Barrhaven gets second Amazon warehouse

A second Amazon warehouse is under construction in Barrhaven, and nearby residents are not pleased. They fear the traffic it will cause in a part of the city lacking upgraded infrastructure. 

The 3.1 million-square-foot fulfillment centre building has started to be built in the area of Bill Leathem Drive and Leikin Drive, which is part of the South Merivale Business Park. It will be constructed on a 75-acre site near Fallowfield Road and Merivale Road. 

Barrhaven-East Coun. Wilson Lo said he’s excited about the opportunities it will bring to the neighbourhood, but also shares the residents’ concerns. 

“I'm supportive of the employment it will bring, the possible community partnerships, and completing the business park that's been vacant for so long. But there are a lot of concerns about the transportation infrastructure, the scale of this project, and the potential noise and traffic that it would bring,” Lo told the Lookout. “My role in this is extremely limited because of how the planning rules are set up. It is limited to impact mitigation.” 

Barrhaven is one of the fastest-growing communities with a population of over 100,000 and is on track to soon reach 110,000 citizens. Farmlands have been transformed into rows of housing developments, and strip malls are in every corner of the suburb, where it was once tricky to purchase socks, former Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder used to joke. 

Lo said the area hasn’t kept up with upgrading its infrastructure to keep up with population growth, an issue that has been seen in many communities around Ottawa. Part of Barrhaven’s challenge has also been amalgamation with Nepean, which had different rules around planning. 

“I think this area was zoned for industry in the 90s. And at that time, I think the former city of Nepean had intended for it to be more like Colonnade. So the level of traffic would not have been the same or at least spread out through various facilities,” said Lo. 

”Plans could have been faster to ensure our transportation infrastructure here is more adequate, but it's not limited to Barhaven,” he added. “Kanata has a highway, Orleans has a highway and the LRT, but we just have Woodroffe. We are quite behind in transportation infrastructure.”

There are long-term and short-term solutions to mitigate the impact 

Lo would like to make some minor adjustments to help ease traffic when the warehouse opens. That includes spot adjustments to the intersections of Fallowfield and Merivale.  

This development could also increase public transit in the future warehouse area. Lo noted how the existing Amazon warehouse, which is a few kilometres away on Strandherd Drive, has multiple bus routes serving it. While new routes probably wouldn’t be added, existing ones could have their frequency increased during shift changes.   

But there are also long-term solutions. As part of the Transportation Master Plan (TMP), which council is currently debating, Lo ensured the future widening of Prince of Wales was added from Fallowfield Road to Colonnade Road. 

“Even before the last few years of development in Half Moon Bay and Quinn's Point, Prince of Wales is already super busy.  The need for widening was identified in an earlier transportation master plan, but it was removed in 2013. At the time council thought the Vimy Bridge would be enough, but evidently it was not,” said Lo.  

The transportation master plan sets out a road map of projects the city should build over the next 20 years, and it’s no small list. Other priorities include the Baseline and Carling bus rapid transit projects and other road widenings. 

While it is a list the council should follow for the next two years, Lo said he expects it will be revisited in a few years due to ever-increasing population growth. The Barrhaven East Councillor would also like to see Fallowfield Road widened in the future. 

Once opened, this would be Amazon’s third warehouse in Ottawa and the second in Barrhaven. The first location is in Orleans.