Category: Uncategorized

Bronson, condos, parking, Transit, Uncategorized4 Comments

Park and Ride, here and there

Westsideaction

There have been several stories in the media lately about park and ride lots here in Ottawa. The lots seem popular, and mostly over-used with late arrivals not being able to find a parking space. The first-come policy favours regular early morning commuters. The Ottawa lots are free. Well, not exactly free. They cost a lot of money to build, maintain, and patrol. But our municipal government doesn’t charge the users anything. It is therefore not surprising that they are full, as they are being sold (given away) wa-a-a-y below cost and wa-a-a-a-y below value. Things that are free are of course … Continue reading Park and Ride, here and there

Chinatown, design, hintonburg, little Italy, O-Train, sidewalks, somerset street, Uncategorized, west side culture, west wellington

Public art for Somerset Street

Westsideaction

The City has a “percent for art” whereby a percentage of capital (construction) costs of projects is to be spent on public art. West siders will be familiar with public art sculptures on Preston (postcards from the piazzas), West Wellie (marble fire hydrants), and Bank Street (the bike racks). So now it is the turn for the current Somerset construction projects running from Bayswater to Preston, and the Preston to Booth Street sections. The City combined the two projects in order to afford a larger art installation. The City encouraged artists to employ lighting. Community input suggested that the slope eastbound up from Preston into Chinatown … Continue reading Public art for Somerset Street

bike path, bikewest, cycling in Ottawa, NCC, oc Transpo, pedestrians, Preston street, sidewalks, Uncategorized25 Comments

NCC closes popular cycling link after promising to keep it open

Westsideaction

Readers may recall the brief brou-ha-ha in late June and early July, when the gate at the north end of Preston street was unexpectedly closed and locked. You can read about it here: http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/popular-bike-and-ped-route-locked-shut/#comments (when you get to the link, scroll up a bit to read the post, and down a bit to see the commentary). See also http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Shortcut+river+locked/5038541/story.html To recap, there is a paved bit of ‘closed’ road running north from Preston and Albert to a legal crossing of the transitway and then connections to the Ottawa River pathway network. It is popular with people walking to work, cycling, walking … Continue reading NCC closes popular cycling link after promising to keep it open

bike path, cycling in Ottawa, cyclopiste de preston, O-Train, somerset street, Uncategorized5 Comments

Tunnel goes underground

Westsideaction

Faithful readers will have seen earlier posts showing the excavation under the Somerset Viaduct, the placing of the new multi-user path underpass precast sections, and most recently, their waterproofing. Here’s what’s been happening lately: This version of the Canadarm pumps cement right to where the workers want it, when cement mixers cannot get close enough. The arm reached right over the hole, and down the outside of the viaduct walls, to pump cement into reinforcing walls on the exterior of the viaduct: Meanwhile, on the inside of the viaduct, workers installed the last of the tunnel waterproofing and drainage pipes, and … Continue reading Tunnel goes underground

Uncategorized2 Comments

Rewarding transit customers

Westsideaction

Shopping centres and strip malls incur enormous costs in providing “free parking”. The costs of these spaces are buried in the price of merchandise, paid for equally by walk-ins, cyclists, and transit users as well as those who park there. As cities get larger, “free” parking lots attract “freeloaders” who want to park there but not necessarily shop. St Laurent Shopping Centre, for example, has to rope off parts of the mall lots early in the morning and take other measures to prevent their parking lot from becoming a “park and ride”. The shopping mall below, in Cambridge MA (beside Boston) has … Continue reading Rewarding transit customers

cycling in Ottawa, design, Uncategorized4 Comments

Safe Bike Crossing

Westsideaction

A number of Ottawa people get worked up over obsolete text in the traffic act. Those “bike paths” and multi-user paths frequently cross traffic roads, access roads to parking lots, and other road-like surfaces. Sometimes a painted crosswalk is located right there, very handy. And sometimes there’s nothing. We are not at all consistent: Above: Ottawa River bike path, scene 1 Above: Ottawa River bike path, scene 2   Where there is a crosswalk, and the path delivers us right to it, of course we ride across it. Unless you are a real stickler for rules, in which case you dismount, walk your … Continue reading Safe Bike Crossing

