Posted Jul 24, 2026, 3:38 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2012
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Mayoral candidates divided on whether a ring road can solve gridlock in Ottawa
Critics say it would cost billions, but candidate promises to get it done with provincial money
Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News · Posted: Jul 21, 2026 4:54 PM EDT | Last Updated: July 23
Whether Ottawa should have a ring road to bypass the city has become an issue in the race for mayor, as candidates split over whether a project likely to cost billions is the right solution to rural truck routes and traffic gridlock on the Queensway.
The idea of a new southern highway route has been mentioned for decades as a way to divert traffic from central Ottawa. In an email to supporters on Tuesday, candidate Alex Lawson promised to get it built if he's elected mayor.
"We're promising to take the ring road seriously, to actually find a connection that's going to get the trucks out of Manotick. It's going to take them off of Bridge Street. It's going to make a lot of communities a lot safer," he told CBC in an interview.
"It's going to remove a ton of congestion on [Highway] 417."
But his promise relies on provincial money that isn't guaranteed to come. Lawson said the province will build and maintain the new route as part of the 400-series highway system.
Asked how he can commit to a project while asking someone else to pay for it, he said it's the mayor's job to advocate for that investment.
"We can't just sit back and say hopefully, eventually they're going to offer to write us a cheque for a ring road," he said. "We need to come to them with a real plan. We need to get started. We need to say, 'This is where a ring road is going to go.'"
He noted that the province has already signalled openness to that idea. A 2022 transportation plan says the province will "explore the potential of an Ottawa ring road to reduce congestion in the city core."
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria appeared to go further this April.
"I think there's a good case for that and something that I'll be looking at very closely," Sarkaria said at the time.
But two other candidates running for mayor said the the idea shouldn't be a priority for Ottawa. Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper called a ring road an expensive distraction from better transportation solutions.
"A ring road is likely to cost taxpayers billions of dollars, and ultimately not actually solve the problem of congestion," he said, adding that he prefers transit investments to make OC Transpo a sustainable long-term alternative.
"It is a provincial decision but it is not something for which I'd advocate," Leiper said.
Another challenger, Neil Saravanamuttoo, said a ring road could eventually be part of Ottawa's transportation network, but isn't a top priority today.
"Anyone can make a promise to have a provincially funded multibillion-dollar highway come in, but it's another thing to make it happen," he said.
"Let's be honest. A ring road would take decades to come to fruition if it ever sees the light of day, so it's a very big promise without a lot behind it."
Sutcliffe, Lawson campaigns trade barbs over ring road
Lawson said a ring road hasn't been built because of a lack of political will, telling supporters that Ottawa needs a mayor who will "stop stalling and get it done."
He went after incumbent Mayor Mark Sutcliffe for a vote last year which, in Lawson's view, amounted to shutting the door on the idea.
"Mark Sutcliffe voted to take it off the table," he said in his email.
CBC asked Sutcliffe's campaign for comment. Spokesperson Liam Roche said in a statement that Lawson "clearly has no idea how to get Ottawa moving," and said the way Lawson is characterizing the 2025 council vote is wrong.
Here's what happened: At a committee meeting in June of last year, Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney successfully amended a set of recommendations about the city's transportation master plan. It asked higher levels of government for a "full and fair evaluation of a southern ring road" as a priority.
When those recommendations came to a vote at council on July 23, there was a motion to remove any mention of a ring road from the main clauses, though the province's commitment to explore it did show up in the "whereas" clauses that explain the purpose of the motion.
Sutcliffe was one of 16 members of council who voted for that motion.
Lawson said it showed a lack of commitment to commuters, though Roche said council simply "disagreed on the best way to advance a ring road in Ottawa."
"The Mayor has worked closely with Councillor Tierney and the province to push the idea forward," he said, something Tierney, a longstanding supporter of the ring road, confirmed.
Roche pointed to Sarkaria's statement as an example of Sutcliffe's advocacy, noting that it happened at a mayor's breakfast event after Sutcliffe asked the minister if a ring road is "something we can work on together."
But Saravanamuttoo said a ring road would compete with other investments the province could make in Ottawa, and he prefers to focus on things that would bring relief sooner.
"We need to focus on the congestion on streets that we have, and what we can do to alleviate that for the residents and commuters that have to deal with this very real problem today," he said.
Leiper doubts that getting such an expensive project done is a simple matter of political will.
"I find it difficult to believe that Ottawa city council can sway that kind of investment from the province," he said.
Voting day for the municipal election is Oct. 26.
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ma...d-can-solve-gridlock-in-ottawa-9.7278324
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