Province pledges $4 million to Rockland for County Road 17 environmental assessment

The province of Ontario is paving the way for a traffic improvement project that could result in a bigger, better and much safer County Road 17.

Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne paid a visit to the Clarence-Rockland YMCA-YWCA Recreation Complex on Wednesday, May 19 to officially announce the province's $4 million commitment to an environmental assessment (EA) for County Road 17.

"The province understands that traffic congestion is a major issue on this road and, as a result, so is the safety of the motorists travelling on it," Wynne told those gathered for the funding announcement. "The EA is the next step in moving this project forward it [the EA] will evaluate the traffic options on this road. It will look at the potential of widening the road to a four-lane road, which will not only improve traffic flow, but safety as well."

The United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR) has agreed to take the lead on the two-year study, which will focus on 8.4 kilometres of County Road 17 east of Canaan Road.

This EA will not include the 12.4 kilometre stretch to the west where it widens into the four-lane Queensway at Trim Road.

Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MPP Jean-Marc Lalonde praised the UCPR for agreeing to carry out the study, especially since the City of Ottawa has repeatedly indicated it doesn't want any part of the project and doesn't feel it should have to pay for any work because much of the traffic congestion is caused by motorists living east of the city.

"We've been waiting long enough ... I said, let's start the environmental assessment in the Prescott and Russell sector, then we will continue negotiating (with the city of Ottawa)," Lalonde commented. "Nearly 80 per cent of people living in Clarence-Rockland commute to Ottawa each and every day. I've heard City of Ottawa officials say, 'Why can't they use the 417?' My answer has always been that in many cases, the 417 is about 35 kilometres away and commuters don't want to add another 70 minutes to their drive every day. It's ridiculous and something has to be done. Now, we are moving forward."

Last year, a study done by the City of Ottawa reported that there have been 270 collisions between 2003 and 2007, including five fatal collisions, on the busy stretch of road.

Provincial officials have made it clear they have no plans to repeat an offer that was rejected by the city two years ago to fund a study including the city's portion of the road, which included $80 million from the federal and provincial governments to cover most of any ensuing road construction costs.

"At this point, there are no plans to revisit that offer," Wynne remarked. "Ottawa passed on the opportunity for an EA and they don't want to take us up on our offer. We have no ability to require them to participate at this point, but there must be ongoing discussion with the City of Ottawa about this project."

Stéphane Parisien, chief administrative officer for the UCPR, said it would be better to study the entire length of congested road from Rockland west to Trim Road but is pleased work will finally begin.
"It's something we are struggling with as well but it would give us an opportunity to possibly find other ways of redirecting traffic if the city was not participating," Parisien said.
Clarence-Rockland Mayor Richard Lalonde said a market study conducted in 2007 revealed that some 22,000 cars pass through the municipality on a daily basis. He said the municipality is growing and, if wants to continue to attract new residents and businesses, the County Road 17 project is a must.

"We absolutely need a four-lane highway," he stated. "I just learned that from Monday to today, we had 23 requests for building permits. Our building permits for March were four times higher than last year. We are growing and if we don't do something now to deal with this road, it's only going to get worse."

When asked how he feels about the City of Ottawa's reluctance to work with the municipality, Lalonde said he is optimistic the city will see the light.

"Eventually, [the City of Ottawa] will come on board," he commented. "Eventually, they will understand how important this is."