Ghost bikes.  Painted white, adorned with plastic flowers and teddy bears. Chained in situ where people who ride bikes come to a fatal end. A sobering reminder to others to drive carefully. Ghost pedestrians. Cut out 2-D manikins shaped like the walking figure on crosswalk signals. Reminders of the risk people who walk face everyday in a transportation environment skewed to favour people who drive cars. Another sobering reminder of how close death stalks everybody who dares walk in the motor-age. These memorials upset some people. Clutter, some say.  Hazards, say some. Creepy, opine others. Valuable reminders, chorus some. Hide … Continue reading Ghosts in the Transportation System

I got several inquiries about the pathways proposed for LeBreton Flats. Some of this is due to the mess during the temporary transitway shift over to Albert Street, which blocks the popular Albert multi-user path )MUP). And the aqueduct path was removed about two years ago for soil remediation north of the aqueduct. And the closure of Booth going to Gatineau left some users upset. So let’s review the current plans for pathways in the Flats and around Pimisi Station, now under construction. This plan comes to me via LS, a regular reader: now revised and updated (16 April):   … Continue reading Pathways of the Slippery Eel

  Ahh, spring thaw. And the puddles are here. Primarily located at crosswalks of course. They are of much less value elsewhere. The picture above isn’t unusual. And here is a cheap plastic post used to separate people who drive at high speeds from people walking to the transit stops at the temporarily relocated LeBreton transit Station: Salt and mud spray is the dejour fashion in Ottawa. I wonder if Nordstrom’s knows this cardinal rule of life in Canada’s Capital? Presumably those cheap posts separating people who walk from people who drive were of some value, since many of them … Continue reading Pedestrians, dumb as posts

With all the hoopla about exciting new developments on the west side of downtown Ottawa, we’ve lost some focus on the ongoing work in progress. Yes, the Phase I project by the NCC-Claridge partnership. Recall that the NCC and City chose the heights and courtyard arrangements; the NCC chose the materials and colour scheme and modern style; Claridge came up with the buildable designs. Not exactly beloved by drive-by architecture critics, there is now a substantial number of homes built and we are about 30% into the tripartite agreed-upon plan. But I gather it’s now nap time for Phase I … Continue reading Nap time on LeBreton Flats

I was standing on a Carlington area sidewalk when I felt a drip on my hat. Then another. I looked down and noticed I was standing on a damp spot on an otherwise dry sidewalk, far from any building to drip on me. Looking up — way way up — I spotted this lovely icicle dripping on me. A sapcicle. Ahh, late signs of spring. Continue reading Drip drip drip

The popular and over-crowded O-Train service became the N(o)-Train — again — on Friday. I’m beginning to think of this train service more in terms of “I wonder if it is running today” rather than than just suffering the occasional disappointment when it doesn’t. I can’t imagine life for those who want to use it every day, and depended on its presence when they made their choice of where to live or where to work and how to commute. I’m sure the unreliable service contributes to OC Transpo’s increased ridership numbers. It must be even more frustrating — when it … Continue reading N(o)-Train — why?

There is an app out there called Walk Score ,  which rates locations by accessibility by foot, transit, and bike. Their algorithm does take into account actual walking routes or walkable streets as opposed to simply drawing a radius around a point, since a radius may have unwalkable segments due to geography, large land uses, freeways, or most probably, a for-people-who-drive-only maze of traffic calming crescents and cul de sacs. A few days ago we saw how developers market their projects in Seattle, using transit advertising to grab transit users:   This sign is also from Seattle. It is a sidewalk … Continue reading Walk score

  What elements would make up Eric’s ideal bus stop? This one will get us nicely started.    It has a distinctive shape and colouring suitable for the place.   It doesn’t have glass walls, but in this location it didn’t need them much. In Ottawa, we’d need glass side walls. The roof provides sun and rain shelter. There’s a bench.  Off to the right, a working, clean water fountain, albeit without a doggy bowl at its base. Nice, decorative floor paving helps celebrate the sense of place. There’s a sturdy bulletin board and schedule display. A decorative (not chain link) … Continue reading Bus stop, bus stop (part ii)

Does it matter whether we have bus shelters or purpose built indoor transit station buildings along the LRT? When reporting here earlier about the extension of OTrain service to the Airport, I questioned the lack of “nice” stations along the route. The Confederation Line will have expensive-but-not-fancy stations; the Trillium line gets bus shelters. Will the quality of the stations influence users, for example, to choose Carleton vs Ottawa U for an education? Whether to wait for a train or take a cab to the airport? If given a list of transit service features, nice stations aren’t likely to be … Continue reading Bus stop Bus stop

