Connaught Ranges ruled out for DND parking

The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces are trying to figure out the major parking problems they have at their new headquarters at the former Nortel Campus on Carling Avenue.

The new Department of National Defence headquarters campus in the west end of Ottawa only has parking for about half of the proposed 9,300 employees who will eventually work there.

DND officials also acknowledge the site is not well served by existing bus routes and it was once labelled by a top department official as a remote location.

The department is leasing parking on a short-term basis from private organizations. It is also looking to build a parkade on the campus for 1,500 vehicles.

At one point the department was looking at allowing staff to park at the Connaught Ranges and Primary Training Centre (CRPTC) and then have shuttles move employees to the Carling Avenue headquarters campus.

In a response to this newspaper, the DND noted that the option was not pursued for a number of reasons, including the timeline for completion was very long due to preparing the site, demolition if required, roadwork, installation of lighting and final site development.

It was estimated it would take one year to design sites and one to two years to build given environmental restrictions.

It would have also needed NCC and city approval.

Other reasons given include: complexity of work and potential impact on CRPTC ops make it an option that is not preferable; marshy conditions would have required significant preparatory work; Species At Risk (SAR) concerns; potential impact on CRPTC training; and safety concerns for pedestrians during busy training periods (cadets/ Reserve, etc.).

Finally, there would have been a requirement to create a traffic light at Rifle Road and Carling Avenue to permit left turns to Carling, which would have required additional time to achieve.

But DND noted that efforts are also underway, in collaboration with OC Transpo, to improve bus routes to the new headquarters and frequency from five main catchment areas around the region.

Those include East, South (X2), West and North (Gatineau).

“A plan is currently being developed that would facilitate public transport during peak hours from various key hubs across the NCR for DND/CAF personnel, direct to NDHQ (Carling ), while OC Transpo collects the data necessary to assess public transportation options to NDHQ (Carling) with a reduced commute time,” the department noted in an email. dpugliese@postmedia.com