Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

LRT station to host 2017 attraction with ‘ghost train’

Ottawa Citizen

By Chris Lowrey, Ottawa Citizen, March 30, 2016

The LRT station under construction at Lyon Street will be temporarily turned into an underground attraction featuring images, sounds and even a “ghost train” hurtling down the tracks as part of Ottawa’s 2017 festivities.

The project’s announcement was staged Wednesday in the old Place de Ville theatre, which is connected to the Lyon Street station. The theatre will serve as the departure point for visitors. From there, they will be able to travel down into the station and tour its entire 300-metre length.

Ottawa council to consider record $15.8M brownfield grant request

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 30, 2016

An application for $15.8 million in tax and fee breaks would be the largest brownfield grant dished out by the city if council approves the request next month.

The Regional Group wants to transform the former Oblates land at 175 Main St. along the Rideau River into a new mixed-use community called Greystone Village. The property has about 215,000 tonnes of contaminated soil that needs to be trucked to a dump over the next four years. Work has already started.

Extend LRT to Kanata before Trim Road in east, says councillor

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 30, 2016

The city should start laying LRT tracks towards Kanata before extending rail past Place d’Orléans, according to a councillor who represents part of the western suburb.

“I’m going to have a problem going to Trim Road before going to Kanata,” Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley said in an interview.

Hubley dismissed the idea of extending the LRT to Trim Road as simply a plan to help residents in the neighbouring municipality get into the city.

Maple sap ‘tsunami’ washes across Lanark County

Ottawa Citizen

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, March 30, 2016

Eastern Ontario’s forests are awash in a tide of maple sap this spring, a high-quality sap run that is going on and on and threatening to set records.Producers are sleep-deprived, and wondering where to put it all.

“We kind of judge it by our equipment — (whether) our equipment can keep up with the sap flow. We were producing at our full capacity and our sap was gaining on us,” said Shirley Deugo of Fulton’s Pancake House and Sugar Bush.

LRT changes recommended for phase two

By Brier Dodge, Ottawa Community News, March 29, 2016

The city will recommend two changes to the second phase of light rail transit in Ottawa as the environmental assessment is released.

The assessment is for the Confederation Line East Extension, which spans from Blair station to a terminal at Place d’Orléans, with plans to eventually go to Trim Road.

The two recommended changes are:

* Use the existing transitway east of Blair station to pass under Blair Road and the highway ramps, and then cross over into the median of highway 174 near the existing transit overpass

Ottawa to receive $325,000 for cycling infrastructure

Ottawa Citizen

By Aidan Cox, Ottawa Citizen, March 29, 2016

The city will receive $325,000 to create and improve cycling infrastructure as part of Ontario’s Municipal Cycling Infrastructure Program.

“Several different kinds of cycling infrastructure will be installed or improved, including on-road cycling lanes, off-road cycling and walking paths, cycling specific signals and signs, active transportation bridges and bike racks,” said Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi at a public announcement Tuesday.

Display of bird carnage backs call for design guidelines

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 29, 2016

Cynthia Paquin stepped back to wipe away tears while helping to arrange more than 900 dead birds on the floor of City Hall on Tuesday.

It was Safe Wings Ottawa’s chance to show passersby the deadly results of birds crashing into buildings. The volunteer group documented 1,297 collisions in 2015, and much of that carnage was lined up in neat rows across from the information desk over the lunch hour.

Enthusiastic cyclists wanted for meet and greet

By Michelle Nash, Ottawa Community News, March 28, 2016

Love talking about wheel spokes?

Or riding your bike in the winter?

Does the need for more bike lanes or safer cycling initiatives really get you going? Well if it does, then Bike Ottawa has just the event for you.

The local advocacy group will be hosting it’s annual Spring Bike Ottawa – an event where passionate cyclists can come and learn about local cycling updates as well as have the chance to bend the ear of a politician about the importance of safer infrastructure on city streets.

Pedestrians, cyclists face detours as city resumes Minto Bridge work - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, March 28, 2016

Pedestrians and cyclists in New Edinburgh and Lowertown could be facing lengthy detours as work resumes Tuesday morning on a historic truss bridge connecting the two neighbourhoods.

Starting March 29, crews will resume rehabilitation work on the central and east spans of the Minto Bridge on Union Street.

Your letters for Monday, March 28: Ghomeshi, traffic woes

Ottawa Citizen

By Fran Dawson, Tudor Jones and Jill Courtemanche, Ottawa Citizen Letters to the Editor, March 28, 2016

Traffic bottleneck on Byron?

Re: Byron doesn’t need another bike lane, March 19.

I very much appreciate Nick Brooks’s letter and wholeheartedly agree that Byron Avenue doesn’t need another bike lane. There is already a bike path running parallel to Byron, and it is less than 30 metres away. Ottawa is an east-west city, and it seems that the city regularly blocks the way.

I lived on Byron Avenue for most of my life. I often use an alternate route to avoid Byron’s traffic. Putting an unnecessary additional bikeway on it will make east-west vehicles move more slowly and cause more fossil fuel to be burned. What a waste of taxpayers’ dollars.

Extra station possible under realigned eastern LRT route

Ottawa Citizen

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, March 28, 2016

The city says an additional east-end LRT station is still possible under a realigned second phase of the transit project, but accessing the train stop would present a new challenge.

Plugging a station near Gloucester High School into the Stage 2 LRT blueprint is only conceptual, since no money has been earmarked for the extra stop east of Blair station.

The Right Chemistry: Ban plastic bags? It's not so simple

By Joe Schwarcz, Ottawa Citizen, March 24, 2016

Demystifying science is a mystifying experience. You quickly learn that every issue is more complicated than it first seems. Whether you are exploring bisphenol A, fluoridation, phthalates, GMOS, dietary supplements, non-stick cookware, preservatives, tap water, pesticides or climate change, you find a variety of opinions ostensibly supported by references plucked from the scientific literature.

But with the enormous number of papers being published, it is easy to pick and choose references that support almost any agenda. The quality of scientific publications follows a bell curve: some are outstanding, some are dismal, most are mediocre. Any painting of controversial issues, and there is controversy about virtually every issue, as either white or black, should be regarded with suspicion. Science comes in various shades of grey, with the hues shifting as new information comes to light. Risks, and there always are some, have to be evaluated in relation to benefits.