The future of Petawawa Boulevard (County Road 51) remains in question. Yesterday morning (March 10th), the command team from Garrison Petawawa and municipal representatives including Petawawa Mayor Bob Sweet were invited to the County of Renfrew operations committee meeting. The main item on the agenda was a delegation from Colonel Louis Lapointe regarding Petawawa Boulevard. The base commander laid out a list of priorities he would like to see for the local roadway.
As an alternative to a second bridge, Lapointe proposed three roundabouts along Petawawa Boulevard, one at the base entrance, one at Victoria Street by McDonald’s and at the intersection of Doran/Mohns Avenue. Other possible solutions brought up included the addition of a second access point to the Garrison near the Petawawa Point or along Highway 17 through the Mattawa Plains. Lapointe says they also want to fix traffic light timing.
The base commander wasn’t able to commit any funding towards the expansion of Petawawa Boulevard. The total cost to four lane the road including a second bridge is upwards of $21-million. Lapointe says when it comes to National Defense spending the money primarily goes towards building airfields and training grounds for soldiers.
Lapointe says they’re missing out on opportunities and adds they can’t expand at the Garrison because they don’t have the infrastructure to support a new unit. He adds you would expect new roads and bridges to be built to support growth in the area. Lapointe says since Highway 17 was expanded over the Petawawa River in 1977 there’s been no addition to the local road network despite the base doubling in size. Emergency vehicles also have difficulties getting on and off the base during peak traffic hours. Lapointe says the Garrison is the only fire department in the county that has high elevation trucks and if they can’t get out the gate that’s a problem.
Petawawa Mayor Bob Sweet says he’s been trying to get funding for this project since 2007 and has worked with seven base commanders and five wardens over that time to try and make it a reality. Sweet talked about designing the roundabouts to leave room for a possible four-lane expansion in the future.
The operations committee is recommending to county council to complete an estimate and design for the three intersections along Petawawa Boulevard where roundabouts are being considered. The recommendation also suggests moving County Road 51 back to the asset management plan with a hope to secure senior levels of government funding within the next 5-years. The County of Renfrew is planning $1.6-million in upgrades to Petawawa Boulevard which includes road resurfacing, curb repairs, and rehabilitation for the Petawawa River bridge. The shave and pave section of work is planned for 2021 with the bridge maintenance planned in 2022.
County Councillor Janice Visneskie-Moore says we should bite the bullet on this one and debenture or get a loan for the 4-lane expansion and addition of a second bridge on County Road 51. She says after 13-years of being told there’s no funding available from the federal and provincial government why keep waiting. Chief Administrative Officer for the County of Renfrew, Paul Morreau, told members of the operations committee they don’t have the financial capability to debenture the project without taking other items off the 10-year capital plan.
In a motion moved by councillor Peter Emon and seconded by Warden Debbie Robinson, the operations committee voted 4-3 in favour of sending the recommendations to county council. The matter will be discussed further and voted on by county councillors at the end of the month.