Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

From bike lanes to lights, City of Ottawa takes cues from Big Apple

Ottawa Citizen

By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, April 22, 2016

Frank Sinatra might not sing a song about Ottawa, but the big O has a lot more in common with the Big Apple than you might think.

Bike lanes

New York opened its first segregated bike lane on Manhattan’s Ninth Avenue in 2007. A year later, Ottawa city council directed staff to pilot a downtown, east-west on-street dedicated cycling lane to be separated by a median. The Laurier bike lane opened in 2011 and was made permanent in 2013. Last year, council approved downtown’s second segregated bike lane on O’Connor Street. A new bike lane is also coming to Mackenzie Avenue, near the U.S. Embassy. New York City, meanwhile, now boasts more than 30 miles (48 kilometres) of segregated cycling lanes.

Penny: Canada should make climate change part of Security Council bid

Ottawa Citizen

By Christopher Penny, Ottawa Citizen, April 21, 2016

Canada’s United Nations Security Council bid presents an extraordinary opportunity to highlight the global security threat posed by climate change, not only advancing this issue within the UN’s most powerful body but also distinguishing Canada from rival candidates.

Prime Minster Justin Trudeau recently announced that Canada is seeking a two-year Council term beginning in 2021, kicking off a multi-year election campaign. To win, Canada cannot simply claim it deserves a seat. Instead, it must show why. This necessitates continued attention to hard security concerns and, likely, a larger Canadian peacekeeping presence.

City wants to turn Johnwoods into a recreational path

StittsvilleCentral.ca

By Stittsville Central, April 22, 2016

We’re used to roads being added to Stittsville, but it’s not very often that we see a proposal to subtract a street. That’s exactly what the City of Ottawa is proposing for the north part of Johnwoods Street, between Rosehill and Maple Grove.

Johnwoods would be converted into a pedestrian/cyclist corridor, by removing the existing asphalt and creating a 3-metre wide recreational pathway.

580 CFRA News Talk Radio :: More schedule changes at OC Transpo :: News - Article

By CFRA News, April 22, 2016

Besides the debut of the spring schedules, and the closure of the rest of the eastern Transitway as of Sunday, OC Transpo riders will have some other changes to contend with.

Due to low ridership, 36 routes across the city will see cancellation of the first or last run of the day.

Some will lose a run at both ends of the day.

From bike lanes to lights, City of Ottawa takes cues from Big Apple

Ottawa Citizen

By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, April 22, 2016

Frank Sinatra might not sing a song about Ottawa, but the big O has a lot more in common with the Big Apple than you might think.

Bike lanesNew York opened its first segregated bike lane on Manhattan’s Ninth Avenue in 2007. A year later, Ottawa city council directed staff to pilot a downtown, east-west on-street dedicated cycling lane to be separated by a median. The Laurier bike lane opened in 2011 and was made permanent in 2013. Last year, council approved downtown’s second segregated bike lane on O’Connor Street. A new bike lane is also coming to Mackenzie Avenue, near the U.S. Embassy. New York City, meanwhile, now boasts more than 30 miles (48 kilometres) of segregated cycling lanes.

Phones, GPS devices to be used to create cycling-use map

Ottawa Citizen

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, April 22, 2016

Capital-area cyclists are being asked to use their smartphones and other GPS devices to track their travels, creating a map of where people cycle most (and least) in the city.

A company called Strava Metro has teamed up with Citizens for Safe Cycling, promising to track cyclists for all of 2016.

Speaker series won't change after pipeline protest, chamber says

Metro News

By Emma Jackson, Ottawa Metro News, April 21, 2016

The Ottawa Chamber of Commerce likes its speaker series just fine, thank you, even if some protesters questioned its format Thursday morning.

The chamber’s Eggs ‘N Icons breakfast series hosts a different speaker each month. On Thursday, it was Stefan Baranski from TransCanada, owner of the controversial Energy East pipeline.

That didn’t sit well with Ecology Ottawa, which led a protest outside the Sheraton Hotel as Baranski addressed about 100 paying chamber guests inside.

(...)

But Ecology Ottawa director Graham Saul said the chamber needs to do more than just insist it’s neutral.

“What we’d like to see the chamber do is lead Ottawa businesses in the direction of jobs we can all be proud of, and not act as an advertising agency for the expansion of dirty oil,” Saul said.

TransCanada director's speech to chamber draws protest in Ottawa - Ottawa - CBC News

By Idil Mussa, CBC News Ottawa, April 21, 2016

A business breakfast featuring a speech by the regional director of TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline Project drew a crowd of protesters outside a downtown Ottawa hotel Thursday.

About 60 people gathered outside the Sheraton Hotel on Albert Street to protest the event, organized by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce Stefan Baranski was invited to give a talk at the "Eggs N' Icons" breakfast series about his company's plans for the region.

TransCanada is proposing to build a pipeline stretching from Alberta to New Brunswick, with a section passing through parts of southwestern Ottawa.

In response, Ecology Ottawa organized what the group called a "Green Eggs N' Protest" demonstration in partnership with the Council of Canadians, Greenpeace and other environmental organizations.

"We don't think the chamber of commerce should be running advertisements for the oil industry on the eve of Earth Day. We think they should be taking a more balanced approach in recognizing the fact that we need to be transitioning away from our dependence on fossil fuels," said Graham Saul, executive director of Ecology Ottawa.

Your letters for Friday: The cab generation and let’s let MacLaren off the hook

Ottawa Citizen

By Joe Holmes, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, April 22, 2016

Farm the best place for the new hospital

Re: Former Agriculture Canada officials urge Trudeau to keep the hospital off the farm, April 19

As much as I love the Central Experimental Farm, in my opinion, it is the best site for the new Civic hospital extension. It will be close to existing Civic facilities to better service the medical needs of the public.

Ottawa Earth Day focus on education

Ottawa Citizen

By Kirsten Fenn, Ottawa Citizen, April 21, 2016

Mother Nature is expected to smile on Earth Day celebrations at the Hunt Club-Riverside Park Community Centre on Saturday.

River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington is inviting the community to join in a day of activities from 2 to 4 p.m. that will include cake, a guided tour of McCarthy Woods and an appearance by Environment Minister Catherine McKenna.

NCC finishing work on pathway behind Parliament Hill

Metro News

By Haley Ritchie, Ottawa Metro News, April 20, 2016

The pathway behind Parliament Hill will be getting a little greener this spring thanks to an environmental project by the National Capital Commission.

Twenty-one new trees, almost 400 new shrubs and a mass of new perennials, vines and grasses will be planted along the stretch of the shoreline from the western parking lot to the canal locks.

Melting snow reveals damaged bike racks, garbage bins

Metro News

By Emma Jackson, Ottawa Metro News, April 20, 2016

Spring has sprung, but as the last of the snow finally melts away some communities are dismayed at the destruction left behind.

Bent bike racks, broken bollards and trashed garbage bins follow in the wake of snow plow operators every winter.

For Wellington West BIA director Zach Dayler, it creates a frustrating annual ritual that involves documenting and reporting up to 50 damaged assets every year.