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
Why did the City change it mind about converting the transitway overpasses to rail? Instead of re-using them for the Confederation Line tracks, a number of them are being demolished. Here’s the old transitway at Bayview (built, c1980), recently demolished: … Continue reading In Rust We Trust
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
So I was busy minding my own business sidewalk supervising the construction of the Confederation Line near Tunney’s Pasture. The old transitway roadbed in portions of the “cut” east of Tunney’s is actually a deck over the top of … Continue reading Under the LRT Tracks
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 most of the furniture unpacked and boxes thrown out, and the IKEA bedroom closet units assembled and installed, there is suddenly more room to install the old baseboards and corner posts, add new large quarter round base strips against … Continue reading Monday House, week 24, trimming along
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
The recent story on the first bit of west side of the Trillium line multi user pathway got a lot of interest and email traffic. In case you didn’t see the updates on the story, Ashcroft promises to finish the … Continue reading WEST side Trillium MUP … again
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
The existing Trillium multi user pathway (MUP) on the EAST side of the OTrain tracks has been a hit with the commuting and recreational public. Its popularity grows weekly. Less well known is the planning “win” when the community obliged … Continue reading Bit of new west side Trillium MUP opens
Everything has to be done by Friday. And that is the story at the Monday House too. Here is a pic of the kitchen cabinets pretty much all installed. Extra wood plinths have been installed under the cabinet frames to … Continue reading Monday House, week 22, a ton of granite
Get ready to be upset. You may not want to see these pic or watch the video. Not suitable for children or the squeamish. On Friday afternoon last week, a pedestrian was killed at the intersection of Rochester and Somerset … Continue reading Beg Button for Death
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
Come this fall, your OC Transpo bus will be driving over a bridge made of foam. The currant arrangement of buses at the Tunney’s Pasture transfer station has some awkward routing, and movement is slow through the Holland intersection. The … Continue reading Your bus is driving on a bridge made of foam
The kitchen ! Heart of the Home ! It is a challenge to design a kitchen when you don’t yet really know how the house is going to look when a bunch of walls come down, and what the room … Continue reading Monday House, Allen Key Kitchen by IKEA
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
If you associate hoodoos with Alberta, or maybe New Brunswick, or the American Southwest, be advised you can see something similar right here in Ottawa. At the new Bayview Station construction site. Our hoodoos are about two stories tall and encrusted with local roadbed base. And there is more than one: The hoodoos are created by forces of nature called RTG. Using massive forces, RTG drills holes in the ground, lines the hole with a steel pipe, and pumps in liquified rock (aka concrete) . Since the containing steel cylinder form is withdrawn at the same time as the rock … Continue reading Wandering around the Hoodoos of Bayview …
Information is trickling out of contacts at City Hall. They say the issue of how cyclists will be handled on the “freeway” section of the new Booth Street between Albert and Wellington has attracted the mayor’s office. Not yet in … Continue reading Booth Street Freeway MAY yet get bike lanes
There is a somewhat scenic aqueduct that runs through the low point of the LeBreton Flats. It has a lot of potential for creative place making. Here’s a pic of an uncovered / recovered Cheonggyecheon creek in Korea, famous for being … Continue reading Wandering around the Flats — LRT beside aqueduct
At the end of last week, all the old pine floors had been removed from the main level. The upstairs already had a new subfloor, and now it was the turn for the main floor. Bill has a stand up … Continue reading Monday House, week 19 , floors, plugs, tile
Last year Farmer Doug was at the City Centre parking lot. Business was good enough he has been snatched away and installed in the Shanghai parking lot, accompanied by some other artisans in a nascent market square. Great spot … Continue reading Farmer Doug returns
