Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says the city’s transport committee will vote next week on whether to close Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill.
A portion of the major east-west artery in Ottawa’s downtown has been closed to traffic since last year’s “convoy of freedom” Display.
Sutcliffe told the National Capital Commission on Thursday that a proposal to close Wellington Street to vehicles was effective until the end of 2022, and an interim decision needed to be made as the council considered a longer-term plan.
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“Our transport committee is going to decide next week what to do next while we envision a sustainable (and) long-term future for Wellington Street,” Sutcliffe said.
Yasir Naqvi, Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, said on Twitter that he wanted the road to remain closed and the area to be redefined as a “pedestrian-first space”.
Naqvi wrote, “I believe our short-term focus should be on activating the road with benches, food stands and amenities until a longer-term project can be restarted.”
Other councilors have echoed Naqvi’s call. Jeff Leeper stated that he has been in support of closing the street from the beginning, and that there are better uses for the space than “ferry cars through the downtown core”.
A memo from the city’s traffic director, Phil Landry, to the city council on January 17 stated that the closure has increased traffic on other major streets in the downtown core.
Landry wrote, “Overall, the closure of Wellington Street does not result in a total failure of the transportation network in the area, mainly due to the reduced traffic and pedestrian volumes.”
But as federal public servants and other workers return to the office, there is concern that overcrowding will increase.
The memo said a transportation study would be conducted to see how the downtown road network is performing as more people return to the area.
Landry said a final recommendation on the future of Wellington Street would not come until later this year or early 2024.
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