Newly approved plan for ByWard Market includes street redesigns, design competition

The latest plan for Ottawa's historic ByWard Market involves wider pedestrian spaces, more trees and a national design competition for a key intersection.

An Ottawa City Hall committee unanimously approved the plan on Tuesday, involving redesigns for some of the streets through the market, as well as replacing a parking garage with a central “destination building” and civic square, to be a focal point and festival space.

“I think the goalpost of the 200th anniversary of the ByWard Market gives us that impetus to do what we can to make that historic and important part of our city more dynamic and more vibrant,” says Mayor Jim Watson, after the Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting.

Watson says he thinks the plan is achievable because the projects within can be spread out over the next several years.

“The plan is going to be done incrementally as opposed to try to do everything at once, because A) we don't have the money for that and B) that would be so disruptive,” adds the mayor.

The plan also includes holding a national design competition, to come up with a new layout for the intersection of Colonel By Drive, Rideau Street and Sussex Drive. A traffic study would be required first, and the price for both items would be $400,000. That total does not include the cost of rebuilding the intersection.

In fact, no money has yet been earmarked for any of the projects envisioned in this new ByWard Market plan.

“We have to also convince the other levels of government…because this is a large pricetag and we can't do it on our own,” says Watson.

The ByWard Market Public Realm Plan now goes to city council for debate, December 9.