From time to time the city rebuilds residential streets. Loretta Avenue, which runs north-south between the Trillium Line tracks and Bayswater Avenue, is one such street. It crosses Hickory, a busy east-west cycle and ped route, and crosses Laurel, which … Continue reading Loretta Avenue rebuild
So there was a brouhaha for a few days about the mostly unlamented death of Fidel Castro. Trudeau 1 and Trudeau 2 were involved. So I’ll insert myself, for your amusement. Back in 1971 I was still a high school … Continue reading The Friday Traveller: Trudeaux, Cuba, and Me
There is a mixed use development proposed for the corner of McRae Avenue and Scott Street. This is right across the street from the new Farm Boy store, which is also in a mixed use complex (one office tower 7 stories, … Continue reading City Tot Lot with Pee Post
Windsor, ON, is also in the process of building a new hospital. They propose a 10-storey building with numerous wings upon which additions can be appended. Like all artist conceptions, there’s an abundance of space coloured green, and of empty … Continue reading About that new hospital site …
Recall that the Confederation Line will extend westward to Lincoln Fields, maybe by 2023. From there, the line will split with one pair of tracks running on to Baseline Station, and the other going to Bayshore. Of necessity, therefore, only every … Continue reading Track splitting on the Phase 2 LRT lines
These are exciting days for sidewalk superintendents as the big beams for the new Bayview LRT Station were put in place. The beams are precast concrete: The design of the structure is the same as Booth Street overpass / Pimisi … Continue reading Construction Updates – Bayview Station, Trillium Line
I have mixed feelings about “sharrows”. While they do remind people who drive that there are also people who ride bikes … and they do suggest where it might be best for people to ride their bike … I simply … Continue reading Marking shared lanes
I noticed this artwork installation in front of the SOHO Champagne condos. There is a security camera on the wall behind it. Continue reading Gummy Bear Artwork
Can you fight city hall? Well, you can try. above: artwork hanging in hallway outside the hearing room pretty much sums it up At the OMB it is hard to “out planner” the entire city planning department, or the developers … Continue reading Fun and Games at the OMB, 5/5, Can you fight city hall?
Amongst the boredom Throughout the hearing, I was surprised at the lengthy boring testimony, with day after day of “turn to binder 4, tab 77, typed page 23 but handwritten page number 26, point C, ii, point four, third line … Continue reading Fun and Games at the OMB, 4/5, Humour breaks out
The Hearing, part ii One of our arguments was that the city designated ten stub end streets running off Preston for low rise housing, ie the two story houses there now, and with intensification, allowing for four floors. The only … Continue reading Fun and Games at the OMB, 3/5 the hearing goes on and on and ..
The Hearing (part i) Our lawyer had the one side of the central microphone stand. She was backed up by our hired planner, our transportation expert, and a few local residents. The other side of the microphone stand held the … Continue reading Fun and Games at the OMB, 2/5, on Expertise
This past winter I learned first hand how the OMB works. I was an appellant (notice my new legal vocabulary !) Over the next few days, you can see our case unfold in glorious slo mo. Readers with a high … Continue reading Fun and Games at the OMB, 1/5, what was the issue?
Wandering around the west side by foot and by bike reveals new wonders perhaps missed because the summer heat made me slothful. Here’s the stone walls along most of the aqueduct through LeBreton Flats. They were restored / rebuilt about 20 years ago, but the City sorta benignly neglected to maintain the bank sides and landscaping ever since. Many of the trees have died (for lack of water, since they were planted in giant “pockets” underlain with impermeable fabric so the roots can’t get to the water table). The view below is from the new Booth Freeway overpass, which offers never-before-seen … Continue reading Wandering around the west side (ii) the historic aqueduct
John Turner and Jim Watson have lots in common. In a crisis, both claim they can’t do something. It didn’t work out well for Mr Turner. So people get killed moving about in Ottawa. Anyone looking at the traffic fatalities knows … Continue reading Yes you can, Mr Mayor
Mayor Watson came in for a huge dump of criticism for the design and rebuild of Lansdowne Park. But his vision was right, he withstood the onslaught, and the resulting urban fabric is quite nice. When I tell people I … Continue reading Revisiting Old Battles
My first backpacking trip to Europe, back in the dark ages – 1970’s – discovered that everything you want to see is always covered in scaffolding if its a building; or out for restoration if it is a famous artwork. It … Continue reading Ottawa looks more like Europe
There are certain facts of life we have to deal with today, even if we regret how things came to be that way. I wont rehash how Booth Street north of Albert, going through LeBreton Flats, came to be designed … Continue reading About those not-quite-bike-lanes on Booth Freeway
In addition to a 1871 roundhouse turntable, parts of a 1883 roundhouse have also been uncovered on LeBreton Flats near Bayview Station. The archaeological dig covers some city land where the Trillium OTrain line and Trillium multi-user pathway is located, and … Continue reading 1871 Railway turntable uncovered on LeBreton Flats
With the Monday Family moved in … and the kitchen counters installed last week … you might well think the Monday House rebuild is done and over. Twenty-some weeks and its compleat. But, it isn’t. The Monday’s are living in the … Continue reading Monday House – never ending story
As part of the expansion plans for the Trillium OTrain line, a new station is to be inserted at Gladstone Avenue. Crews showed up this week to bore holes in the ground to identify how much rock and overburden has … Continue reading Gladstone Station preliminaries
Take a good close look at this bus stop. It is the closest thing you find in Ottawa to a eye catching roadside transit amenity. It is a bit strange when you actually look at it. I guess the poster picture on the right hand end panel has been cut in half to allow patrons to see approaching buses. And of course it is advertising. I know Ottawans love to hate private businesses, and their advertising, wanting some sort of ART installation, with an explanatory plaque for those dummies out there that aren’t so enlightened. But really, this IS … Continue reading Bus Stop Bus Stop
About two weeks ago the construction crew jaws at the Monday House fell through the floor when a giant moving van crept down Monday Street. Surely that wasn’t for the Monday House, where maple flooring was just going in? Fortunately, it … Continue reading Monday House, week 21, old and new come together
Just because you think someone is after you doesn’t mean you are paranoid. There are those who are computer literate. I am not one. Frustrated at slow loading times for the Citizen website, I started banging away semi-randomly at those … Continue reading Wandering Around my Desktop with renewed Paranoia
