LAURENTIAN VALLEY – Last month, County of Renfrew Elected Officials, staff, and members of the Ottawa Valley Cycling & Active Transportation Alliance (OVCATA) met along County Road 21(Beachburg Road) near where it intersects with Greenwood Road to celebrate the County’s accomplishments to date in advancing Active Transportation throughout the area. The event location is one of the many roads where hardened shoulders were recently added to accommodate Active Transportation.
Chair of the County of Renfrew Operations Committee Councillor Tom Peckett said, “The County of Renfrew is pleased to share this moment with our community partners like the Ottawa Valley Cycling & Active Transportation Alliance. The County of Renfrew continues to invest in active transportation initiatives and the hardening of shoulders along County roads is a great example of that commitment.”
The Active Transportation policy was approved by County Council in March 2014 with a major emphasis on the inclusion of hardened shoulders in road rehabilitation projects in order to take advantage of the economies of scale. The first paved shoulders were installed on County Roads 26 and 51 in the Petawawa area in 2003. As of the end of 2017 the County has provided hardened shoulders on approximately 180 km of roadway. It is estimated that by the end of the 2018 construction season that over 200 km of County roads will incorporate hardened shoulders. That will be approximately one quarter of the County 820km road system with hardened shoulders in place.
