Category: LRT

Arizona, Carleton U, downtown, LRT, O-Train, OLRT1 Comment

Phoenix LRT (part ii)

Westsideaction

In the downtown Phoenix transit plaza there were these brightly coloured display boards. From a distance, I thought they were route maps or timetables. Upon closer inspection, they proved to be laser-cut metal sheets. Each one showed a subway or rail transit map from the major cities of the world. I felt a bit – discomforted – inspecting these. Was little Phoenix trying to cast itself in the Big Leagues, rather like Toronto (used to) cast itself as “world class” which simply proved it isn’t? Was it pompous? Or was it just Public Art? The station closeup (above) shows a number … Continue reading Phoenix LRT (part ii)

Arizona, LRT, OLRT3 Comments

Phoenix LRT station designs

Westsideaction

Phoenix has a somewhat different climate from Ottawa (why else would I go there in February?) and their LRT station designs have different functions. Mainly, they provide shade. The stations are simple raised platforms, about 16′ wide. Metal sails overhead provide dense shadows; tubes and fins provide dappled shade. Stations all along the 20 mile line were built on a common design.Most platforms had greenery, in the form of vines growing up between wire meshes. The mesh protects the greenery from damage, and provides support. Think of it as an ultra-thin hedge. Similar wire mesh fences have been installed between patios on … Continue reading Phoenix LRT station designs

LRT, O-Train, OLRT9 Comments

OLRT to the Airport — Not

Westsideaction

It appears the City of Ottawa is once again sloughing off easy expansion of the rail infrastructure in favour of more roads to the suburbs. Extending the O-train to Riverside South? Along an existing unused rail right of way? Where fields of houses are the main farm crop? Where long term plans call for rail eventually? Using the 3 Talent trains that are already on hand and soon to be declared surplus? Nahh, premature to consider such expansion. And of course, the line would go right past the Airport but not into it. Someday, there might be a shuttle bus from the airport … Continue reading OLRT to the Airport — Not

LRT, OLRT, Transit, Uncategorized

How to make a train out of a bus

Westsideaction

As home to one of the few extensive bus rapid transit (BRT) networks in North America, we tend to forget what a marvellous system we have. Cities such as New York, which we yearn to emulate for its pedestrianizing activities, and its new bike ways, struggles to get bus lanes on regular streets let alone a bus-only road network such as we have in Ottawa. Our BRT is closer to a rail-transit network than the typical bus-on-streets-in-mixed-traffic that most urban transit systems are still stuck in. Our largely grade-separated transitway makes it frequently faster to take the bus than to drive a car, … Continue reading How to make a train out of a bus

bike path, cycling in Ottawa, design, downtown, LRT, OLRT, pedestrians, sidewalks, streetscaping, Uncategorized9 Comments

Is it time for a Sparks Street bike mall ?

Westsideaction

Late last year I wrote a two part post for www.SpacingOttawa.ca on the Downtown Moves project, a scheme aimed at improving the downtown pedestrian and cycling environment. This improvement is to make the LRT project work better by improving access to the stations; and to improve the downtown post-LRT implementation when the space currently occupied by bus movements will be much reduced. There were a lot of ideas in those posts, and some are worth elaborating on.   Today, can the Sparks Street mall be improved by making it a bike mall? Downtown pedestrian malls were all the rage a few decades ago. Some are still thriving; many … Continue reading Is it time for a Sparks Street bike mall ?

Albert St, Bayview, Bayview Otrain, bike path, bikewest, cycling in Ottawa, Dalhousie, DOTT, intensificatioin, interprovincial transit study, LRT, O-Train, OLRT, ottawa river, Uncategorized10 Comments

Bayview Station (final)

Westsideaction

The saga of the amazing perambulating Bayview Station is nearing completion. Recall that the station has been proposed in various scales, sizes, and locations. Well, the final plan is available exclusively to readers here. Bayview Station is back to being “on the structure” of the transitway bridge over the O-Train cut (yes, I know, the O-train isn’t in a cut, it’s on the level, it’s the road that is elevated, but  such is our road-focussed society that the road becomes the normal level, and the flat becomes the hole…). The new station is in the same style as the majority of other proposed LRT stations. … Continue reading Bayview Station (final)

801 Albert, Bayview, Bayview Otrain, Bayview-Carling CDP, bike path, bikewest, City Centre, Claridge, Dalhousie, design, DOTT, hintonburg, infill, intensificatioin, LeBreton Flats, LRT, NCC, O-Train, OLRT, ottawa river, Phoenix DCR Developments, Scott street, Transit, Uncategorized, Walnut Court, west wellington9 Comments

