Reimagining Robertson Road

About the Project

I am happy to share that I am working with City staff and the Bells Corners community and business community to take a hard look at Robertson Road. It’s a busy street that carries a lot of commuter traffic, but is also well-used by locals, including pedestrians and cyclists. How could it be made better? What can we do through our land and transportation planning to improve access to businesses, homes, and transit? These are the questions we’ll be exploring over the next few months.

Why ‘Reimagining Robertson Road’? The act of reimagining and rethinking our current state and envisioning what could be is the first step in moving towards tangible change. I'm excited to do this together as a community! The goal of this project is to develop a community-informed vision for transforming Bells Corners into the “Village in the Greenbelt” that it strives to be – one with a vibrant main street, welcoming public spaces, and good connections within and beyond the community.

With its existing diversity of services, community pride, and an all-round desire for change and improvement, the time is ripe to reimagine Robertson Road as a main street for the Bells Corners community, with vibrant public spaces where people come for a visit and decide to stay for a while.

We are excited to have support for this project from our consultants at Mobycon, a consultancy group specializing in developing and implementing innovative and sustainable mobility solutions.

Project Activities:

The Reimagining Robertson Road project will have events and deliverables from Spring 2025 – Spring 2026.

Below is some more information about the great activities we’ll be working on as part of this year-long project:

Phase 1: Spring – Summer 2025 Information Gathering and Public Survey
Background and Case Study Review	To start off the project, Mobycon conducted a review of existing policies and data as it relates to Bells Corners to develop a comprehensive understanding of the current state and plans for the community. They also gathered case study examples to inform the creation of engagement tools and options for the future narrative rendering of Robertson Road.
Robertson Road Walkshop	We recently led the Robertson Road Walkshop (walking-based workshop) on Robertson Road to learn more about resident priorities and dreams for this road. The goal of the Walkshop was to create a space for us to hear essential, community-grounded feedback and perspectives about how people currently navigate Robertson Road.
Public Survey	We will be sharing along a web-based survey to begin gathering input on a vision and ideas in reimagining Robertson Road. The survey is accessible below and is open until September 22nd, 2025.
Phase 2: Fall – Winter 2025 Design Rendering and Public Engagement
Design Rendering of ‘Reimagining’ Robertson Road	Mobycon will take the ideas gathered from the background review, workshop, and survey results to develop a narrative describing a vision for Robertson Road including visual examples of elements desired in the design.
Public Engagement and Consultations	We will conduct various public engagement sessions in partnership with community organizations and associations throughout Fall 2025 to gather thoughts on the design vision for Robertson Road. If you are part of an organization, group, or community association, and would be interested in having us bring our engagement tools as part of this project to your group, please reach out to [email protected].
Phase 3: Winter – Spring 2026 Reimagining Robertson Road Action Plan
Reimagining Robertson Road Action Plan	All community feedback throughout this project will be brought into a report and action plan that summarizes the current problem, ideas presented from engagement, concepts for the corridor, and action items.

Events and Updates:

Reimagining Robertson Road: Public Survey Results

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share your thoughts through the Reimagining Robertson Road survey! More than 300 residents and visitors participated in the survey, offering valuable ideas about ways that Robertson Road could be improved to better serve the community.

The main takeaways from the survey results indicate that there is a strong community desire for safer spaces on Robertson Road to walk and bike, more greenery and places to gather, and a main street that feels vibrant and welcoming.

The survey results, along with engagement with community members from the Robertson Road Walkshop as well as our upcoming community stakeholder engagement sessions, will help shape the creation of a visual rendering that brings the community's vision for the future of Robertson Road to life.

We invite you to read the full report on the survey results, linked below.

Public Survey- We want to hear from you!

Do you have feedback and ideas for how Robertson Road could better serve the community? We want to hear them!

As part of the Reimagining Robertson Road Project, we’ve put together a survey to gather community feedback and ideas to better understand how residents would reimagine Robertson Road. Feedback from this survey will help in the creation of a digital rendering of Robertson Road, including ideas from the community on what changes they would want to see made on Robertson Road.

Your feedback will support our team in better understanding community visions and ideas for how this corridor could be safer, greener, and more welcoming for everyone. The survey is open to all people who live, work, and travel to Bells Corners.

You can access the survey linked here: Reimagining Robertson Road - Public Survey (https://form.typeform.com/to/yprfCpZl?typeform-source=cac-word-edit.officeapps.live.com)

The survey will be open until September 22nd, 2025.

Robertson Road Walkshop

We hosted the Robertson Road Walkshop on Saturday, June 28th. We are incredibly appreciative to all community members who came out to this event and contributed to the great discussions.