Anyone with a camera could walk around Amalie Arena in Tampa and make the case for successful city building: long vistas, lush landscaping, waterfront restaurants, bike trail access — catch a game, look at some fish, go for a cruise or stroll back to Hotel High and Monumental. Classic planner porn. Shown below are pic from the main arena plaza with the Ford garage on the right. Beyond its nice foreground facade, it became a much plainer parking deck. And what’s that beside it, on the left? An entire city block sized surface parking lot.  I hope it is temporary, … Continue reading Amalie Arena, part ii, building a better city

Amalie Arena is located in the Chanelside district of downtown Tampa. It is home to the Tampa Bay Lightening NHL team. Built in 1996, is one of a long row of civic-urban-image buildings — the Aquarium, the cruise ship port, the history museum, the arena, the convention centre, two large hotels. The landscaping along the waterfront consists of broad walkways and cycling paths. The scale of everything is HUGE. The approach to the main entrance plaza is shown above. There were a number of statuary tributes to players and events. The plaza is elevated above a sunken street that runs … Continue reading Amalie Arena, part i, an attractive downtown arena

above: people wishing to walk to the Amway Center from the downtown must use several widely-spaced apart streets that go under the elevator i4 freeway, its access ramps, and interchange with another freeway. The space is humanized in a select high traffic areas, such as where South Street goes under the freeways, with fountains, planters, and lighting. Other areas were parking spaces and much less open as there were not available “skylighting” gaps. above: There are approx 18 traffic lanes between the downtown (to the right) and the Center (shown to the left) which had to be crossed at grade or … Continue reading Amway Center (part ii) adjacent streets and parking

We have seen photoshops of what the Senator’s old arena, Canadian Tire Place, could look like if moved to LeBreton Flats. But what would a new arena actually look like? How could it be integrated into a new urban community? On your behalf, your faithful correspondent did some field research.  For the next week or more, lets look closely at Amway Arena (the Magics and Solar Bears, Orlando) and Amelie Arena (Tampa Bay Lighting).  Let’s look at the architecture of an urban arena, the surrounding neighbourhoods, and of course, the parking. First up:  Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida Exterior views:   … Continue reading What a New Senator’s Arena could look like on LeBreton Flats

  I have come across several fix-it-yourself bike stations. The gesture and tools is really nice. And it probably saves the bike rental company from a lot of nuisance beggars at the door expecting free minor repairs.   I’ve come across similar tool sets in Cambridge, MA;   on Cape Cod    and Salzburg:. But not yet in Ottawa, although there is a non-public one behind St Andrew tower. This is at a time when gas stations increasingly charge cyclists for air, although the most egregious insult came when I found an air pump at a local gas station fill-er-up island that … Continue reading Fix it yourself nice-ness

  As seen at the Rideau Centre, near the Confederation Line transit station entrance under construction. Continue reading And just where else would I stand?

There is still infill going on in Hintonburg. Lots of it. Silver corrugated cladding, sometimes accented with black siding, is lowly giving way to new expressions.   Here, for example, some infills have bright coloured panels: I’m a sucker for colour, so I love these. And a bit further down the block, there are some bent metal claddings with some red corrugated sections. And on The Eddy, a six storey apartment building on Wellington at Spadina,  the exterior is covered in bright flat metal planks, with some accents of red. These look OK, but they are not what I remember … Continue reading Observing exteriors in Hintonburg

The photo shows a streetcar on Preston, running northwards towards to Albert Street (then called Wellington). The photograph is taken from the corner of Elm at Preston, looking south.  The store in the background is still there, now it houses Pubwells, at the corner of Spruce. The thinner pole holding a guywire on the left seems to be a streetcar rail uprighted and embedded into the pavement. Some cobblestones peek through the asphalt at the crosswalk. After tearing them all out, in favour of smooth road surfaces of asphalt,  the City reinstalled paver stone crosswalks in 2011. Beyond the buildings … Continue reading Preston, streetcar, rezoning

With all the fuss about the extreme dangers of LRT service in a shallow tunnel along the western parkway, it is sometimes useful to remember what was there in the recent past. This photo shows the last freight train (1967) going along the tracks between Rochester Field and the River.  The photograph is taken from near Richmond Road, looking north. Here’s another shot, from further west,  taken from Carling Avenue, looking down Maplehurst towards the Parkway. Notice the small cottages on the right. The For Sale sign notes “no more trains”, presumably raising the property value. Continue reading Rochester Fields Forever

On the last day of streetcar service in Ottawa in May 1959, a farewell parade was held of equipment and personalities. This picture is taken from the crest of the Somerset Viaduct, right at what is now the OTrain Trillium Line overpass. Slightly downhill to the right the white building is now a Buddhist Temple; St Jean Baptiste priory can be see silhouetted on the left horizon; Preston Street runs across Somerset at the bottom of the hill. Double click the picture to enlarge it. Notice the very decorative  railing on the left, just visible between the parked cars. And … Continue reading Somerset Viaduct in history