Police board approves $193M contract for new station in southwest Ottawa

A new police station is coming to Barrhaven.

At the latest meeting of the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) on Monday, Sept. 26, board members approved a near $200-million contract to Broccolini to build the new facility, which would be located on Prince of Wales Drive.

It’s a project that has been plagued with long delays and rising construction costs, and while there have been some raised eyebrows over the ballooning cost, Barrhaven East councillor Wilson Lo explains why its was necessary.

“The scope of the station grew,” Lo told Wake Up with Rob Snow. “At first it was meant to be just a simple police detachment, but over time, different needs were identified to be moved into this new building.”

The plan is for the $193-million detachment to house the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) traffic unit, the marine unit, special events, a new 9-1-1 call centre, a collision reporting centre and the records management unit.

It will also replace a pair of existing stations, one at 4561 Bank Street and one at 245 Greenbank Road, which councillor Lo said are at the end of their lifespan and very expensive to maintain.

Lo also spoke to the board about how residents are feeling about a new facility in their neighbourhood, and beyond some concerns about construction noise, he’s hearing more overwhelming support.

“There’s a lot of relief this project is going ahead because a lot of people who bought in the area bought with the idea the OPS will be building something there,” Lo said. “A lot of these services, especially the collision reporting centre — people do have to go pretty far away for it, from the south. So, they are thankful for this service to be brought closer and they are looking forward to this presence just being there and the overall feeling of safety.”

Once shovels hit the ground, the new facility is expected to take about three years to build.