Infrastructure rehabilitation work on the Rideau Canal walls in downtown

Dear Resident,

I am writing to you today in order to introduce myself and provide you a bit of information about Parks Canada’s upcoming work on the Rideau Canal walls in downtown Ottawa.

My name is Darryl Whitehead and I am the external relations manager for the Ontario Waterways Unit of Parks Canada, covering the Rideau Canal and Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Sites. Our external relations team has been assisting the engineers and project managers in liaising with municipalities, communities, residents, visitors, and other stakeholders as we complete an historic reinvestment into the vital infrastructure along both canals systems.

Beginning this week, Parks Canada will rehabilitate a 500m length of the canal wall between the Bank Street Bridge and Pig Island on the East side of the Rideau Canal. Work includes chipping away the damaged concrete and re-forming and placing new concrete to resurface the walls. A 60m section near Pig Island will require complete reconstruction to address structural issues. The work will also include the replacement of light posts, handrails, and repaving the pathway.

The in-water work associated with this project is scheduled to be completed by May 2017 with remaining shoreline work to be completed by summer 2017.

A 1.4km section of the Rideau Canal Eastern Pathway, from Clegg Street to the Bank Street Bridge, will also be closed throughout construction and a detour route for pedestrians and cyclists, primarily along Echo Drive, will be in place. Temporary measures will be put in place at either end of the detour to assist pedestrians and cyclists in safely crossing Colonel By Drive as part of the detour route.

Fences will extend into the canal a short distance, but will have only a limited impact on the Rideau Canal Skateway. Residents and visitors will continue to be able to skate past this location while the rehabilitation work is underway.

For each of our projects we are preparing community engagement lists that we will use when we provide email updates as they are available. I would encourage you to email me at the address below should you or anyone you know wish to be added to our engagement list for this project. These updates will also be posted at project specific web pages. Once available, the links to these pages will be found at www.pc.gc.ca/rcOttawa.

For more information about the historic reinvestment into the Rideau Canal or any of the more than $100 million of announced projects please visit www.pc.gc.ca/rcInfrastructure. Should you have any further questions or concerns about any aspect of the work, please do not hesitate to contact me at Darryl.whitehead@pc.gc.ca.

Sincerely,
Darryl Whitehead
External Relations Manager,
Ontario Waterways Parks Canada