New updated content: 2024-11-25 12:23:34

A campaign led by a group associated with Carleton University, and a separate one sponsored by Councillor Menard, have been launched to remove from the Transportation Master Plan a proposed new road through AltaVista greenspace. This is a very old proposal (it was one of the triggers for the founding of the Greenspace Alliance in 1997) that will just not die. We agreed to support the opposition to this transportation corridor and ramp up our own advocacy against it as an idea whose time has passed.

New updated content: 2025-03-27 11:10:29

Councillors Menard and Carr held an Open House on January 29 concerning the AltaVista Transportation Corridor.  This is a 50-year-old idea that is still in the Transportation Master Plan project list, having never over this period attained the priority necessary to be funded. This zombie project would be a major greenspace killer, including a large section of the Poets’ Pathway and cause significant upheaval across many neighbourhoods from Walkley Road to Old Ottawa East. The GA will work with partners to prepare for its defense.

New updated content: 2025-06-06 13:18:16

More good news, the northern section of the Alta Vista Transportation Corridor, running from Smythe Road across the Rideau River to Lees Avenue in Old East Ottawa, has been removed from the Transportation Master Plan. This will preserve greenspace in Hurdman Park, south of the river and Springhurst Park across the river. This was achieved as a result of the mobilization of residents of Capital Ward and environmental groups, and the City’s acknowledgement of changes in transportation patterns since the plan was first brought forward in 2005. There still remains plans, however, for the southern section of the corridor, extending to Walkley Road, which would destroy a lot of urban greenspace. The GA will continue to advocate for its preservation.