Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

No approved policy to suspend fares during emergencies: OC Transpo

By Ted Raymond, CFRA News, May 5, 2017

While City Councillors said Tuesday’s evacuation of downtown Ottawa, following a major gas leak at the corner of O’Connor and Queen, was handled well, there have been questions raised about OC Transpo’s policies during emergency situations.

OC Transpo had to detour westbound buses around the closure, and had a detour route in place quickly Tuesday afternoon, but a large number of people were forced to evacuate onto those buses.

Allegations were made that fare inspectors, who were dispatched to the Mackenzie King Bridge to help direct transit riders and evacuees, were also enforcing fare payment. This is an allegation OC Transpo has denied.

Coun. Diane Deans is right to seek answers on the LRT project

Ottawa Citizen

By the Editor, Ottawa Citizen, May 4, 2017

With $2.1 billion on the line for the light-rail project, municipal politicians who are tasked with watching over it aren’t getting public, regular updates on major developments, according to one councillor on the city’s finance committee.

Coun. Diane Deans says while the committee gets quarterly construction updates, “that’s not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for some public accountability and transparency.” The committee, she says, hasn’t “seen the principals of RTG (Rideau Transit Group) in a very long time.

”That’s because, quite simply, councillors haven’t asked for more robust updates. But Deans is on to something by requesting city staff provide them.

Reevely: Ottawa looks to save builders (and buyers) millions on new subdivisions

Ottawa Citizen

By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, May 5, 2017

We can save millions of dollars on new suburban roads by building bike tracks next to them instead of painting bike lanes on them, the city has realized.

It’s part of a big package of ideas for making Ottawa’s new subdivisions cheaper to construct that planners and developers have been working on for years, and probably the most obviously smart.

Roads for cars and trucks are paved atop layer after layer of stabilizing foundation; they have to withstand years of pressure from thousands of pounds of rubber and glass and metal. A cyclist weighs a couple of hundred pounds at most, and there’s no point, the city has realized, in building a road extra wide only to reserve a metre on either side of it for bikes. Cycle tracks next to sidewalks, on beds built to the lighter sidewalk standards, are good enough.

ByWard Market businesses baffled by parking loss due to Inspiration Village

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, May 5, 2017

Some business owners aren’t inspired by the city removing 92 parking spaces in the ByWard Market for an Ottawa 2017 event lasting the entire summer.

Phil Emond, who runs the Gordon Harrison Canadian Landscape Gallery on Sussex Drive, has written to the mayor, BIA and Ottawa 2017 to share his frustration with the removal of parking on York Street.

“We’ve paid premium rent to rent there in the ByWard Market because of the location, because of the parking,” Emond said.

Region braces for biggest flood hit yet as rains begin in earnest

Ottawa Citizen

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, May 5, 2017

The Quebec government asked for the army to help with historic flooding Friday, and Ontario’s emergency system was on high alert as more people on both sides of the Ottawa River evacuated their flooded homes and braced for the biggest hit yet: a weekend rise in the river of as much as 35 centimetres — well over a foot.

In Gatineau, the hardest-hit city in the capital region, more than 250 residents had left their homes. The city had put out 160,000 sandbags by late Friday, and there were entire blocks where the flat brown flood water is lapping against house walls. The trouble stretched from Lac Leamy east to Masson.

Cumberland and Clarence-Rockland, which declared a state of emergency on Thursday, have waters rising around waterfront homes.

Cycling Without Age program expands in Orléans

OttawaCommunityNews.com

By Brier Dodge, Ottawa Community News, May 4, 2017

Ole Kassow, the Danish founder of the Cycling Without Age program, was in Orléans on May 4 to help launch the program’s expansion to the Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre.

The program recruits volunteer pilots to ride the bike, which does have some electric assistance, to take seniors on rides around the community, giving them fresh air, social interaction, and a chance to get out and about.

“Copenhagen is a cycling city, so when I was cycling to work I was seeing people (at the nursing home) sitting around,” Kassow said. He got an old rickshaw and “showed up unannounced and started offering rides.”

Today’s letters: Sajjan’s troubles, and wind chimes aren’t noisy at all!

Ottawa Citizen

By Nancy Biggs, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, May 2, 2017

Make Elgin about people, not cars

Re: New Elgin in the works; Street set to be closed for a year during construction, April 28

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make Elgin Street a “main street!”

The focus of the Ottawa Citizen’s article seemed to be more about cars than people. I avoid Elgin Street when walking from Pretoria Bridge to Laurier Street because of the narrow sidewalks. Widening the sidewalks, planting trees and lowering the speed limit to 30 km/hr will make it much more pleasant for people to walk, shop and enjoy the cafés, restaurants and bars.

Another big road project would decrease parking in Vanier, add cycle track

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, May 4, 2017

Another major road project planned on a central commercial strip would reduce the number of vehicle lanes, install cycling infrastructure and remove some on-street parking spots.

The Quartier Vanier BIA is worried about potentially losing 25 on-street parking spaces in the area after Montreal Road is torn up and put back together with a new design.

“For our small mom-and-pop shops, that’s a big deal,” executive director Jamie Kwong said.

“Parking is always an issue. It’s about uprooting their current client base and how they access their business. This might be the straw on the small businesses’ back that breaks them.”

Gatineau flooding 'tip of the iceberg,' climate scientist warns - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, May 4, 2017

As water levels continue to rise in the national capital region, a climate scientist is warning flooding and extreme weather events are here to stay, and says homeowners should prepare.

Swollen rivers and streams have threatened hundreds of homes in the Outaouais thanks to recent heavy rainfall — three times the normal amount since April 1.

University of Ottawa climate scientist Paul Beckwith says that's due to a changing climate, and says we're seeing its effects "on a day-to-day basis" in weather patterns.

Almonte council parkland dispute results in member of public leaving in handcuffs

Ottawa Citizen

By Aedan Helmer, Ottawa Citizen, May 3, 2017

A long-simmering dispute over a small plot of Almonte parkland erupted at a Mississippi Mills council session this week, with three police officers pinning a member of the public to the floor before leading him out of council chambers in handcuffs.

“I won’t deny I was angry,” said Mario Coculuzzi, a 58-year-old IT consultant who attended Tuesday’s meeting as one of 16 residents invited to share his opinion on the rezoning of Don Maynard Park.

“This issue has been going on since August and we’ve had very little input. To all of us here, it’s just a sham. It’s a guise for making more properties and collecting more property taxes while lowering our property values.”

On a rare day without rain, cities and towns prepare for more high water

Ottawa Citizen

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, May 3, 2017

With a dry hole in the weather Wednesday and Thursday, everyone knows more rain is coming and there isn’t much anyone can do except wait for it to drain away, and maybe pile sandbags.

“With the ground already saturated, there may be potential for some local flooding,” Environment Canada warned Wednesday, to no one’s surprise.Gatineau remains the hardest hit, especially in areas near Leamy Lake.As Gatineau faced flooding typically seen on average every 20 years, the city had closed more roads and evacuated 112 people from 48 homes. The evacuations remain voluntary, and the city says no one is in danger.

Two-year Elgin Street construction endorsed by city transportation committee

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, May 3, 2017

Ottawa council’s transportation committee on Wednesday approved a trimmed-down Elgin Street with wider sidewalks and a significant decrease in the speed limit when the commercial strip reopens after construction.

There were only three deputations and all were generally in favour of the plan proposed by transportation staff, even though the city was challenged to please all stakeholders.

Two business owners made deputations and both seemed satisfied that the city will make sure construction is finished as quickly as possible.