By CTV News Ottawa, January 30, 2018
Ottawa set a record for January snowfall Tuesday when yet another storm dumped at least 10 centimetres on the capital region.
This latest snowfall caused another morning of delays on OC Transpo buses, cancelled flights at the Ottawa International Airport and many motorists crawled in a commute to work of up to two hours.
Environment Canada recorded 97 centimetres of snow fell in Ottawa as today. That beats the previous record of 93 centimetres.
By Jenn Pritchard, 1310 News, January 30, 2019
Ottawa is set to hit some big milestones in 2019 and see the start of some major projects.
Mayor Jim Watson delievered his annual State of the City Adress on Wednesday morning.
(...)"I'm excited by the prospects of planning for a city of over a million residents," he said. "This milestone - along with the launch of LRT - will put us in another league amongst cities worldwide and will bolster our image on the world map with visitors."
Watson also discussed the new light rail Confederation Line, with all fare gates and CCTV cameras ready to go ahead of the expected handover at the end of March.
He added that LRT Phase 2 was one step closer to becoming a reality.
By CBC News Ottawa, January 29, 2019
Passengers were forced off a double-decker OC Transpo bus that caught fire at a transit station west of downtown Ottawa during rush hour Tuesday morning.
Firefighters were called to Queensway station at about 7:45 a.m.
(...)Queensway station is a few stations west of Westboro station, where a double-decker bus crash killed three people earlier this month and sparked renewed concern about the safety of Ottawa's double-decker bus fleet.
By CBC News Ottawa, January 30, 2019
A Gatineau man who's been using his all-terrain vehicle to keep local bike paths clear of snow has been ordered to hit the brakes, at least for now.
For the past few years, Michel Mayer has been voluntarily plowing the paths in the Limbour neighbourhood, clearing the way for cyclists and students at nearby schools.
He said he got the ATV to do some landscaping work during his retirement, but soon started clearing snow and ice from pathways because he wanted to help.
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, January 29, 2019
City council is poised to appoint new citizen transit commissioners as the city begins a big year in which it will open the LRT system and try to quell the growing frustration about the resource-stretched bus service.
Out of the 92 applications for the transit commission received by the city, a city hall hiring panel has selected four people it believes will help the oversight body make important decisions about the transit service for the next four years.
Council on Wednesday will be asked to appoint Anthony Carricato, Michael Olsen, Leah Williams and Sarah Wright-Gilbert as citizen transit commissioners, just in time for the 2019 city budget deliberations.
By Gary Dimmock, Ottawa Citizen, January 30, 2019
Jan Harder drove to her city hall job last week and it took two and a half hours for the full 23-kilometre trek from her Barrhaven home.
The Barrhaven councillor is at the point now where some days she doesn’t know what to tell residents about the snarled traffic and unreliable city buses that sometimes arrive late and already full with everyone else fighting to get downtown from the suburb named after a developer.
“It’s a battle every day. It’s the number 1 issue and frustration, no matter the mode of transportation. You know we need to do better,” Harder says.
Some Barrhaven residents spend three hours on an OC Transpo bus commuting to and from work downtown. (That’s just two minutes shy of the running time for the 1995 epic war film Braveheart.)
By Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen, January 27, 2019
About 80 people attended a workshop Saturday aimed at creating Ottawa Transit Riders, an advocacy group to push passenger interests and act as a watchdog over OC Transpo.
The event at the University of Ottawa was intended to funnel ambitions of several smaller volunteer organizations into one that would primarily deal with concerns of transit riders at a time of rising fares, declining ridership and the uncertain impacts of LRT.
It will likely be modelled after a similar group in Toronto that charges an annual membership fee, has a board of directors, an active roster of volunteers and now one full-time staff member.
By Bill Eggertson, Ottawa Citizen, January 28, 2019
The City of Ottawa will consider renaming one of its standing committees of council … again.
Four years ago, the Environment Committee was renamed Environment and Climate Protection Committee (ECPC) to boost the city’s profile on climate action and to mimic a similar name change by the new federal government. Although this semantic tweaking may have contributed to a sharper focus on carbon reduction at the local level, I expressed my concern at the time that changing a name just to reflect trendy priorities could distract from other important aspects of our local environment.
(...)The future of Ottawa’s environment is far too important for any group to squander any time or any resources for any arbitrary reason. It requires a clear and consistent vision that we can and must protect and improve many issues in our community, guided by the setting of achievable priorities by this term of council.
By Richard Asselin, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, January 23, 2019
What restaurants can do about food waste
Re: Health Canada’s new food guide drops ‘milk and alternatives’ and favours plant-based protein, Jan. 23.
I would like to propose a new business model to reduce waste from restaurants:
1. Reduce portions to the recommended amount for an adult (or child if appropriate);
2. Reduce meal prices by 10 per cent or so;
3. Offer free seconds;
4. No doggie bags;
By Rick Dowd, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, January 22, 2019
Roadwork before books, councillors
Although I do not necessarily agree with the main premise of Coun. Carol Ann Meehan’s video post last week, I do agree with her road repair concern. If we are honest, just how many citizens of Ottawa have actually visited the Ottawa Public Library in the past 10 years? What is really important to taxpayers?
Do we want more recurring sink holes? Do we want more vehicle repairs? Really, do we need a $200-million super library with Library and Archives Canada or is the government just trying to keep up with larger and more prosperous cities at the expense of taxpayers?
By Elizabeth Payne and Andrew Duffy, Ottawa Citizen, January 23, 2019
OC Transpo has experienced more on-board collision fatalities during the past 10 years than eight of the country’s largest transit systems combined.
And one road-safety expert says that’s something OC Transpo officials should pay attention to.
“OC Transpo’s record stands out because it is the same bus failing to stop in time in 2013 and in 2019,” said Ahmed Shalaby, the University of Manitoba engineering safety expert who has followed the OC Transpo bus crash closely.
A survey of safety records reveals that transit services in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal — along with regional services GO Transit and BC Transit — suffered a combined total of seven on-board fatalities over the past decade.
By Bruce Deachman, Ottawa Citizen, January 22, 2019
Kitchissippi and River ward residents got their first look at detailed plans for the first phase of the redevelopment of Westgate shopping centre Tuesday night, with opinions mixed.
An open house at the Alexander Community Centre attracted about 100 people, who looked at site plans and elevation drawings for the proposal, and peppered councillors Jeff Leiper and Riley Brockington, as well as RioCan development vice-president Stuart Craig, with questions and concerns.
Phase 1 of the redevelopment will see a 24-storey mixed-use building erected at the corner of Carling Avenue and Merivale Road, where Monkey Joe’s restaurant currently sits. The design plan calls for 216 residential units — all apartments rather than condominiums — and 20,000 square feet of retail space.
(...)Leiper added that OC Transpo is expected to up its game in the area with improved service on the No. 85 route on Carling Avenue. According to Brockington, the second phase of LRT in Ottawa, in 2021, will be accompanied by buses-only lanes along much of Carling Avenue, from Broadview to Bronson avenues.