Bike path planned across former high school field

Proposal would link Laurier with Slater

Ottawa- Carleton District School Board staff are seeking approval to move ahead with the city on an agreement for a bikeway to be built across the field at the former Ottawa Technical High School.

City officials had wanted such a pathway to link Laurier Avenue West with Slater Street in northwest Centretown, allowing cyclists to connect with bike routes that cross LeBreton Flats and head west.

The proposed bikeway would start north of Laurier at Percy Street, turn west toward Bronson about midway through the field and continue north to Slater.

As part of the work, city staff would also modify Laurier between Bronson and Bay Street and restore some parking along that stretch. Residents of condos along that section of Laurier had decried losing spots as a result of the segregated bike lanes that were implemented as a two-year pilot project in 2011.

If approved, the plans would appear to further entrench the experimental lane. About 23 parking spaces could go on one side of Laurier, while the segregated bike lane there now would be raised to the same level as the sidewalk, or it and the sidewalk would be combined into an elevated multi-use pathway, said Colin Simpson, senior project manager for transportation planning at the city.

The plans would likely require a strip of green space north of the sidewalk, and staff would have to figure out what’s to become of at least a couple of trees that hug the asphalt sidewalk along Laurier near Bronson.

If the school board approves, the city already has funding for the pathway and work could likely start next year, Simpson said. Trustees are to discuss the issue as committee of the whole on Tuesday, and a final board decision would follow.