Strandherd Drive is a major road serving the community of Barrhaven in southwest Ottawa.
Up until the mid-1990s, Strandherd Drive was an east-west coursing road extending from Moodie Drive to Woodroffe Avenue. With the introduction of Highway 416 and the growth of Longfields and Chapman Mills, Strandherd Drive has been re-aligned and seen an increase in traffic.
Standherd Drive begins in the west at an intersection with Fallowfield Road near Highway 416 as a two-lane road. The original portion of the road from Moodie Drive to Cedarview Road has been renamed McKenna Casey Drive and sees little traffic. Heading to Jockvale Road, Strandherd is a high-speed road at 80 km/h (50 mph); further east, there is a significant commercial area surrounding the intersection with Greenbank Road. The original part of Strandherd that terminated at Woodroffe has been renamed Deerfox Drive, and the new, higher-speed arterial road that currently ends at Crestway Avenue just east of Woodroffe, will run further south and be extended to Prince of Wales Drive, Strandherd's future eastern terminus.
There are also plans to extend the road across the Rideau River by combining a road bridge to connect to another growing community, Riverside South. Initial plans included the extension of light-rail via the bridge but the project was canceled in 2006. Ottawa City Council cited the Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge as one of the priority projects for the future as it would relieve pressure from the Hunt Club Bridge located further north. A completion date is still not set due to uncertainties regarding funding. The federal government with in lead Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre announced $35 million in funding for the project but the majority of the Ottawa City Council refused the funding as it was money coming from a previous $200-million Liberal government announcement in 2004 for the light-rail extension. Despite the cancellation, then President of the Treasury Board John Baird left the money available for future transit projects. The Ontario government refused to pledge money as it did not, after the light-rail cancellation, included a rapid-transit corridor or lane. In addition of the bridge project, there are also plans to widen the full road to four lanes. [1] [2]
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