Change to Recommended Alternative for Island Park Drive Interchange

Re: MTO WP 663-93-00, Hwy 417 PDR EA Study, Hwy 417, from Hwy 416 easterly to Anderson Rd. Island Park Drive Interchange.

This letter is further to the Public meeting held on June 29, 2005 regarding the Island Park Drive Interchange, and the Public Involvement Centres held in Ottawa during the period of June 20-22, 2005.

At the June 29, 2005 public meeting, the Ministry made a commitment to reassess the recommended alternative for the Island Park Drive interchange (relocation of the ramp to the west side of Island Park Drive).

Based on a further consideration of input received from the City of Ottawa, stakeholder groups and the public, the recommended alternative for the Island Park Drive interchange will be to retain the existing interchange. The recommended alternative presented at PIC 3 and the public meeting will be revised accordingly and will be documented in the Transportation Environmental Study Report (TESR) for the study.

Throughout the planning study, MTO has sought to achieve the appropriate balance between the opportunity to improve safety and minimize community impacts.

The evaluation of alternatives considered a long list of criteria, each of which was weighted by the project team. At the time of the evaluation of alternatives, the "do nothing" option ranked only very slightly behind the recommended option and ranked second from among 6 options evaluated, indicating that potential benefits and adverse impacts were very close.

The public consultation process, particularly the focussed public meeting, was valuable in establishing community values and priorities, particularly the strong feelings to any impacts to the wooded area adjoining Hampton Park.

The ministry will continue to monitor safety and operations at the Island Park Interchange.

Sincerely,

D.L. Lindensmith,
Sr. Project Engineer
MTO Planning Design Section