I’ve heard from many of you that the conditions of March Road are very frustrating, and I couldn’t agree more. Since taking office, this has been a priority for me, and I am very proud to have secured the funding in the 2020 budget for this work to move forward. This work was not scheduled for another five years. I am happy to have successfully moved this up in our city priorities.
The much-needed repaving of March Road from Carling Avenue to Shirley’s Brook Drive will start on May 4th, and it is scheduled to take approximately two months to complete all lanes.
What you can expect
The resurfacing will be completed by Cavanagh Construction and will take place during the day between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. due to the currently low traffic volumes. Should traffic impacts become an issue, construction will be switched to overnight work.
During construction, one direction of March Road will be closed while traffic will be rerouted on the other side of the road. Northbound lanes will be closed for one month with all traffic being redirected and sharing the southbound lanes. Then, southbound lanes will be closed with traffic being redirected and sharing the northbound lanes.
Cycling Infrastructure
Throughout the planning of this project, cyclist safety was an important factor. Although March Road is not well travelled by cyclists currently, it is a main artery that would be desirable if safer. The design includes a 1.5 metre bike lane marked with white paint, which includes a painted buffer zone. This will provide extra space between travel lanes and the cyclist lane of travel.
The Cycling Safety Improvement Program will also provide green thermoplastic crossings for northbound cyclists on March Road crossing the westbound-to-northbound traffic coming off Carling Avenue. This will help make cyclists more visible and should help clarify the right-of-way for movement. There will also be green thermoplastic at the Solandt intersection. I will share visuals of this as the work progresses.
Smart Intersection
In other exciting news, the resurfacing of March Road has also created an opportunity for the implementation of a smart intersection at March Road and Terry Fox. The city is partnering with Invest Ottawa with the goal of creating a smart intersection that can coherently provide data to the connected and autonomous vehicles of the future. I will share more details on this as it rolls out this coming summer.
Thank you for your patience while this construction is underway. I appreciate it will be an inconvenience for those that must travel on this section of March Road. Please keep in touch with any questions or concerns. I look forward to smooth travels on March Road once this project is complete.