Sim-City model: Bayview-carling CDP

Westsideaction

The City has been sporadically doing up a CDP (Community Design Plan) (which is a plan of dubious effectiveness under the Official Plan) for the O-Train corridor running from Bayview Station to Carling Avenue. Residents frequently ascribe its tardiness to a desire on the part of the City to see all the developable land purchased and rezoned before the plan is drawn up. In that way, the city won’t have to continually amend it. The City is committed to having CDPs done for all the stations along the OLRT. Having seen some of the in-progress ones I’d have to say they are better than nothing.  At least they … Continue reading Sim-City model: Bayview-carling CDP

Dalhousie, design, dominican gardens, Elm Street, LeBreton Flats, LRT, parking, parks, Plouffe Park, Uncategorized5 Comments

Parks Planning (ii)

Westsideaction

Chaudiere Park is a well-used large-ish pocket park on Elm Street, between Rochester and Preston. It’s about 140′ along the street, and about 100′ deep. The park is dominated by a very large, very deep wading pool that delivers a freeze-your-bones-it’s-so-cold experience to kiddies for six weeks every summer. There is a large sandbox on the east; a basketball court on the west. The general impression is a sea of pavement. and Chaudiere Park on Elm is a newish location for the former Chaudiere Park on LeBreton Flats, which was relocated to Elm after the “slum clearance” expropriation in the 1960’s. As such, it deserves a proper park … Continue reading Parks Planning (ii)

Albert St, Bayview Otrain, bike path, bikewest, Carling Ave, City Centre, cycling in Ottawa, cyclopiste de preston, design, Gladstone, LRT, NCC, O-Train, oc Transpo, OLRT, parks, Scott street, surface water, Uncategorized6 Comments

Planning the O-Train bike path

Westsideaction

Okay, so it’s not really a “bike path”, the City doesn’t have any of those. We have MUPs, or Multi User Paths, which are shared by cyclists, dog walkers, parents with wailers, grannies with yappers, kids alone,  etc. (It makes an interesting contrast: on roads, cyclists are told to play nicely with cars, buses, and tractor-trailers going 70km; off road, cyclists are sent to play with various pedestrian folks). I’m on the PAC (public advisory committee) for the O-Train path that will eventually run from the Ottawa River pathways south to Dow’s Lake. The City will construct the section from Bayview Station to Somerset (or maybe … Continue reading Planning the O-Train bike path

Bayview, Bayview Otrain, bike path, cycling in Ottawa, DOTT, LRT, O-Train, oc Transpo, OLRT5 Comments

Bike shelter at Bayview Station

Westsideaction

OC TRANSPO has installed the new bike shelter at Bayview Station. It does not have a glass wall on the “back” side of it, but nor is the back side readily accessible for cyclists while there is loose dirt/mud. Presumably, if no glass back wall is installed, and the grass grows, some cyclists can use the rack from the back side but at the cost of losing out on the roof. Is it safe to suggest this is another one-sided front-in only bike shelter? In which case, it holds six bikes. After we spend millions on the new Bayview LRT and indoor-transfer-by-escalator to the … Continue reading Bike shelter at Bayview Station

Bayview, bike path, cycling in Ottawa, DOTT, LeBreton Flats, LRT, NCC, O-Train, OLRT, pedestrians, Richmond road, sidewalks11 Comments

How “secure” (or disruptive…) will the OLRT be?

Westsideaction

        We are in the process of replacing the transitway with LRT. In the Scott Street cut, this won’t matter much. But at either end of the cut, it matters a lot. The City is preaching two totally opposed messages on how the track will interact with the community.  On LeBreton Flats, they claim that anyone getting near the tracks will be imminent mortal danger so great that six foot high chain link fences will be constructed on both sides of the tracks. For pedestrian safety, of course. So there will be no crossing of the tracks through the Flats.  City staff … Continue reading How “secure” (or disruptive…) will the OLRT be?

