No new bridges til we use the old ones first

Are existing Ottawa River bridges really at capacity? We traditionally measure capacity in vehicles carried, and by this measure some bridges are very busy. But if we measure capacity by people carried, the story changes. Typically, in North America, bridges … Continue reading No new bridges til we use the old ones first

City sleeps while mystery bridge decays

When the Ottawa Humane Society left Champagne Avenue there was some sort of contractual agreement they had to offer the land to the city. For parkland. Nothing said the city had to buy it. So they didn’t. And as a … Continue reading City sleeps while mystery bridge decays

LRT Stations: (part iii) Bayview Station

The Bayview Station is quite complex to describe compared to Tunney’s or Hurdman. Basically, it is a long thin platform built atop an earthen embankment, pretty much where the bus shelters are now. But rather than have sloping pedestrian paths connect to the O-train platform about 16′ lower down, under the overpasses, the City proposes to build an escalator connection at the west end of the new platform that takes users directly down to the O-Train platform. This is a great development for users that transfer.  What complicates the Bayview Station is that it is in the middle of an … Continue reading LRT Stations: (part iii) Bayview Station

Western LRT (part i)

Last week, city staff offered some briefings on the western LRT options. Recall that the current downtown Ottawa transit tunnel study, now renamed  Ottawa Light Rail Transit/Tunnel (OLRT), covers that portion from Blair Road in the east to Tunney’s Pasture in the west. However, the first components of the LRT system includes a service from Tunney’s to Lincoln Fields, but under a different Environmental Approval process. The western portion might be completed at the same time as the downtown portion, or shortly thereafter. City council directed that staff consider various options running west from Bayview Station (Council selected Bayview in order to include the O-Train corridor … Continue reading Western LRT (part i)

Western Leg, LRT (from Bayview to Lincoln Fields via ???)

The city has set up a stakeholders group to contribute to its process of finding how the LRT will get from Bayview (or Tunney’s) to Lincoln Fields. Options include the Ottawa River NCC lands, the Otrain-Carling route, the Churchill-Carling route, and the transitway-Byron route. All options have very different features for transit users and the adjacent communities. Continue reading Western Leg, LRT (from Bayview to Lincoln Fields via ???)

Lemieux Island area (ii)

A few years ago the City ran one of its high pressure water mains along the north side of the Ottawa River Commuter Expressway (said expressway being at the top of this slope) from Lemieux Island towards the downtown. The city contractors re-landscaped the dug up areas. Surprise, surprise, the shrub beds withered away, the trees languished … and for the last few weeks the NCC has be re-doing the city work. Shown above are new shrubs on the slope between the expressway and the river edge bike path near the Prince of Wales bridge. The shrubs are planted, mulched, … Continue reading Lemieux Island area (ii)

Lemieux Island area (ii)

A few years ago the City ran one of its high pressure water mains along the north side of the Ottawa River Commuter Expressway (said expressway being at the top of this slope) from Lemieux Island towards the downtown. The city contractors re-landscaped the dug up areas. Surprise, surprise, the shrub beds withered away, the trees languished … and for the last few weeks the NCC has be re-doing the city work. Shown above are new shrubs on the slope between the expressway and the river edge bike path near the Prince of Wales bridge. The shrubs are planted, mulched, … Continue reading Lemieux Island area (ii)

Prince of Wales maintenance

Picture taken yesterday from the bike path on the west side of the War Museum, looking upriver. A service vehicle is on the Prince of Wales bridge near the Quebec side. Closer view, shows the vehicle has two sets of wheels, rubber ones for the road and steel wheels for driving on rails. What it is doing? Men in cherry picker extendable arm are working on the side of the bridge. Arm continues to extend, now right under the whole bridge, the men are beyond the far side of their vehicle. It is rather like using your left hand to … Continue reading Prince of Wales maintenance

Prince of Wales maintenance

Picture taken yesterday from the bike path on the west side of the War Museum, looking upriver. A service vehicle is on the Prince of Wales bridge near the Quebec side. Closer view, shows the vehicle has two sets of wheels, rubber ones for the road and steel wheels for driving on rails. What it is doing? Men in cherry picker extendable arm are working on the side of the bridge. Arm continues to extend, now right under the whole bridge, the men are beyond the far side of their vehicle. It is rather like using your left hand to … Continue reading Prince of Wales maintenance

NCC to Quebecers: Back [on the] Bus

  Proposed modernist Bayview LRT station is elevated and long. The proposed STO bus terminal would be off the left. Click to enlarge photo. Planning in a Federal capital region is not just about good planning on utilitarian “planning’ terms. A good chunk of it is political planning and symbolism too. In the past,  separatist elements in Quebec made hay from the disparate images of the Quebec side of the river (low rise, lower income housing, industrial mills) and the Ottawa side of the river (shiny high rises set high on a green hill). They drew a direct line to the … Continue reading NCC to Quebecers: Back [on the] Bus

Light Rail and the SW (OTrain) route

I am constantly amazed at what I hear about light rail planning in the City. I have to conclude it doesn’t matter what happens, people will simple reinterpret it (twist it) to fit their own preconceived agenda. It is part of the hyper-partisan-ization of our society that I find distressing. There was a SW transit plan under Mayor Chiarelli. It ran on street surface in the downtown, accross the Flats and Dalhousie neighborhoods,  and turned south at Bayswater, ran along the OTrain line, managed to miss the airport, to Riverside,  to the new Strandherd Bridge over the Rideau and thence … Continue reading Light Rail and the SW (OTrain) route

Memorial on Bike Path

A small bouquet of plastic lillies and a funeral folder sit behind a small charred spot of grass where the Ottawa River bike path goes under the Prince of Wales railway Bridge. The charred spot looked like maybe a sweetgrass fire yesterday; today it has a votive candle in a holder there. The spot is so peaceful, a steady stream of cyclists, joggers, and pedestrians goes by. The sun shines. Geese swim by. The water looks cool and refreshing. Are we doing something to be remembered by? Cylist Paul Kenneth Dabene was murdered there on July 27, 2009. Continue reading Memorial on Bike Path

Prince of Wales Bridge

A while ago I questioned the lack of visible maintenance on the Prince of Wales railway bridge over the Ottawa River from Bayview Station to Gatineau. This is an important link in interprovincial transit. Apparently the City is preparing a maintenance plan. The plan will cost 1.8 million; the repairs or rehabilitation another 20 t0 40 million dollars: M E M O / N O T E D E S E R V I C E To / DestinataireMayor and ToMembers of CouncilFile/N° de fichier: File NumberFrom / ExpéditeurWayne Newell – FromDirector, Infrastructure Services Department Subject / ObjetSubjectPrince of Wales … Continue reading Prince of Wales Bridge