Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Windstorm brings new growth to Britannia forest

Ottawa Citizen

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, October 5, 2017

Despite all the damage last week’s windstorm did, it is already a force for regeneration in the area it hit hardest — Britannia.

This summer, the Citizen covered the slow migration of a white pine forest in the Britannia Woods from one side of Mud Lake to the other.

Ecologist Dan Brunton, who did that study, went back this week and found the storm has accelerated this movement. It is also flooding the forest with sunlight that will speed new growth.

Ottawa in the bike lane

Metro Ottawa

By Jesse Cnockaert, Ottawa Metro News, October 4, 2017

Ottawa is fast becoming a bike-happenin’ place.

At least that’s how it appears, with Bike Ottawa enjoying an all-time high in membership as well as record-setting investments for cycling infrastructure from different levels of government.

Bike Ottawa, a volunteer group that promotes safe cycling within the city, now has more than 400 members, a record in its three-plus decades in existence.

Just last year in Ottawa’s 2017 budget, more than $8 million of investments in cycling infrastructure was included through the Community Connectivity Program, the Cycling TMP Cycling Strategic Initiatives, and investments in paved shoulders.

Developer granted $9M in incentives to decontaminate condo site - Ottawa - CBC News

By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, October 4, 2017

An Ottawa developer is set to receive more than $9 million in incentives from the city in exchange for cleaning up contaminated land across from the Bayview LRT station.

Trinity Group plans to build three condo towers rising from 50 to 59 storeys at 900 Albert St. The buildings will contain 1,632 residential units as well as office and retail space.

The project qualified for $8,255,397 in brownfield development grants over 10 years to clean up railway contaminants left on the site. In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the city's finance and economic development committee also agreed to waive a $920,000 fee to allow the developer to move municipal pipes that currently lie under the lot onto city land.

City misses fuel targets, aims at GHG emissions instead - Ottawa - CBC News

By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, October 4, 2017

Having failed to meet its own environmental goal of reducing fuel consumption by municipal vehicles in 2016, the City of Ottawa will begin tracking the fleet's environmental impact by a different measure, a city committee decided Wednesday.

The city was aiming to reduce fuel consumption by city vehicles by four per cent by 2016, using 2012 consumption rates as a benchmark. Instead, there was an 11.8 per cent increase.

"In my mind we're going in the wrong direction," Coun. Mathieu Fleury told his colleagues on the city's transportation committee.

Canada fails on readiness for climate change impact: environment commissioner

Ottawa Citizen

By the Canadian Press, Ottawa Citizen, October 3, 2017

OTTAWA — The federal government is nowhere near ready for the massive storms and more frequent floods and fires that are expected to result from climate change, warns Canada’s environment commissioner.

In her autumn annual reports, Julie Gelfand asked whether Ottawa will be able to protect more than $66 billion in federal assets like bridges, roads and airports, while also continuing to provide services, when fires, floods and extreme storms hit hard.

The answer, she said, is a resounding ‘No.’

Denley: Ontario government can’t easily change our culture of waste

Ottawa Citizen

By Randall Denley, Ottawa Citizen, October 4, 2017

The Ontario government says there is too much garbage going into the province’s landfills, so it has come up with a solution. If green-bin-type garbage were banned from landfills, the government reasons, the problem would be significantly reduced.

If the ban goes ahead, the government will be getting its fingers deeply into how we manage our homes. It’s one thing to be encouraged to use a green bin, quite another to be ordered to do so. In Ottawa, with green bin use at 50 per cent, this is going to split the public right down the middle.

Laurier bike lane audit raises the standard of future cycling infrastructure

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, October 4, 2017

The Laurier Avenue segregated bike lane safety audit could put pressure on city council to elevate the standard for building new cycling lanes in Ottawa.

In an ideal scenario, the east-west bike lanes in the downtown core would be raised, completely coloured green, have their own traffic signals and pass through intersections that protect cyclists as the lanes cross vehicular paths.

The audit, whose results were released this week, has set the bar for safe cycling infrastructure as the city looks to expand segregated bike lanes.

Laurier bike lane safety audit shows increased safety, but concerns remain

By Ted Raymond, CFRA News Ottawa, October 3, 2017

A new study, made public by the City of Ottawa, suggests a safer ride for cyclists, but there are still issues to address.

The study, which was conducted by Dutch cycling consultancy firm Mobycon, looked at several factors involving the lanes, both before and after they were installed in 2011. It was commissioned after a 23-year-old cyclist was killed in a collision with a truck at Lyon and Laurier in 2016.

It found that the number of cyclists traveling along Laurier Avenue West increased by 330%. That jump in volume accounts for an increase in the net number of collisions, but when compared to the overall volume, the relative number of collisions involving cyclists went down.

City charging safety advocates for traffic data - Ottawa - CBC News

By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, October 3, 2017

Community groups in Ottawa looking to improve road safety in their neighbourhoods are running into a roadblock of their own: a new fee for the basic traffic data they need to make their case.

Nancy Therrien, a local business owner and member of the Stittsville Village Association, discovered the fee, which starts at $108 and was approved by city council in 2015, while fighting for improvements to the intersection of Carp and Hazeldean roads.

A crash there last week renewed calls for improvements to the intersection, which has a hill on the north side and a sharp curve on the south side, making it difficult for drivers turning left to see who is coming.

'Right hooks' blamed for half of Laurier bike lane collisions - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, October 3, 2017

About half of the collisions between motorists and cyclists using the Laurier Avenue bike lane in Ottawa involve vehicles turning right into the path of oncoming bicycles, according to a new report released Tuesday by the city.

"Right-turning vehicles continue to be the greatest threat to cyclists in the corridor, accounting for 50 per cent of collisions," according to the safety review by Dutch transportation consultant Mobycon.

Right-turning vehicles also "represent the most frequent manoeuvre involved in pedestrian-related collisions," according to the report. "This is by far the most significant type of collision."

Developer granted $9M in incentives to decontaminate condo site - Ottawa - CBC News

By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, October 3, 2017

An Ottawa developer is set to receive more than $9 million in incentives from the city in exchange for cleaning up contaminated land across from the Bayview LRT station.

Trinity Group plans to build three condo towers rising from 50 to 59 storeys at 900 Albert St. The buildings will contain 1,632 residential units as well as office and retail space.

The project qualified for $8,255,397 in brownfield development grants over 10 years to clean up railway contaminants left on the site.

Laurier bike lane audit recommends more colours, longer buffers, fewer signs

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, October 3, 2017

A safety audit of the Laurier Avenue segregated bike lanes, launched after the death of a cyclist last year, recommends adding more colouring, warning infrastructure and barriers along the increasingly popular downtown cycling route.

The Dutch firm Mobycon, which has an Ottawa office, completed the audit in early September and the city shared the results with council on Tuesday.

The greatest safety concern for cyclists and pedestrians in the bike-lane stretch of Laurier Avenue is right-turning vehicles, the audit says.