Bayview, bike path, cycling in Ottawa, DOTT, LRT, oc Transpo, OLRT, parking8 Comments

OC Transpo provides better bike parking

Westsideaction

Users of the main transitway stations will have noticed that some bike parking racks have been shoved aside from their usual locations. Then concrete pads have been poured. Only at Baseline Station did I notice a sign identifying what is going on: new bike racks. Kudos to OC for providing better bike parking. In the pic below notice the new shelter, the moderately strong bike racks, and in the distance, the numerous bikes attached to the shoved-aside racks that are no longer bolted to the ground (and the background, the free employee parking lot attached our municipal office building). And here is a … Continue reading OC Transpo provides better bike parking

DOTT, LRT, Uncategorized8 Comments

Visions of LRT along the Parkway

Westsideaction

Much fuss has been made about the merits of running the new LRT along parts of the Parkway aka Ottawa River Commuter Expressway. Personally, I don’t see why motorists have to get the view and nice landscaping whilst transit users have to ride in a ditch. I think electric trains on grassy trackbeds along the river would be more environmentally sensitive than noisy, fumey cars and buses on asphalt roads that have to be salted all winter. I realize one** of the “criticisms” of riverfront transit is the aesthetics of overhead wiring. I spotted this view of Island Park Bridge and thought immediately … Continue reading Visions of LRT along the Parkway

City Hall, cycling in Ottawa, DOTT, LRT, oc Transpo, OLRT7 Comments

Bike Parking at New LRT Stations

Westsideaction

I sit on the public advisory committee for pedestrian and cyclist access to and design of the new LRT stations. Sometimes my comments are welcome there, and sometimes I feel like the skunk at a garden party. After last week, I was a stunned bunny. The subject was (again) cyclist and pedestrian access to the new stations. There was some useful stuff, like the likely walk-in catchment zone, the cycle-in catchment zone, and the zone where it is just too much effort to get out the bike so someone might walk; and zone where someone might decide, since they were already … Continue reading Bike Parking at New LRT Stations

Albert St, bike path, bikewest, condos, cycling in Ottawa, design, DOTT, housing policy, intensificatioin, LRT, NCC, O-Train, OLRT, parks, Richmond road, Scott street8 Comments

Air rights over the transitway/LRT

Westsideaction

Councilor Katherine Hobbs is in the news for asking the City to examine developing the air rights over the west side part of the transitway/LRT line. I have a bunch of mutually contradictory thoughts on this. 1. The City should sell air rights to help pay for the transitway. Taxpayers are forking out a bundle of money for a transit line, we can recoup some of that expenditure by selling prime access to the most-accessible locations in the city. Otherwise, many of the development benefits go to the builders on adjacent lands. In some cases, these are private developers; in the case … Continue reading Air rights over the transitway/LRT

condos, DOTT, housing policy, intensificatioin, LRT, oc Transpo, OLRT, roads, Uncategorized8 Comments

Development charges and misleading headlines

Westsideaction

Today’s Citizen has a story on development charges. The headline, picture,  and first part of the story emphasizes how much of the development charges will pay for transit. Buried deeper in the story, and not all that easy to spot, is this bit: But in general, fees for new roads are far and away the biggest chunk of any of the charges: for a new house inside the Greenbelt,You can read the whole story here: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/City+Ottawa+boosting+development+charges+transit+costs/5167823/story.html#ixzz1TPDX3NqW         Do you notice that the headline doesn’t read “rampant road construction boosts housing costs?”  There is no picture of Terry … Continue reading Development charges and misleading headlines

Carling Ave, CDP, Claridge, condos, design, DOTT, downtown, Dows Lake, housing policy, intensificatioin, LRT, O-Train, OLRT, Scott street, Soho Italia, Transit27 Comments

March of the High Rises

Westsideaction

The City has recently seen a spate of high rise applications and project announcements. Claridge has a number of downtown high rises in the high 20- storey range: beside Bell Canada, on Nepean and Gloucester, and on Queen at Lyon (currently Barbarella’s and a parking lot). There are taller applications too. The first out of the gate* was Soho Italia, proposed for 500 Preston Street near Dow’s Lake. The Soho Italia structure is notable for several features: most of the parking garage is above grade (about 7 stories of it) clad in a perforated black metal screen; the building rises straight up occupying all of … Continue reading March of the High Rises

Albert St, Claridge, condos, DOTT, downtown, Laurier Ave, LRT, Lyon Street, Minto Place, NCC, OLRT, pedestrians, roads, sidewalks, Transit22 Comments

The devil rides Watson’s new LRT route

Westsideaction

Warning: long post. Go pee or get your coffee before you start reading. After so much huffing and puffing, the City has detailed its final LRT route and station locations, and their costs, to Council and the Public. The most noteworthy change has been to move the tunnel from the “cross country” deep alignment under Albert Street, then Queen Street … to one that traverses the downtown always under Queen. I have read the available material from the City justifying the move. It is a very political document, light on the technical stuff. It’s way more PR oriented than the previous reports. … Continue reading The devil rides Watson’s new LRT route

