Category: LeBreton Flats

aquaduct, Bayview, Dalhousie, LeBreton Flats, stadium5 Comments

Why Not Ask First? We May Have Other Plans!

Westsideaction

There’s a lot of hoopla in the mainstream media these days with everybody and their brother popping up with new plans for Lansdowne Park. The alternative plans tend to share some elements in common: The Glebe will get a big grassy and treed park. Someone else’s money will restore some older, architecturally significant buildings into marvellous wonders for the local neighborhood. Locals will wander in on bicycles and by foot to buy directly from the friendly farmer locally-grown no-downside produce. After that they can linger by Venetian canals sipping coffee from organically grown (in the shade) responsibility harvested 100 mile … Continue reading Why Not Ask First? We May Have Other Plans!

Claridge, condos, LeBreton Flats1 Comment

200 Lett St condo by Claridge

Westsideaction

Claridge built the first yellow brick condo tower at 200 Lett Street in LeBreton Flats. While not my favorite building, it looks a lot better with (most) landscaping now installed. Construction has begun on tower 2, immediately to the south of the first building. It will be joined to the first building on the 4th through 6th floors, and will have another tower (not all glass) at the east end of the final U-shaped structure. The picture shows the bottom floor of the two floor garage. Blue drainage pipes for all the down runs have been installed, the floor gravel … Continue reading 200 Lett St condo by Claridge

housing policy, infill, LeBreton Flats1 Comment

Naked Intersections, Naked Streets, Woonerf

Westsideaction

The net is an amazing place. Following links on the Greater Ottawa blogsite to stories on naked intersections, I end up a dozen sites away, I can’t remember how I got there, and sometimes only peripherally related to the original story that started the links. Other times the links are exciting reading, and I find myself wanting to subscribe to this or that RSS feed (astoundingly, so many sites do not make it easy to subscribe or follow them…). Naked streets, or naked intersections refers to the latest Dutch planning fad of removing all traffic signs, signals, and painted lines, … Continue reading Naked Intersections, Naked Streets, Woonerf

aquaduct, bike path, Claridge, condos, cycling in Ottawa, LeBreton Flats, NCC, pedestrians2 Comments

Contrary results …

Westsideaction

NCC path (foreground); City path beyond what will the yellow line do? There must be a law or maxim somewhere that the more planning is done, the more expensive the administration, the worse the results.– A few blogs ago I lamented the apparent mismatch between the NCC section of the bikepath from new Wellington that goes south along the aquaduct behind the new Claridge condo at 200 Lett Street in LeBreton Flats.– I still cannot believe that despite all the planners, all the coordination, the high city taxes … that the City-spec’d path is two feet narrower than the NCC … Continue reading Contrary results …

aquaduct, bike path, Claridge, condos, LeBreton Flats, Tailrace

How Wide is a Bike Path ?

Westsideaction

in May, NCC path is laid, looking south from Wellington in August, Claridge lays path behind 200 Lett St condo Now Claridge may not be the fastest developer in town, but he is finally implementing the landscaping around the 200 Lett Street yellow-brick condo tower on LeBreton Flats. The path behind the condo, along the tailrace/aquaduct, is being laid and connected to the NCC path. The path is laid to City of Ottawa standards, as spec’d to Claridge in the subdivision agreement. Look at the not-yet-paved gravel path in picture two, which extends the NCC path. Notice that the new … Continue reading How Wide is a Bike Path ?

bike path, Bluesfest, Claridge, condos, cycling in Ottawa, LeBreton Flats, NCC, pedestrians2 Comments

Pooley’s Bridge Re-opens

Westsideaction

view from temporary path towards north end of Pooley’s Bridgeview north along the temp path towards Wellington –Pooley’s bridge is an historic stone arch bridge over the aquaduct/tailrace at the foot of Bronson hill. It permits pedestrians and cyclists direct access from the downtown via Commissioner St (that part of “Bronson” that extends downhill north of Albert) to LeBreton Flats. It was renovated and restored a few years ago, for pedestrian and cyclist traffic only, but then was promptly closed when Fleet Street was closed to public access during construction of residences on LeBreton Flats.–I have been part of the … Continue reading Pooley’s Bridge Re-opens

Albert St, Bayview, Bluesfest, Booth St, City Hall, Dalhousie, Dows Lake, LeBreton Flats, little Italy, Preston street5 Comments

Festival Externalities

Westsideaction

Every festival has impacts external to the site it operates on. These get managed in different ways. Winterlude and the Tulip Festival have numerous events along the canal, abutting neighborhoods like the Golden Triangle and The Glebe. For both these festivals, shuttle buses run along the canal to get crowds to and from the event sites. This distributes parking impacts over a larger area. It also means the City Hall garage and Lansdowne Park parking lots get used. For Bluesfest, there are no shuttle services, leaving adjacent neighborhoods to suffer from a huge influx of parkers. This is most noticeable … Continue reading Festival Externalities

aquaduct, bike path, Booth St, cycling in Ottawa, LeBreton Flats, NCC, ottawa river

