Transportation is responsible for enacting provisions of the Highway Traffic Act. It’s in the primary business of moving people by car down the highway, over the spans, and up and down the access ramps, as efficiently as possible.
However, when that highway bisects a city as the 417 does Ottawa? For those in cars, it’s a east-west access. For everyone else, it’s a wall.
As Ottawa has grown, College Ward, once the heart of the City of Nepean, is no longer on the edge of the city. We now have large suburbs all around whose residents want access to what our city has to offer both north and south: the river, the LRT, the Greenbelt, shopping, schools, good employers. This growing population is straining our transportation network, and we are taking longer to get to where we want to go.
We sit in traffic. Buses sit in traffic. Cut-through traffic comes in to residential neighbourhoods at high speeds. The city pays for temporary traffic-calming but we can barely keep up. So people don’t feel safe to walk or bike anywhere, which means you’re going to choose to drive and sit in traffic. You’re not going to opt for a bus because it can’t get you anywhere on time (the most recent statistics from OC Transpo cited that 32 per cent of trips not delivered on time were because of on-street service adjustments, including traffic congestion). You’re locked into a bad choice. Does that feel like freedom to you?
It doesn’t feel like freedom for me, when I have to load two kids in snowsuits into a car in winter just to go get a bag of milk. It doesn’t feel like freedom for the parent who is late for work because they feel compelled to drive their kid to school, four blocks away. It doesn’t feel like freedom for those kids who don’t want to get dropped off by said parents because it’s too embarrassing. It doesn’t feel like freedom for the paramedic who is trying to reach an incident but no one can move over.
We need safe pedestrian and cycling infrastructure so that the people who can, will choose to walk or cycle to get something done. They can make that choice and decrease the number of cars on the road. The fewer cars on the road, the less congestion there is for those who can’t choose anything but a vehicle, and we get our buses moving around better. We get some actual freedom of movement within our communities, which increases local spending, enhances neighbourhood relationships and community safety, and gives us better air to breathe.
I was glad to work with MTO and city staff for a vision that promotes freedom of choice in our growing city.
Laine Johnsonis the city councillor for College Ward.
Today, I seconded a motion by Mayor Sutcliffe to provide residents who are rebuilding after the July 1, 2026 flooding with relief from fees associated with construction.
WHEREAS the extreme weather events of July 1, August 10 and August 12, 2026, caused significant disruption, property damage, and financial hardship for residents across the city, impacting more than 6,500 properties; and
WHEREAS the City’s Revenue Services team has implemented temporary administrative measures to support affected residents, including the suspension of collection activities, a pause on interest accumulation and related late fees, enhanced customer service accommodations, and account-level notifications for impacted properties; and
Today, I tabled an Inquiry to ask for details about Inlet Control Devices, why they were installed in west end catch basins, how they're maintained, and whether they may have contributed to the July 1 flooding.
Inquiry: Following the July 1, 2026 flooding of thousands of west end Ottawa homes, businesses, and public facilities, and again after the flooding on August 10, 2026, many residents noted that stormwater drainage through municipal catch basins was inhibited by Inlet Control Devices (ICDs) which had been installed by the City. Several also noted that the ICDs were plugged with dirt and debris, completely blocking the catch basin from draining storm water. The apparent result of the ICDs, whether blocked or not, was to cause overland flooding that entered homes.
Today, I moved a motion, seconded by Mayor Sutcliffe, to consult with weather experts to determine how College Ward and environs are being impacted by extreme weather so we can plan to improve our infrastructure and maintenance routines.
WHEREAS over the past several years, Nepean has suffered several extreme weather events including the 2018 tornados; 2022 derecho; the 2023 ice storm; the July 1, 2026 rainstorm and floods; and the August 12, 2026 windstorm; and
WHEREAS the City of Ottawa’s Climate Projections for the National Capital Region (2020) indicate that Ottawa is projected to see rising temperatures, more rainfall and more extreme weather events; and
WHEREAS recent and historical weather patterns suggest that the affected areas of Nepean may experience localized weather and climatic conditions that differ from other parts of the city;
WHEREAS the City of Ottawa uses climate and weather reports when designing its infrastructure standards, infrastructure maintenance routines and resident support programs; and
