The Wellington Village Community Association (WVCA) is a volunteer, non-profit community group of local residents that represents over 1,500 households in our neighbourhood.

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Assessing the impact of new access to Tunney’s Pasture

 The WVCA recently met with representatives from Councillor Jeff Leiper’s office, and the City’s Traffic Assessment Specialist for Kitchissippi Ward to discuss changes to the roadway network environs Tunney’s Pasture. 

As you may be aware, to help with the Stage 2 LRT detour, there are plans to install a new traffic signal at the intersection of Smirle Avenue and Scott Street. Plans also include adding a bridge over the transitway to connect Goldenrod Driveway to this intersection, providing new signalized access between Wellington Village and Tunney’s Pasture.

To determine how this new traffic signal and connection to Tunney’s Pasture may impact the traffic on Smirle Avenue and the surrounding streets, the WVCA requested that a traffic study be conducted. In the past, the WVCA has raised concerns repeatedly regarding the intersection of Ross and Scott, which — along with Holland Avenue — serves as one of the few access points from Tunney’s to Scott Street. A traffic study would also be useful in assessing the existing through traffic issues on all of the streets between Wellington and Scott. 

Unfortunately, the City has informed us that the affected streets do not currently meet the city’s criteria to be approved for a traffic study. As an alternative, they suggested that the neighbourhood could wait to see how the traffic responds to the LRT being up and running, and how the new Goldenrod connection is being used. They also raised the possibility of temporarily closing the street, with planters, as a pilot project. However, the WVCA is concerned that this might cause traffic to use adjacent streets instead, merely shifting the issue rather than addressing it.

Other options include requesting that the signal be programmed to prohibit straight through traffic in the north-south direction, as has been done at other intersections in the City (such as Baseline and Centrepointe Drive, for example). Looking into the future, the WVCA and the City both recognize the potential for new problems arising once the LRT detour is no longer needed, and Tunney’s Pasture is developed.  

The WVCA continues to maintain that a traffic study should be undertaken as part of the planning process for Tunney’s Pasture. Further, we would like to see how Wellington Village, and the other bordering communities are considered as part of this undertaking. Tunney’s Pasture is a Federal Government undertaking and therefore, may require some lobbying with them to achieve this.  If you are interested and available to assist the WVCA with this, please send an email to president@wvca.ca.


Summary:

City to conduct traffic study of Wellington Village – declined

City offered to conduct pilot closure of Smirle Avenue at Scott Street with planter boxes

WVCA request City to consider prohibiting North-South through traffic movements at the Smirle/Scott intersection – pending review

WVCA request to have community traffic impacts studied as part of Tunney’s Pasture redevelopment application – please indicate your availability to assist with this.

Friday, March 18, 2022

Tunney’s Pasture ski trail link

There’s a reason why you’ve been seeing many of our neighbours with blissed-out expressions on their faces as they carry their cross-country ski gear down local sidewalks.

The Kichi Sibi Winter Trail is a groomed, multi-use winter trail along the Sir John A. Macdonald multi-use path. It’s a local gem that promotes active living by providing access to the Ottawa River shoreline for walking, skiing, snowshoeing or winter biking. And now, a recent improvement has made access to it even easier for the residents of Wellington Village. 

This winter, the Trail added a link from Tunney’s Pasture, making ski excursions more accessible than ever. The hope is that this link will become a permanent fixture each winter, because it brings the trailhead into the neighbourhood.

As we wrap up the ski season we wanted to thank everyone involved in making Wellington Village a ski-in/ski-out urban neighbourhood!




Friday, March 11, 2022

Take Action on Wellington Village Parks & Trails!

Are you interested in the future of parks & trails in Wellington Village? 

If you answered "yes", read on to learn about current action opportunities from your Wellington Village Community Association. 


Addressing the lack of park space in Wellington Village

The WVCA invites residents of Wellington Village to express their interest in joining a working group that will consider potential solutions for addressing the lack of park space in the area between Holland Ave. and Island Park Drive to the north of Wellington Street. If you are interested in joining a small team that will consider this issue, please send an email to: wvca.park@gmail.com

Please indicated what street you live on, as we are hoping to achieve diverse geographic representation on the working group. 


Connecting Wellington Village to Tunney's, the Ottawa River and Beyond

The Kichi Sibi Winter Trail folks want to get a jump on Tunney's Pasture redevelopment plans by making sure multi-use pathways are part of the design right from the beginning. While it's not "exactly within" the boundaries of Wellington Village, their new Scott St. Connector Trail lies right at our doorstep! Have you used the new trail and have an opinion to share?  

Watch their video & share your feedback via the survey link provided. 

Or skip straight to the 3-question Trail survey

Survey closes March 18th. 


As a general update on Tunney's Pasture, the WVCA would like to remind residents that our working group, Neighbours for Tunney's continues to push for resident involvement in the redevelopment plans. Through this work, local community associations have been assured by Public Services & Procurement Canada and the Canada Lands Company that we can soon expect public engagement opportunities regarding the future of Tunney's. 

In the meantime, our working group continues to keep residents informed via regular e-news. Sign up by emailing neighboursfortunneys@gmail.com