Ottawa's transportation committee has given the green light to a design plan for a rapid transit corridor along Baseline Road.
The proposed 14-kilometre corridor aims to ease congestion by sending buses rumbling down the middle of the road on a special lane.
But some residents have raised safety concerns about crossing lanes of traffic to access the buses, along with the larger distance between stops.
"(Crews) do their best to keep sidewalks clear and salted, but you get black ice" area resident Barbara Giles told CFRA. "So you never know when you're going to slip and fall."
Committee Chair Keith Egli notes government funding for this project requires it to be an enhancement, and the stops can't stay at the curb.
"We're doing our best to mitigate the impacts of going down the middle of the road, but that's a fundamental piece of the project," Egli told the committee. "That's what makes it rapid."
In order to complete the project, Ottawa would need to expropriate land from more than 200 properties.
Phase one connecting Baseline Station to Heron Station would cost $140-million.