NCC vs City Maintenance Practices

Westsideaction

city aquaduct city aquaduct NCC maintenance The NCC landscaped the area along the bike path behind the new War Museum and east of Booth Street, shown in photo 3. Along the riverside chain link fence the NCC planted rose bushes and other shrubs, then applied mulch. Mulch does not stop all weed growth. The picture shows little piles of weeds and grass pulled out by NCC contractors. They picked them up just after I took the picture. By removing the weeds, the rose bushes will have more chance to grow stronger and bigger and choke out future weeds. And of … Continue reading NCC vs City Maintenance Practices

Claridge, condos, LeBreton Flats

Smart Construction techniques

Westsideaction

Claridge has resumed work on the condo project on LeBreton Flats. The new tower will be immediately south of the current yellow brick podium and glass tower, and will appear to be a continuation of the same building around a common courtyard. _ The rock material excavated from the parking garage hole is trucked a few hundred meters to the south and dumped. The yellow excavator is moving the rocks into the blue crusher that turns the large rocks into gravel, which is being stacked up by the red shovel. The debris piles did not look that large a few … Continue reading Smart Construction techniques

Booth St, Claridge, condos, LeBreton Flats, little Italy, Preston street

Recession Over ?

Westsideaction

New housing starts is a good leading indicator of economic confidence. Builders must get their product started a year or more before it is to be occupied. _ Three new residential projects have begun in the west side area. The top picture shows the excavation for the second tower of Claridge’s project on LeBreton Flats. If you look closely, you can see the base for the high crane has been installed on the right side of the hole, near Fleet Street which leads to Pooley’s Bridge and the downtown. _ Picture 2 shows the demolition of two older housing units … Continue reading Recession Over ?

Bluesfest, LeBreton Flats, Preston street

Creative Parking

Westsideaction

Major events such as Bluesfest attracts plenty of patrons who want to park in the adjacent neighborhoods. Parking control is much better this year; Kudos to the City for keeping the parkers off the pedestrian-cycling path along Albert, and off the NCC bike path along the aquaduct. All the construction along Preston has confused parkers. Some people are quite resourceful. In the photo, someone parked on top of the steel plates stacked up on Primrose near Preston. I half expected to find a mini or smart car inside the trenching box itself. Continue reading Creative Parking

Bayview, Bayview Otrain, Bayview-Carling CDP, CDP, interprovincial transit study, LeBreton Flats, LRT, O-Train, oc Transpo, Transit1 Comment

LRT Maintenance Facility Site

Westsideaction

There will be a low-key public meeting at City Hall on Wedn. June 24 from 5.30 to 8pm on the proposed new maintenace facility. No speaches, just poster boards and comment sheets. Recall that on May 27 Council approved the alignment (route) and station locations. The consultants and staff are now working on station design, the BRT to LRT conversion process, construction staging, and how the LRT and BRT will operate once the line opens. Their results will be shown at another open house in Sept. But back to the Maintenance Facility. Planners examined all the site along or near … Continue reading LRT Maintenance Facility Site

Carling Ave, City Hall, DOTT, LeBreton Flats, LRT, NCC, O-Train, oc Transpo5 Comments

LRT Technical Session

Westsideaction

The City hosted a technical session on Saturday, June 20th for all those people who delight in spending a summer Saturday listening to streetcar vendors. About 100 of the public showed up, and at least 30 staff and consultants and vendors. The stated purpose of the meeting was to examine technical issues such as low floor vs high floor LRTs, dedicated vs shared rights of way, driverless vs on-board staff, etc. But I think the unstated purpose of the meeting was to educate the bloggers and transit hobbyists and community activists, so as to raise the tone of the debate … Continue reading LRT Technical Session

Claridge, condos, green roofs, LeBreton Flats1 Comment

Claridge’s Brown-Green Roof

Westsideaction

mid-May mid-June Claridge is the developer of phase one, LeBreton Flats. They have half of the first building on Lett Street is constructed and many suites are occupied. The NCC landscaped the area to the north of the building, running up to the new Wellington Street, with paved bicycle path, benches, garbage cans, trees, shrubs, and grass. The did a significant chunk of this work in mid-winter. Claridge is responsible for doing the landscaping immediately behind the current condo building. The top picture shows truckloads of sand put on the gravel on top of the parking garage roof. They did … Continue reading Claridge’s Brown-Green Roof

Bayview, bike path, LeBreton Flats, ottawa river1 Comment

Logging Days & Les Raftsmen on the Ottawa

Westsideaction

click image to enlarge These two concrete structures sit in the middle of the Ottawa River west of the Chaudiere Falls dam. They are on very small stoney islands, most likely man-made. Years ago, I vaguely recall that there were some small houses/work shacks out in the river for logging crews to use. I can recall they had sloped roofs. I was wondering if these are the walls of the buildings (ie, they were concrete buildings) or if these are the remaining foundations, and the wooden buildings used to be on top of them. This goes back to the log-boom … Continue reading Logging Days & Les Raftsmen on the Ottawa

