The Value of Investing in Canadian Downtowns - International ...

transit service downtown and across the Ottawa region. The system has the highest per-capita ridership for a region
of its size in North America.
Downtown Ottawa, will soon enhance its levels of connectivity with the development of a 12.5 km light rail transit line
that will extend from Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Road, with 13 transit stations. The approved route includes a
downtown tunnel from Lebreton Flats to the University of Ottawa, with four stations at Lyon/Bay, O’Connor/Metcalfe,
the Rideau Centre and the University of Ottawa Campus. This project is intended to reduce the existing heavy
concentration of bus traffic through the downtown. Planners and designers are working with local stakeholders to
mitigate the impact “on the street” at key transit interchanges.
The historical focus of downtown’s retail, arts and fashion activities is Rideau Street. Under the watchful guidance of
local business interests, the area continues to evolve. In 1983, in an attempt to halt the steady decline in retail market
share of downtown resulting from suburban competition, the local, provincial and federal governments undertook the
Rideau Area Project, in partnership with several private developers. The major investment was the Rideau Centre,
which is now the largest regional shopping facility in Ottawa. Following extensive consultation, an agreement was
reached on a plan to improve vehicular circulation in the area (including the ByWard Market). Another feature of the
plan was the creation of a bus-only Transit Mall, modelled on the highly successful Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis.
Rideau merchants remained concerned about the impact of an enclosed transit mall adjacent to street-front
shopping, and argued for better pedestrian linkages between the mall and the street. A compromise solution that
sought to replicate the climate controlled environment available within the mall led to the construction of glass and
steel enclosures along each sidewalk, which had the unfortunate effect of restricting rather than enhancing the
customer experience. When these ungainly, hard to maintain structures were removed in 1993, the street was rebuilt
as a traditional main street, open to all traffic. With the support and advocacy of the merchants, a $4.2 million dollar
investment in design and landscaping Rideau Street was made by Downtown Rideau property owners and
businesses and the City of Ottawa 25 .
With Rideau Street functioning as an arterial road once
again, Rideau serves as a transit corridor, generating heavy
bus traffic along Rideau Street. This activity is compounded
by a large number of heavy trucks that pass through on their
way to Quebec. Rideau Street is a segment of the only
interprovincial truck route in the National Capital Region. This
high level of heavy traffic reportedly makes Rideau Street
challenging to navigate for the thousands of commuters and
patrons that pass through the area daily. With the prospect of
additional pedestrian traffic related to the planned LRT,
stakeholders will be working with the City and transit
authorities to arrive at satisfactory design solutions.
Right: Rideau Canal,
Petr Maur
25
Downtown Rideau BIA. (No Date). History. Retrieved from: http://www.downtownrideau.com/index.php?page=181&sec=7. Accessed 2012 February 13.
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