‘Ottawa’ ‘Painful’ Ottawa Street Name Changes Done by 2017, Councillors Told
Sunnyside Drive in Stittsville became a continuation of Brightside Avenue in March, to avoid confusion with Sunnyside Avenue in Old Ottawa South. But Stittsville’s Bell Street, Meadowland Drive and Elm Crescent are still waiting for their new names.
City staff have been working on the problem of similar-sounding or duplicated street names in Ottawa since amalgamation in 2001 because they can lead to confusion for emergency vehicles and mail delivery.
Staff told councillors Tuesday the process should be complete by March 2017.
“That process has been a relatively painful process. It’s taking more time than originally expected to change address names,” said acting manager of planning and growth management, Michael Mizzi.
“It’s something that communities hold dear.”
For years, public consultation over changing street names was so acrimonious and time-consuming that the process became bogged down, so the city only managed to rename one or two streets per year.
17 names changed in 2015
Under a new, streamlined consultation method, residents suggest new street names online, and changes don’t require the approval of committee or council. Staff managed to change 17 street names in 2015, with two-thirds of the city’s 23 wards still to go.
Staff have a list of 80 streets that have been identified as problematic, but where residents haven’t yet been notified a name change could be coming.
‘There’s no question it is a very long process.’ – Frank Bidin, City of Ottawa
“We are proceeding as quickly as we can,” said Frank Bidin, the city’s chief building official. “There’s no question it is a very long process.”
Coun. Rick Chiarelli, who witnessed outrage in his ward five years ago over the renaming of Robertson Road in Bells Corners, commended Bidin and his staff for their “intestinal fortitude” in dealing with the file.
Coun. Jan Harder also recalled the “extreme backlash” over renaming streets shortly after amalgamation, when efforts focused on exact duplicates.
In her Barrhaven ward, where there are currently two intersections where Jockvale Road meets Strandherd Drive, one stretch of Jockvale will soon be renamed in honour of Hélène Campbell, a young woman who received a double-lung transplant and became an advocate for organ donation.