Albert St, Bayview-Carling CDP, City Centre, Fleet Street, LeBreton Flats, Ottawa8 Comments

Urban Planning Nostalgia

Westsideaction

Over at the blog The Ottawa Project is a story of visiting Lorne Ave and the not-unreasonable assumption that what is visible on Lorne represents that which was demolished on the Flats in the early 1960’s. I think that overview is overly sympathetic to the demolished areas. I do not wish to take the view that it was right to demolish whole neighborhoods/built up areas in favor of total rebuilding, which was the big government view of urban renewal then (note to today’s amateur city rebuilders and commentators who too often wish for bigger govt action – be careful of … Continue reading Urban Planning Nostalgia

Bayview, DOTT, interprovincial transit study, LeBreton Flats, NCC, O-Train, oc Transpo2 Comments

Interprovincial Transit Ideas

Westsideaction

I attended a few hours of the interprovincial transit study meeting last Thursday. I heard lots of suggestions for improving interprovincial transit experience. Here are some of them: 1. Use the Prince of Wales Bridge. This rail bridge from Bayview Station to Gatineau is a favorite solution to most problems. Many felt it need not be double tracked right away, but could operate for the first years as a single track with passing tracks at each end and maybe at Lemieux Island. 2. Most attendees want a rail solution (LRT or O-Train) not a bus solution or bus on transitway … Continue reading Interprovincial Transit Ideas

aquaduct, Bayview, bike path, Booth St, Claridge, condos, cycling in Ottawa, Fallen Fire Fighters Monument, Fleet Street, LeBreton Flats, NCC, pedestrians, Tailrace

Bikepath to No-where

Westsideaction

The NCC has been landscaping the area north of the Claridge condo building on LeBreton Flats since mid-winter. Earlier posts on this blog showed the winter landscaping and very early spring planting of trees and shrubs. Eventually, the Fallen Firefighters Monument will be constructed on the grassy area. The contractor (same one as is doing Plouffe Park) has now paved the bike path from Wellington Street north along the west side of the tailrace. A side branch cuts off to the west to join Lett Street beside the condo. But the path goes nowhere, as Claridge hasn’t yet landscaped the … Continue reading Bikepath to No-where

Albert St, Bayview Otrain, DOTT, LeBreton Flats, LRT, O-Train, oc Transpo1 Comment

Kanata to downtown direct bus service ?

Westsideaction

I read on Real Grouchy’s blog that he and Marianne Wilkinson expected direct BRT service from Kanata to downtown to continue after the LRT system is opened from Tunney’s to Blair. When the DOTT study began, its terms of reference were from Bayview to Blair. It was a somewhat dubious proposition to force all west end commuters to transfer to the LRT at Bayview when they were already in sight of the downtown. They therefore proposed continuing BRT service from the west into the core. Since the transitway would be converted to LRT, the buses would exit the transitway at … Continue reading Kanata to downtown direct bus service ?

Albert St, Bayview, Bayview Otrain, Booth St, DOTT, LeBreton Flats, LRT, O-Train, oc Transpo

Transit tunnel success …

Westsideaction

The City today announced its preferred LRT routes and station configurations. Good news: the major transfer station from buses-on-the-transitway-west will be at Tunney’s Pasture, built on the grassy vacant area north of the current station. Good news: the configuration at Bayview will permit same train access from the (future) southwest transitway / O-Train alignment to the downtown. This means that we can attract larger conventions to the new convention centre downtown as we will have no-transfer-required service direct from the airport to downtown. The configuration at Bayview permits much greater flexibility in train routing. Bad News: the LeBreton Station is … Continue reading Transit tunnel success …

bike path, Claridge, condos, cycling in Ottawa, green roofs, LeBreton Flats, NCC2 Comments

LeBreton Landscaping adventures continue

Westsideaction

NCC plantings along new bike path, view from Wellington Claridge doing nothing yet… this is their green roof NCC plants up to edge of Claridge condo NCC trees along north edge of condo In a posting in March, there were photos of the NCC doing winter landscaping on the Flats. They filled in the depression on the north side of the Claridge condo on Lett St, phase 1 of LeBreton Flats north of Albert. They graded the land to a lawn area, roughed in bike/pedestrian paths, and installed a generous trench of topsoil for a row of trees along Wellington. … Continue reading LeBreton Landscaping adventures continue

condos, green roofs, LeBreton Flats

Green Roofs in Ottawa

Westsideaction

War Museum This photo shows the west side of the War Museum roof. This roof is unusual in that it is at ground level at the west edge and slopes up to be an elevated roof. Another section of roof is beyond the office space structure. It is accessed from a north/south ramp and path system that crosses the building at midpoint. Originally designed to “break” the very long narrow building into two, it “completes” the north / south pedestrian circulation scheme on the Flats, should it ever be developed. Two years ago this path was usually open. Now, whenever … Continue reading Green Roofs in Ottawa