Ottawa Street Bridge | Planned

[Waterlooer]

Is Ottawa Street going to connect with Fountain Street or just one of the side roads?

[Spokes]

My guess would be link up with Fountain, or where Fountain meets Woolwhich.

These new bridges are really pushing the development of the Eastern area, which is exactly what they said they wanted to do.

[mpd618]

Wait, since when is this a thing?

[garthdanlor]

Anyone find any documents for this proposal? I've heard rumours for years and even saw a fleeting mention on UT recently but haven't seen anything concrete.

[Duke-of-Waterloo]

I've seen official documents with the planned Ottawa Street extension in the past, but I couldn't find anything when creating the thread last night. If anything, I'd say this project is at least 20 years away.

This is the best evidence of intentions to do so though! Ottawa Street @ Keewatin Avenue

[taylortbb]

The 2009 GRT system map/regional cycling map has the extension/bridge in as a proposed road. Previous ones have also had it. However, interestingly it doesn't have the Fairway bridge.

[Urbanomicon]

The 2009 GRT system map/regional cycling map has the extension/bridge in as a proposed road. Previous ones have also had it. However, interestingly it doesn't have the Fairway bridge.

Was the proposed Ottawa Street bridge an alternative to the Fairway Road bridge, or a stand alone proposal in addition to it.

[KevinL]

Was the proposed Ottawa Street bridge an alternative to the Fairway Road bridge, or a stand alone proposal in addition to it.

From what I recall they've always been talked about separately. I think the Ottawa bridge had priority for a while, but things shifted and Fairway was chosen to go first. I can't recall the whys and wherefores, however.

[KayDubya]

From what I recall they've always been talked about separately. I think the Ottawa bridge had priority for a while, but things shifted and Fairway was chosen to go first. I can't recall the whys and wherefores, however.

I believe back when Ottawa was first extended to it's current length there was talk of eventually crossing the river which didn't sit well with Breslua residents. The Fairway extension gets the traffic more to the outskirts of of the village. As the suburbs continue to grow and the amount of people traveling between Guelph/Kitchener/Cambridge increases I think they will have to do something eventually.
A bridge now may actually alleviate some of the Breslua traffic and send it back into the city before it goes right through the heart of the village. I know they get a lot of traffic with people commuting from K/W to Cambridge and back again.

I lived in that part of town in the mid 80's, before Ottawa was extended and back then the corn fields grew right up against our fence in the backyard. Lackner Blvd. was a path that we road our dirt-bikes on. Boy am I getting old.

[Bureaucromancer]

I would fully support having both. As much as the development it would induce is problematic, there really is a need for alternate routes toward Guelph, the GO train will require better connections to Breslau and I really do see the Ottawa route as the only realistic way to get transit service to the Airport. Beyond that, if the region is going to continue to grow outward I see a lot more strategic sense in growing toward Guelph on the east side of the river than creating a sprawling mess to the west (although above all I'd like to see a push for intensifying the Homer Watson corridor).

[Waterlooer]

Welcome to Wonderful Waterloo!

Isn't Fairway Road going to go towards the airport as well? Once they build that new transit station on Victoria/King, transit users will not need to go towards the airport anymore.

[DHLawrence]

It's going to hook up to Kossuth, which is a minute or two south of the highway.

[Duke-of-Waterloo]

Beyond that, if the region is going to continue to grow outward I see a lot more strategic sense in growing toward Guelph on the east side of the river than creating a sprawling mess to the west (although above all I'd like to see a push for intensifying the Homer Watson corridor).

That's exactly where the Region wants to direct their outward growth - east towards the airport and Breslau. The new ROP designates land in Woolwich Township and north Cambridge for new growth. A good chunk of it will be prestige, large-lot industrial.