Our consultants from Mobycon led different groups for a 1 – 1.5 km walk along Robertson Road, stretching from Old Richmond Road to Moodie Drive. The walk had many stops for the group to observe and discuss the current state of Robertson Road through multiple lenses and perspectives.

Residents who participated in the Walkshop filled out a "Rate the Place" scorecard where they ranked various factors impacting the street environment. If you want to read more about the final results of the scorecards filled out at this event and insights from the Robertson Road Walkshop, please read the Robertson Road Walkshop Report below.

Here are some images below from the event.

Stay up to date on project!

We are looking forward to listening and hearing from you on how Robertson Road could better serve the community!

If you want to receive email updates as the Reimagining Robertson Road project moves forward, please sign up for our mailing list for the project here.

If you have any questions about this project, please feel free to reach out to [email protected].

Latest posts

Out of Service: Ottawa’s Transit Problem

The news this week wasn’t good. Thousands of bus trips cancelled again in February. LRT down to one train for the foreseeable future. When it comes to Ottawa’s public transit, it seems there’s never good news.

Even the announcement of progress on the LRT East project was met with cynicism, given that the trains that Line 1 uses continue to have “spalling” issues with the wheel assembly.

When will it end? And what am I – one of the members of OC Transpo’s governance body – going to do about it?

Since 2022, I’ve been wrestling with myself over a feeling of powerlessness about OC Transpo, in conflict with my ability as a decision maker to affect change.

I have residents who are suffering immeasurably from a lack of service. Algonquin College students have the biggest uptake of the U-pass of all of Ottawa’s post-secondary institutions, but they can’t get to and from classes reliably. Bells Corners’ routes were cut during the pandemic, and the subsequent elimination of the 200 series through the New Ways to Bus changes have completely isolated that community from transit.

Working to save Algonquin College programs

Algonquin College has been hard hit financially on two fronts: an 11 year tuition freeze and a sharp reduction in the number of foreign student visas. Both of these factors have made Algonquin's finances untenable, and the college's response has been to cut some of their most successful programs:

List of Recommended Suspended Programs by School

Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence (ACCE)

Sustainable Architectural Design

Horticultural Industries

Horticulture Techniques – Apprenticeship

Pembroke Campus (Pemb)

Business (Program still offered at the Ottawa Campus and AC Online)

Business Fundamentals (Program still offered at the Ottawa Campus and AC Online)

Computer Programming (Program still offered at the Ottawa Campus and AC Online)

Environmental Management and Assessment (Program still offered at the Ottawa Campus)

School of Advanced Technology (SAT)
Manufacturing Engineering Technician

Faculty of Arts and Media Design (FAMD)
Pathways to Indigenous Empowerment (New Indigenous Studies programs offered)

Applied Museum Studies

Design Foundations

General Arts and Science – Aboriginal (New Indigenous Studies programs offered)

Journalism

Music, Media and Film Foundations

General Arts and Science (except English for Academic Purposes)

Music Industry Arts

Illustration and Concept Art

School of Business and Hospitality (SOBH)

Bachelor of Culinary Arts & Food Science (Honours)

Bartending

Business Development and Sales

Hospitality – Hotel and Restaurant Operations Management

Tourism – Travel

Law Clerk

Event Management

Financial Services

Paralegal

School of Health Studies (SOHS)

Pre-Health Pathway to Certificates and Diplomas

Pre-Health Pathway to Advanced Diplomas and Degrees (Program still offered at our Pembroke Campus)

School of Wellness, Public Safety & Community Studies (SWPSCS)

Recreation and Leisure Services

Fitness and Health Promotion (Program still offered through AC Online)

Hydro Ottawa: adapting to change

Hydro Ottawa: After the derecho, adapting to change. A report for College Ward 8

A year before I was elected, the derecho changed everything. Thousands of trees downed, telephone poles and wires destroyed, and days without electricity for many residents. And then, after I was elected, we had an ice storm that again took down branches and took out hydro.

For a while, it seemed like we couldn't go a month without brown-outs and black-outs. And I raised questions to Ottawa Hydro. Why hasn't tree trimming been done? Why isn't the Bells Corners Substation complete and online? What can we do to make our electricity supply more reliable?

Hydro Ottawa answered. The Bells Corners substation was completed and is now online, helping with reliability for thousands of homes. Tree trimming has become a regular activity. And the number of blackouts in College Ward has been sharply reduced. Hydro Ottawa recently provided me with a slide deck to show what's changed. I hope you'll take a look.