Uncategorized4 Comments

See, Hear, but share no evil

Westsideaction

In addition to writing this blog to keep my neighbours informed about happenings on the west side of the downtown, the blog also serves to get our local issues out into the wider world. I attend a number of Public Advisory Committees (PACs) for various transportation and planning studies. I share what I learn with my Dalhousie community association, the centretown community association, and anyone else keen enough on local issues to read. That does include some other media and politicians. Everyone at City-run studies knows that I share the info. I make this clear when I start attending new study, … Continue reading See, Hear, but share no evil

beaver barracks, Claridge, condos, design, LeBreton Flats, Uncategorized11 Comments

What should go at street level? (part iii – more good)

Westsideaction

Continuing on the theme of what should go on the ground floor of new condo buildings in the downtown neighborhoods, it is easy to criticize the faults of what was built. But what about some examples of good stuff? It’s pretty easy on main streets: put in commercial space. The building is going to be there for a 100 years or more, the downtown neighborhoods are most likely to get busier, and such space will be in demand for much of the next century. Domicile’s Piccadilly building on West Wellington is pretty typical. It is currently two storefronts, but is doored and set … Continue reading What should go at street level? (part iii – more good)

500 Preston, 801 Albert, Albert St, Claridge, condos, design, downtown, Uncategorized6 Comments

What should go at street level? (part ii – the bad)

Westsideaction

I wrote this post last week for www.SpacingOttawa.ca, you should have read it there! It got a number of responses so for this version of it I have corrected and clarified some things. There are also more pictures, because that is the WSA style! Thank you for reading. __________________________________________ What should go at street level? Large property development firms are seldom compared to little domesticated birds. But in some ways they are canaries in the coal mines of the urban streetscape. And the song these messengers sing is not a cheerful tune for downtown pedestrians. Consider this not-so-old  downtown condo: … Continue reading What should go at street level? (part ii – the bad)

condos, downtown, intensificatioin, Transit, Uncategorized11 Comments

Bus Depots are Dead, thankfully

Westsideaction

City committees will shortly be discussing a redevelopment proposal for the site of the Voyageur Bus Terminal/Gare d’Ottawa. Alas, the development will proceed only if Voyageur moves out of the terminal. Bizarrely, some councillors and community activists want the bus station to stay on Catherine Street. They express concern for the price conscious users of the cheapest mode of intercity transport. I think their concern is misguided thinking that is twenty years out of date. In the old bus model, Voyageur had to have a terminal building for passengers to arrive early and line up for the bus. Passengers who wanted a good … Continue reading Bus Depots are Dead, thankfully

sidewalks, somerset street, streetscaping, Trees, Uncategorized5 Comments

Murdered

Westsideaction

This is a followup to yesterday’s post, called Trampled. That public sidewalk shrubs got trampled and mangled in renovations is sad, but then the renovation is a potential good. Less excusable is the downright murder and removal of mature trees. Have a look at this google photo: That mature tree growing by the sidewalk is a maple. It provided a pleasant bit of shade on the exposed sidewalks of the Somerset Street viaduct (overpass over the O-Train track). That it was alive and green last year is shown in this photo: (the tree in question is just above the cyclist’s head and … Continue reading Murdered

Uncategorized2 Comments

Ottawa Utility installs new furniture

Westsideaction

I know too many city-types who straight-facedly refer to anything placed on a sidewalk as “street furniture”. This includes benches, but also lamp posts, sign posts, and wooden utility posts. Ottawa’s local power utility has recently redecorated a bit of the urban house by installing a new bit of street furniture. It is obviously new, sturdy stuff, able to take all the wear and tear pedestrians can give it. Should last for decades. Unfortunately. Honestly Mildred, don’t you think it would look a little bit better moved off to the left, so that no one can miss it? Continue reading Ottawa Utility installs new furniture

Uncategorized1 Comment

A Boring Job

Westsideaction

After a year of drilling bore holes along Albert Street in the downtown the City must have a damn good picture of the underlying geology and hydrology. However, His Honor moved the tunnel over to Queen Street, because it’s cheaper, and a whole buncha new holes have to be drilled. It’s a boring job but someone’s got to do it. Below: the drill crew at the west end of Queen Street, on top of the escarpment. The tunnel will be right beside the Juliana Apt Building, and the tunnel will enter at the base of the cliff in a dramatic bit of … Continue reading A Boring Job

Uncategorized1 Comment

Why didn’t they have that when I was little?

