For Findlay Creek resident Roger Baliki, avoiding the intersection of Bank Street and Leitrim Road has become part of his routine.
Baliki said he now plans routes around the intersection whenever possible, frustrated by congestion and a layout he believes has failed to keep pace with the rapid growth in Ottawa’s south end.
“It’s just a mess,” he said. “You have this one lane moving up, and you have three directions by the time you get to the light.”
City engineers are now completing the design work for a major redo of the intersection.
The proposed overhaul would add dedicated turning lanes, wider approaches, sidewalks and safer pedestrian crossings. But before construction can begin, the city has to acquire land from several owners, including a parcel owned by the National Capital Commission at the northwest corner of the intersection.
Riverside South-Findlay Creek Coun. Steve Desroches said he wants the process completed as quickly as possible but he’s concerned about how long the land acquisition process could take from the NCC.
“We need the federal government to understand the urgency,” Desroches said. “When we have a federal partner that historically has not had a reputation for moving quickly, it’s a worry point for me and a worry point for the community.”
The councillor said the city is expected to complete the design work this fall and hopes to finalize the necessary land transactions in 2027 so construction can begin shortly afterward.
Desroches said he has also been in contact with Ottawa South MP David McGuinty’s office about the project and the need to move the land transfer forward. At the moment, he said, the city is engaged in discussions with both the NCC and private property owners whose land is needed for the expanded intersection.
When asked about the project, NCC spokesperson Valérie Dufour said in a statement that the federal agency remains involved in the process.
“This project is led by the City of Ottawa,” Dufour said. “The National Capital Commission is working closely with the City and will continue to collaborate as the project advances.”
Desroches said the redesign is urgently needed to keep pace with rapid growth in Ottawa’s south end.
“This is an antiquated intersection,” he said. “It no longer meets the modern standards of a growing city.”
The redesign would realign portions of the intersection and add new lanes to better accommodate traffic volumes generated by rapid growth in Findlay Creek and Riverside South.
The plan would see Leitrim Road expand to seven lanes at the intersection, including dual left-turn lanes onto Bank Street and dedicated right-turn lanes. The redesign would also add bike lanes, sidewalks and improved crosswalks.
Desroches said the intersection’s problems go beyond commuter frustration.
“There is a fire station located right at the corner of that intersection,” Desroches said. “They at times have to struggle to get out of that station and get to their calls.”
Residents who use the intersection regularly said the proposed improvements are long overdue.
Riverside South resident Giovanni Baressi said congestion and aggressive driving have become common, especially during rush-hour.
“People are blowing through the lights because they’re frustrated,” he said.
Baressi said he regularly drives through the intersection to take his son to hockey practice at the Fred Barrett Arena, but traffic can become so congested that he sometimes takes a longer route just to avoid it.
“It takes twenty minutes sometimes just to get through that intersection,” Baressi said. “Sometimes I don’t even go through that intersection and I drive all through Findlay Creek to avoid it and go around it.”
He said dedicated turning lanes would help improve traffic flow.
“There’s not enough room,” Baressi said. “It would be nice if they have enough room to make an actual lane for people to go right on Bank Street and then one to go straight.”
Baliki said the intersection has struggled to keep pace with the growth surrounding it.
“The area’s being made into something great,” he said. “There’s businesses being built and plazas and all that.”
For Baliki, the aging intersection stands out in the community for all the wrong reasons.
“It’s like buying an Armani suit and then going to a dollar store to buy a cheap tie,” Baliki said. “That intersection is your cheap tie.”
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