King Edward Avenue redevelopment encouraged
By Derek Spalding, OTTAWA CITIZEN January 22, 2014 3:00 PM
OTTAWA — City councillors on Wednesday moved ahead with plans to transform a portion of King Edward Avenue into a more livable street.
The politicians gave a traditional main-street designation to a stretch of the busy thoroughfare between Rideau and Bruyere streets in hopes that more flexibility in what can be built there will make the popular truck route more welcoming.
Councillors are hoping to spur more mixed use development, with larger buildings replacing the existing low row houses.
In Tuesday’s decision, council also approved rezoning of a property on nearby St. Patrick Street, allowing for the construction of a new nine-storey, 98-unit hotel.
When this part of the rezoning was discussed at planning committee in December, critics argued the hotel, expected to be much higher than any other building around it, is actually a far cry from traditional main-street zoning, which is typically capped at six storeys.
Several signs of improvement for King Edward are emerging. In addition to the reconstruction of the Nouvelle-Scene theatre and Claridge planning a condo complex at the Rideau Street intersection, there is now talk the city will seriously consider building a tunnel for truck traffic heading in and out of Quebec.
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