Category: Ottawa

design, LRT, O-Train, OLRT, Ottawa, streetscaping2 Comments

Multi modal transfer station design

Westsideaction

Ottawa will soon be getting a dozen or so LRT stations. We don’t know what the “final” design will be.  The PAC for those stations hasn’t met for months. I do hope it gets one last kick at the penultimate designs of the winning contractor. PACs can and do offer good advice, very practical, from the user perspective. Until then, here’s a look at the Hyannis MA multi modal transfer station. Located in the downtown (such as there is in low density America) on former rail yards, it has a passenger rail terminus, the inter city bus station for buses … Continue reading Multi modal transfer station design

Ottawa2 Comments

Jack Ford’s War

Westsideaction

It was off to the Aviation and Space Museum* this morning to hear a presentation by Jack Ford. He was a private, and the lowest of the low, a soldier without a gun. He carried a camera into the second world war behind the Normandy beaches a few weeks after DDay. Mr Ford walked and talked like a man in his seventies, when he is actually ninety-one.. I took some pic in the darkened theatre. Here they are, I only wish you could have heard him tell the stories to go with them.     Speakers like Mr Ford do … Continue reading Jack Ford’s War

Ottawa

Election paraphernalia giveaway

Westsideaction

I spent the last two weeks traipsing around parts of New England. The landscape and media is saturated with election advertising. I thought it interesting that in  Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren (dem) signs were everywhere. But they were not accompanied by Obama signs. My first thought was she didn’t want to be associated with Obama. Could he really be that unpopular even in a solidly blue state? Did democrat supporters express their party affiliation by posting signs for the local candidate while avoiding the President? So I went into three campaign offices. It was interesting to talk to the party workers. … Continue reading Election paraphernalia giveaway

Ottawa

Un-hallowed eve

Westsideaction

I really feel sorry for people in those American “key battleground states” inundated with advertising and spin, an onslaught rivalling Hurricane Sandy. Apparently some locals on Cape Cod also feel like mocking the election:   And here is what the whole display looked like: This wasn’t a pure mocking of the American election. In Chatham, MA,  New England, I came across a whole central park of Hallowe’en displays. Some would definitely make little ones nervous: This display featured Chatham Sea Dog who found, on his travels, lilli-pumpkins: The whole park had a stroll of displays: At first I thought this was a … Continue reading Un-hallowed eve

Ottawa, roads, Transit7 Comments

New-style traffic lights

Westsideaction

In passing the city’s signals yard on Gladstone near the OTrain track, I noticed that an intersection’s worth of signals were up and running, but with signal heads I have previously not seen in Ottawa.   Cities with streetcars or surface rail use signals with different size heads or the ‘straight bar’ of light to signal transit drivers when to stop and go. Motorists continue to obey signal heads with the standard roundish light that we are familiar with. But Ottawa doesn’t have a surface rail system, and we junked our streetcars half a century ago. So I found myself … Continue reading New-style traffic lights

bike path, bixi bike, cycling in Ottawa, Laurier Ave, NCC, Ottawa, road diet, traffic volume, Transit4 Comments

Ontario Bike Summit, Day 1

Westsideaction

The Ontario Bike Summit started Monday at the Museum of Nature, and continues on Tuesday. Bug Me, says Watson: What’s a public meeting without politicians to speak? This meeting opened with an abundance of them. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson spoke of the increased volume of cyclists (155,000 in May) and their increased visibility. Speaking of the Laurier Separated Bike Lane (SBL) he made it clear that he understood some cyclists did not like the project, but “they don’t have to use it”. It is designed to offer a safer route for cyclists, to encourage more cycling, and to facilitate tourists who cycle … Continue reading Ontario Bike Summit, Day 1

Ottawa

You missed the latest post …

Westsideaction

If you get this message, you are still subscribed to or are reading WestSideAction at the OLD blog site. There is a new post at the new site, and it will not appear at this site! You are missing my post on why we need a downtown transit tunnel, no shades of Gray! Here’s what to do:Go to http://www.westsideaction.wordpress.com/ and on the right side column, the RSS buttons. Click to start your free subscription for the posts only, or the posts and readers comments. If you subscribe, all new posts are sent to you automatically. Once you subscribe to the … Continue reading You missed the latest post …

Ottawa

WSA is moving

Westsideaction

WestSideAction has moved from .blogspot to .wordpress. Please subscribe using the RSS button there as future posts will be from the http://www.westsideaction.wordpress.com/ site only. Sorry for the errors and omissions and oddities that appear for the next few days as I try to set up and get familiar with the .wordpress account. As always, comments and suggestions are welcome. thanks for reading, Eric Darwin Continue reading WSA is moving

Ottawa

One hour to a cleaner neighborhood

Westsideaction

On Saturday morning at 10am a group of Dalhousie residents will gather at the Dalhousie community centre (corner of Empress and Somerset) for an hour (or two) of neighborhood grooming. We provide the gloves, bags, and friends. In small groups, we tidy up a few blocks or nuisence spots. This year the focus will be on the two pedestrian staircases that go up/down Nanny Goat Hill. The Primrose staircase runs east-west; the Empress Ave staircase runs north/south; the bottom of the Empress stair comes out near the Good Companions centre. One of the nicest aspects of gathering up the miscellaneous … Continue reading One hour to a cleaner neighborhood

Ottawa

Tiptoe through the tulips

Westsideaction

On Sunday is the upcoming Tulipathon Walk sponsored by Multifaith Housing Initiative to raise money and also awareness of the need for affordable housing for low-income people in Ottawa. It’s this Sunday, May 2nd, from 2 to 4 pm, with registration beforehand at Commissioner’s Park (Dow’s Lake and Preston). It’s a 6 km. walk from there through the park to Fifth Ave. and back again – with tulips in view along the way. Continue reading Tiptoe through the tulips

Ottawa

Dalhousie wins the Stanley Cup

Westsideaction

I note from the morning paper that some government bodies here in Ottawa are excited at the notion of building a 65′ high  replica of the Stanley Cup. That’s about six to seven stories high. A site is yet to be found. Obviously, such a cup won’t fit comfortably on a small downtown plaza, like the teapot with the revolving tree in front of Minto Place. I suggest it should go in a more visible spot. Since the cup is named after Lord Stanley, and Lord Stanley’s full title was Lord Stanley of Preston (yup, true, I read it in … Continue reading Dalhousie wins the Stanley Cup

Ottawa

The price is right

Westsideaction

A few weeks ago I posted this pix from our favorite westboro loblaws. The bin was half full/half empty … did buyers figure out the math? This week I saw this bin, and Charlie the Tuna was really on sale for a better price. The bin was full. Go figure. I also noticed the double pack of shreddies was way more expensive than the sale pack of individual boxes of square shreddies at the aisle end. Buy smaller boxes, more packaging, save more. So I returned my big box to the correct shelf on the aisle and took some small ones … Continue reading The price is right

Ottawa

War-torn Somerset Street

Westsideaction

Wanted poster on a pharmacy window in our west side neighborhood. That’s our Yasir in the centre picture, yes sir. Grammar is apparently not on the curriculum at drug mart skool. Still, I cannot be the only one wondering at how quickly the Ontario government trotted out those ‘fighting for the little guy’ responses to “big pharma”. The distrust of the ordinary citizen for big government, big business, big media, big religion,  or other vested interests … is huge for a good reason. Like American citizens who wondered how cutting billions from medicare could make the health care system better. Or how American health care … Continue reading War-torn Somerset Street