City receives prestigious award for new transportation plan

The City of Ottawa was recognized today by the Ontario Professional Planners Institute with a 2014 Award for Excellence for its new Transportation Master Plan.

The Transportation Master Plan won the award in the category of Municipal Statutory Planning Studies, Reports and Documents.

Under the updated Transportation Master Plan, the City is proposing to extend light rail farther to the east, west and south of the City, which will bring close to 700,000 residents, or 67 per cent of the total city population, to within five kilometres of ligh- rail transit by 2023. The Transportation Master Plan includes additional transit, as well as road, cycling and pedestrian projects that are affordable, and designed to leverage previous investments, build better connections, and support economic growth.

“We are extremely proud of the process for updating the Transportation Master Plan and the resulting award-winning plan that sets the direction of future growth in Ottawa with projects that balance the needs of all users, including addressing automobile congestion pinch-points, and missing links in cycling and pedestrian networks,” said Mayor Jim Watson. “Much work went into producing such a comprehensive development strategy, and it is gratifying to receive this prestigious award.”

The Transportation Master Plan, one of three key master plans that set a vision for Ottawa’s future, was developed to guide the City’s future land development and the growth of Ottawa’s transportation system. It was updated through a comprehensive consultative process and unanimously approved by Ottawa City Council on November 26, 2013.

The Transportation Master Plan identifies the transportation facilities, services and policies that the City of Ottawa will implement to serve a projected population of 1.14 million people by 2031. It sets direction for the City’s day-to-day transportation programs and provides a basis for budget planning that is consistent with the growth management policies of the City’s Official Plan.

“On behalf of the many contributors responsible for the success of the Transportation Master Plan, I am honoured to receive this important award from the highly regarded Ontario Professional Planners Institute,” said Councillor Keith Egli, Chair of the City’s Transportation Committee. “The Transportation Master Plan is an incredible resource to guide our future growth in building a liveable Ottawa, and I thank the many people who contributed to its development and success.”

The Transportation Master Plan will come to life through mechanisms such as long-range financial plans, mid-range implementation plans, annual budgets, program development, area and corridor transportation studies, design or practice guidelines, and community design plans.

The Ontario Professional Planners Institute is the recognized voice of the province’s planning profession, with more than 4,000 members who work in government, private practice, universities, and not-for-profit agencies in the fields of urban and rural development, community design, environmental planning, transportation, health, social services, heritage conservation, housing and economic development.