Westsideaction

Justin Bieber and I are good buddies. Really. I see him several times a week when I walk past a Shopper’s Drug Mart store. He stands in the window, and smiles at me. He must like me. He is a little … flat. A bit two-dimensional. Anyhow, I was travelling recently, and there in the hotel parking lot, right at my (rented!) car door, was this discarded wrapper: It is the card board backing of an electric toothbrush. One that sings a choice of Bieber tunes. For two minutes each, whilst the tyke brushes his or her teeth. Only $14.95 … Continue reading Why didn’t they have that when I was little?

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

Bayview, Bayview Otrain, DOTT, O-Train, oc Transpo, OLRT, sidewalks, Uncategorized4 Comments

Preventive maintenance vs replacement

Westsideaction

The Bayview O-train station is only “temporary”, but like many temporary things in the City, it has a long “temporary” life. Constructed in 2001, there are long sloping pedestrian walkways connecting the O-Train and Bus platforms. The asphalt paths were laid on gravel base, but with no “shoulder” of gravel. Instead, the gravel slopes away right from the edge of the asphalt. I am sure someone dutifully looked up the correct slope in some engineering table, and that the gravel would be stable and not erode. Except … Except the stability of gravel on a slope depends on there being no load … Continue reading Preventive maintenance vs replacement

design, downtown, hintonburg, roads, streetscaping, Uncategorized6 Comments

The Queensway Forest

Westsideaction

One of the recommendations in the New Centretown Plan currently doing the rounds, is for a densely planted urban forest along the banks of the Queensway. Currently, there are some unpretty barren spots: And even where there is a bit more planting, it is sparse: Compare that with the lush vegetation a bit further west, along Edgar Street: A couple of observations: the lush growth shown above does not look “planned” or “planted” by landscape architects. I saw no evidence of retaining walls, gabions, well spaced hardwoods, scenic selection of trees … no, they just appear to have grown there all by themselves. Aided, … Continue reading The Queensway Forest

Uncategorized8 Comments

Unmet transportation demand in Westboro

Westsideaction

These grocery carts are parked in a field near Island Park Towers,  upscale rental buildings just west of Island Park Drive along the Ottawa River. I suspect the building caretakers gather the carts and push them across the street, abandoning them on a dilapidated bit of … city or Ottawa Hydro land. For a brief time, I resided in Fenwick Towers, a brutal concrete high-rise in Halifax. The views were fabulous. The building inside was dubious, having been started as a luxury tower but bankrupted before completion, and then finished out in Beaver Lumber cheap by the university. This was … Continue reading Unmet transportation demand in Westboro

bike path, cycling in Ottawa, NCC, parks, sidewalks, streetscaping, Uncategorized

Toe chopping specials

Westsideaction

Residents of the national capital(e) are indeed fortunate beneficiaries of tax dollars collected from the good folks of Ecum Secum and Lower  Shubenacadie who provide us with wonderful paths and benches to sit on. I am not sure how much thinking goes into the details of bench location, though. Take the above pic, which shows the most typical installation of a bench right on the edge of the travelled portion of the path. Slouch down and you risk getting your toenails clipped by passing cyclists. If you stopped because your kid was squirming in the stroller or bike trailer, and needs to run around for … Continue reading Toe chopping specials

cycling in Ottawa, design, Elm Street, LeBreton Flats, parks, plant recreation centre, Plouffe Park, Primrose, surface water, Uncategorized8 Comments

Waterparks in the City

Westsideaction

Dufferin Park in Toronto is justifiably well known for its innovative features. The boy on the left (picture, above) is by the spigot that flows water into this large sand lot, complete with oversize logs that seem perfect to stimulate little imaginations while containing the mess and providing bum rests for parents. Can’t you just hear Ottawa park bureaucrats commenting on the “safety” of that big log bridge? (shown above) Actually, watching the baby crawl up out of the ditch was hilarious and inspiring. The Dufferin Park neighborhood and adjacent Trinity Bellwoods neighborhoods appear to me to be in the “Glebe” level of affluence. A number of … Continue reading Waterparks in the City

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

Uncategorized3 Comments

Concrete images

Westsideaction

Many years ago the maze of pathways around the Portage Bridge were designed with a number of landings, lookouts, or other flats spots. I once heard that these were for sculptures. Trivia fans may recall that at the time of construction, the proposed site for the new National Art Gallery was between Archives and the Supreme Court. The building would both face Wellington Street and spill down the cliff and have another face towards the river, in an area of prime waterfront that is still just another parking lot. So having a sculpture walk makes some sense. It may be 30 … Continue reading Concrete images