Speed Merivale Construction: McRae

This is a note River Councillor McRae sent to city staff:

From: McRae, Maria

Sent: September 22, 2011 6:46 PM

To: Duclos, Carina; Leblanc, Patrick

Cc: Watson, Jim (Mayor); Hobbs, Katherine; River Ward; Hickey, Andrew; Newell, Wayne; Manconi, John; Wylie, Kevin; Forestell, Stephen D; Arpin, Serge

Subject: RE: Merivale Road – Night Work

Hi Carina and Pat:

Thank you for following up with my inquiry about this project. As important as this new watermain is to our community, I am keen to see this work conclude as quickly as possible, as it is disruptive to our residents and businesses on both sides of Carling Avenue.

As you know, leading up to the start of this project, the previous Councillor for the area, Christine Leadman and I worked with you and businesses to address issues of concern. I fondly recall your willingness to host meetings with us and to meet with residents and business owners to ensure that we fully understood their anticipated challenges and to proactively address these challenges.

I am pleased that, at the time, the City accommodated specific concerns and interests of businesses, such as the Westgate Shopping Centre and Macies Best Western, and that our efforts to add significant landscaping and new pedestrian and cycling paths around the Westgate area were well-received and integrated into the final plans. Recent changes to the project, such as the closing of Kirkwood Avenue and the impending closure of the eastbound 417 ramp, combined with the extended closure of Merivale Road, require us to develop a new strategy to address these changes. While I understand that construction projects of this magnitude can sometimes deviate from the original plan, we must be responsive to the impacts of these changes. Many residents from throughout Ottawa support local businesses in the mall and others require specific services provided there.

When I raised serious issues about pedestrian access to Westgate earlier this week, you responded by immediately investigating the problem and making changes therein. I took the time to visit the site again today and I am optimistic that the changes you have put in place will be helpful. I will closely monitor the response of our residents to these changes.

I touched base with Councillor Hobbs in passing today and hope to speak with her at greater length to determine what plan we can put in place to work on these issues together. For example, with pre-Christmas shopping just around the corner, we need to make a concerted effort to support the businesses at Westgate, while making it convenient for customers to access the mall to shop there. I believe that the City should work with the property owner to develop an effective strategy to quickly improve conditions today and to put a plan in place for the upcoming holiday season.

As a first step, can you please immediately investigate adding more signage in the area to direct shoppers to the entrances of Westgate. Earlier today, I took the time to investigate all accesses to the mall and I believe that the City can quickly produce additional signage inviting shoppers to the plaza. I am particularly inspired by the excellent work of the Glebe BIA and Councillor Chernushenko regarding their collaborative approach to business and residential concerns during the Bank Street reconstruction. When I was in the Glebe today, I had no difficulty understanding that businesses were open and how to access them. Therefore, I see a significant role for the City to play in this regard.

Although I send regular written updates to the community, in light of these changes we need to re-group to develop a new communications strategy that tells everyone that Westgate is open for business and how to get there. While you state that you are working to have Merivale Road opened as soon as possible, we need your assurances that you will bring these concerns to the immediate attention of the contractor to work with you to develop a timeframe to improve all accesses to this site.

I look forward to continuing working with you and will be in touch to further discuss this issue.

With regards,

Maria

Maria McRae

River Ward City Councillor

Conseillère, quartier Rivière

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