Barrhaven residents call on city to fix Greenbank Road sooner

Some south Barrhaven residents have signed a petition, calling on the city to fix a key route connecting their neighbourhoods with the rest of the city, and say the rapidly-growing area can't wait another 10 years for a solution.

The existing, two-lane Greenbank Road bridge over the Jock River has two 90-degree turns at either end; a challenge to navigate for large vehicles like school buses.

“It's more than an inconvenience issue; this is a safety issue,” said David Hill, the organizer of a petition calling on the city to expedite a new Greenbank Road crossing. “It's also a local economic issue, as well.”

Neighbourhoods in southern Barrhaven, like Half Moon Bay and Stonebridge, are rapidly growing, and so are their traffic levels. 

“The issue is that the infrastructure just hasn't kept pace,” Hill told CityNews Ottawa on Monday, March 21. “And that's exacerbated when you look at the Greenbank Road bridge.”

The city's current plan is to build a new Greenbank Road bridge over the Jock River and realign the road to the west, with construction scheduled to start in 2030 or later. Hill's petition calls on the City of Ottawa to expedite construction and make the crossing a priority, as it develops its 2024 Transportation Master Plan.

Hill said his petition had gathered about 2,000 signatures and was scheduled to close this week, before being presented to the city.