Barrhaven is a rapidly growing suburban neighbourhood in the southwest of the urban area of the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, about 17 km (11 mi) southwest of downtown Ottawa. Prior to amalgamation with Ottawa in 2001, Barrhaven was part of the City of Nepean. Its population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 52,197.
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Barrhaven is approximately bounded to the north by the Greenbelt, to the east by the Rideau River, to the west by Highway 416, and to the south by the new Half Moon Bay development along Cambrian Road south of the Jock River. The area is diagonally bisected by CN rail tracks. Barrhaven is surrounded by rural areas and farmland, with the exception of the growing Riverside South area across the Rideau River. Directly south of Barrhaven is Manotick a commuter town of the city.
Barrhaven is divided into several areas: Barrhaven proper or Old Barrhaven is the westernmost part of the neighbourhood, lying between Cedarview Road and Greenbank Road. New residential development is expanding the west side of Old Barrhaven between Cedarview and Strandherd Drive. Also included in this area is a triangle of land east of Greenbank between Fallowfield Road and the railway tracks known as Knollsbrook or The Triangle. South of this is the area known as Longfields, which stretches south to Strandherd and east to Woodroffe Avenue. Sandwiched between the railway tracks, Jockvale Road, Greenbank and Strandherd is the neighbourhood of Barrhaven on the Green. East of Woodroffe, next to the Rideau River, is the neighbourhood of Davidson Heights. South of Strandherd and east of Greenbank is a new community known as Chapman Mills. As Prince of Wales Drive approaches Jockvale, there is a thriving community known as Stonebridge that is located beside the Stonebridge Golf & Country Club.
The Barrhaven area was long inhabited by First Nations peoples, and the modern Jockvale Road follows an ancient path that was originally a trail through the wilderness. In the 19th century the area became populated by European farmers as the area was divided into a number of rural homesteads.
In 1911, the Canadian Northern Railway built a rail line from Ottawa to Toronto through the area. Fast passenger service was offered for many years from Fallowfield Station (near the intersection of Strandherd Dr and Cedarview Rd) to Ottawa and beyond[1] After many years of absence, passenger rail service was reintroduced to the area by Via Rail in the fall of 2002 through the new Fallowfield Station (located at the intersection of Fallowfield Road and Woodroffe Avenue).
Modern Barrhaven was established in the 1960s, one of a group of new suburbs built across the Greenbelt from the main city of Ottawa. Building in the area was begun by Mel Barr, for whom the community is named. Barr had originally purchased a 200-acre (0.81 km2) farm intending to construct a horse racing track. However the Rideau Carleton Raceway was built further to the east, and Barr instead decided to build a new suburban subdivision.
It grew rapidly into a community housing several tens of thousands of people. Commercial centres were slower to arrive. In 1990 the area was served by a single grocery store, had no movie theatre, and not even a bar. Recently this has changed with the vast Barrhaven Town Centre complex of big box stores and smaller commercial establishments, as well as a few smaller shopping malls. The 1990s also saw a rapid influx of high-tech companies into the area (such as JDS Uniphase and Nortel), and the growth of the Public Service in the National Capital Region. The area also got its own high school in 1998 when Mother Teresa High School (Catholic) opened followed by John McCrae Secondary School (public) in 1999. Since then it has also gained St. Joseph High School, also of the Catholic board. In September 2009, Longfields Davidson Heights High School (Public) opened.
Since Barrhaven has been built so quickly and so recently, like most North American suburbs, it has a very uniform feel considering how big it is. Almost every street consists of town houses with some streets having fairly large late 20th century style suburban houses. In the older parts of Barrhaven, the streets wind and turn, never forming a grid as they do in older parts of Ottawa. Barrhaven contains several Catholic and public schools, and numerous parks and playgrounds, mainly built in since 2000. It is also home to the Walter Baker Sports Centre which contains a library and other facilities.
As of 2010, it features a strip mall on 3 of the 4 corners of the intersection of Strandherd Drive and Greenbank Road, with a seven-theatre cinema, Sobey's, Wal-Mart, Indigo Books and Music, Staples, Winners, Sport Chek and Loblaws among others.
Barrhaven is served by seven local bus routes: 95, 170, 171, 173, 175, 176, 177 and 186. These routes serve the local roads of Barrhaven as well as serving Fallowfield Station and Strandherd Station, where a transfer can be made to Ottawa's Rapid Transit system with Route 95. There are five express bus routes, 70, 71, 73, 76, and 77, that provide direct service from local communities to downtown during the morning rush hour and from downtown to local communities during the afternoon rush hour; travel time is approximately 30 minutes. Route 186 runs from the Fallowfield Station to Manotick, stopping in the growing Stonebridge community before travelling on the lower half of Jockvale before hitting Prince of Wales Drive.
Intercity rail connections can be made at Fallowfield, Ontario railway station to Montreal and Toronto.
Previously, it was planned that the O-Train north-south light-rail line would be extended to the centre of Barrhaven near Riocan Marketplace via Riverside South. The project was cancelled on December 14, 2006, by Ottawa City Council. The city decided to focus on building rail-based rapid transit lines in the inner city instead. Rail-based rapid transit to Barrhaven will not be introduced until after 2031, after the three lines in the inner city are completed.
On January 2, 2007, OC Transpo opened the Strandherd Transitway Station and Park & Ride lot in Barrhaven. Directly across from the Riocan/Barrhaven Shopping Centre's Wal-Mart & TD Bank, the facility has space for about 330 cars. It was built to help with overcrowding at the Fallowfield Station and meet the increased demand for park and ride spaces in the community. Rapid transit route 95 takes approximately 10 minutes to travel between Fallowfield Station and Strandherd Station, and 2 minutes between Strandherd Station and Barrhaven Centre. The Province of Ontario funded one-third of the $5 million cost.
In April 2011, the bus rapid transit network was expanded in Barrhaven to better serve new communities. One feature was the extension of Route 94 to the intersection of Woodroffe and Stranderd. A new stretch of transitway was also constructed between Fallowfield and Strandherd to reduce travel times on Route 95.[2]
Barrhaven is divided into many neighbourhoods. The names are generally selected by developers.
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