Carleton U, DOTT, LRT, O-Train, oc Transpo, OLRT15 Comments

O-Train fast track

Westsideaction

After years of ignoring the O-Train (as Chiarelli’s baby it was “thrown out” with the Mayor who drew the bath water); it is finally back on Council’s agenda. Council is looking at some significant service improvements: 8 minute frequency (starting in 2014) rather than 15-minute headway now. This comes with a significant cost: buying six new train sets and selling off the existing Talent train sets in 2014 that would be nearly half-way through their lifespan. The City can make a business case for doing the upgrade, based on several factors: the  current O-train is at- or over-capacity and apparently cannot be made to run faster; … Continue reading O-Train fast track

Bayview, DOTT, LRT

Staircase to heaven

Westsideaction

For the last two weeks, users of the O-Train or those accessing the Bayview bus-stations-in-a-field have had to circumvent the drill rigs that seem to populate so many corners of downtown Ottawa. They are drilling to determine sub-surface soil conditions for the construction of the LRT stations of the future. In this case, they are drilling at the locations of the stairways that will go from the upper platform to the O-Train platform and also access the N/S bike path and BikeWest paths. The outer edges of the OLRT station platforms at this location are quite tricky, as the station will be initially opened as a … Continue reading Staircase to heaven

DOTT, LRT9 Comments

How Much is that LRT Really Costing?

Westsideaction

Sometime later this month, the City will publish an update on the projected cost of the LRT system from Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Road. This will be the most expensive segment, as it includes the tunnel, the maintenance yards, and startup rolling stock. Future segments (eg, to Lincoln Fields or College Square) will be much cheaper, if the public isn’t scared off the whole idea of expanding the  LRT by rampant inflating costs for the first segment. How will Watson play it? He can either deliver years of rising costs and carping criticism, or a clean easy-to-grasp (and easy-to-sell) budget. Recall that … Continue reading How Much is that LRT Really Costing?

Albert St, aquaduct, bike path, Booth St, Claridge, condos, design, DOTT, Fleet Street, LeBreton Flats, LRT, OLRT, Preston street6 Comments

LRT Stations (part iv) LeBreton

Westsideaction

There is currently a bus transitway station at LeBreton Flats. The proposed LRT station is essentially at the same location, except it extends further west under Booth Street and is a few feet south of the current station, allowing room for landscaping and breathing space between it and the aqueduct. On the aerial photo above, note also the pedestrian crossing of the aqueduct off to the left side of the picture, this is the old Broad Street right of way and ped bridge. The site analysis drawing, above, shows the proximity of the current LeBreton residential neighborhood. Blue arrows show view planes, but both are rather curiously … Continue reading LRT Stations (part iv) LeBreton

Bayview, bikewest, design, DOTT, LRT, OLRT, Scott street, Transit, Uncategorized15 Comments

LRT Stations Revealled (part ii) Tunney’s Pasture

Westsideaction

Tunney’s Pasture is the interm western end of the initial LRT system. At Tunney’s, riders will transfer from bus rapid transit on the transitway to LRT to go through the downtown and then on to Blair Road in the East. Tunney’s is the second largest employment node in the City, and will triple in size over the next few decades. At some point the LRT service will extend west of Tunney’s to Lincoln Fields and then out to College Square. The new LRT station will replace the existing bus station at Tunney’s, down in the cut. The train track will extend a few meters west … Continue reading LRT Stations Revealled (part ii) Tunney’s Pasture

Bayview, design, DOTT, downtown, LeBreton Flats, LRT, O-Train, OLRT18 Comments

LRT Stations Revealled (part i)

Westsideaction

The design for the Ottawa LRT stations will be shown below. In this post, there will be the inspiration for the Ottawa design, then some initial Ottawa designs both at the surface and in the tunnel sections. In following posts, there will be the detailed station design and layout and approaches to the Tunney’s, Bayview, and LeBreton Stations. Finally, there will be the Rideau Station and Hurdman. So stow your tables, put your seat backs upright, buckle up, here we go: Interior decorators call it the “inspiration shot”, the picture of some other project that captures some of what we want to emulate. The above … Continue reading LRT Stations Revealled (part i)

intensificatioin, LRT, Uncategorized16 Comments

Intensification follows LRT

Westsideaction

Throughout the LRT planning process the City and its consultants have been showing walking radii around the proposed stations. These radii are more than just the convenient five-minute walk zone around the station. They will also be where the City will encourage transit oriented development (TOD). Most residents get the five-minute walk radius. Judging by questions and comments I hear at LRT meetings, they have much less understanding of TOD. Some clearly think it only applies to vacant lots. If there are few or no vacant lots, there’s no room for highrises, is there? They seem bonded to the present land use, not realizing … Continue reading Intensification follows LRT