Lots of people like to dump on LeBreton Flats current development as they drive by on the Commuter Expressways. This weeks OBJ has the latest. For variety, here’s the fish-eye view of the first two towers and mid rise apartments on … Continue reading Wandering around the Flats – Claridgeland
Everybody going to Bluesfest this year with a pass / wristband can also use that as bus pass (to go anywhere on OC Transpo) for several hours up to festival opening time each day and during the festival event. It will … Continue reading Wandering around the Flats — getting to Bluesfest via OC Transpo
The city has gone to great pains to assure the neighbourhoods around the Flats that the reconstructed Albert Street and Booth Street won’t be urban freeways. Instead they’ll be typical downtown streets. You know. Short blocks. Frequent intersections. Signalized intersections. … Continue reading Wandering around the Flats — Booth Street overpass
Albert Street lies between the 1980’s housing rebuild for LeBreton Flats and the yet-unbuilt Sens housing development. The street was dug up, new utiltities installed, and repaved in a much wider format last summer. You may have noticed this structure … Continue reading Wandering around the Flats — and in the sewers
You may recall that the upstairs in the Monday House had a finished floor but no subfloor, which made it rather “springy” underfoot. So the pine flooring was removed and a thick subfloor installed. In the meantime, downstairs, the old … Continue reading Monday House, getting floored
Mr and Mrs Monday are not beige people. Nor fans of “gallery white”. If you, gentle reader, prefer those neutral shades then you might want to go fetch your eyeshades before reading on. Their house has COLOUR in a big … Continue reading Monday House, week 17, colour blooms
While Mr and Mrs Monday are feeling decision-overload in the Never Ending Renovation, us first-of-the-week visitors will notice some progress. The three coats of plaster mud have been applied to all the walls joints and screws. Each coat was sanded … Continue reading Monday House, week 16, PrimeCheck, first colours
It is good to be (still) living, in a time when transportation is finally focusing on people who walk, people who cycle, and not just people who drive. Yet to come, of course, is any concern for the people living … Continue reading Some real ped improvements, and some not
Watching drywall plaster dry is scarcely exciting (pictured above) . Instead, an interview with Mr and Mrs Monday * about their House. Q: Why did you choose this house? A: we already lived in the neighbourhood, and like it. After two apartments … Continue reading Talking to the Mondays
I have a book by John Adams, entitled RISK, and it is all about … risk. * One risk is driving with or without a seatbelt. Or helmet. It is also about transferring risk, usually from one mode where something is … Continue reading Understanding traffic risk
In the earlier planning stages for our LRT Stations, we imported an expert from Portland to tell us how many cycle parking spaces we should provide. Nice gig. Flight. Accommodation. Meals. Per Diem. Additional item under “professional experience”. And … Continue reading Cycling to transit, Portland vs Ottawa
I am an obedient cyclist. I walk my bike when the sign says to. I do not pass on the right a queue of stopped cars. I stay off sidewalks. Some of the time. My intentions are good. When I … Continue reading The joy of dooring on Scott Street
The Monday House is typical of 1900 houses in that it has double hung windows. These are more vertical than horizontal in overall shape, sometimes referred … Continue reading Monday House, week xiv, double hung windows, doors, and more drywall
I am delighted to see a few Ottawa restaurants expanding out into parking spaces for the summer. Back in the DownTownMoves planning studies days, this idea was ridiculed as being unsellable in Ottawa. But eventually, the powers that be in … Continue reading Parking space to parkette
Time seems to go faster as you get older, so maybe I am accelerating into oblivion … Take a stroll over towards the Bayview Station and you can easily become overwhelmed by the number of activities occurring simultaneously. The above … Continue reading Activity Overload at Bayview Station
The City has done a wonderful job of landscaping the multi-use pathway extension along the Trillium line, from Young Street to Carling Avenue. The Trillium MUP is now fully functional. It opens up new, safe, relaxing walking and cycling corridors. … Continue reading Good intentions in conflict on Trillium MUP
The drywall from last week was delivered to the second story, and by this week most of it was applied. The upstairs bathroom drywalling, using special more-water-resistant panels, is delayed pending arrival of taps and pressure balances that are … Continue reading Monday House, part xiii , applying the drywall
A familiar old feature to west siders and OTrain users is no more. We shall miss it (not). Sniff sniff. When the original OTrain (now, Trillium Line OTrain) was built back in 2001, city staff were under pressure to do the demonstration project on a shoestring budget. I gather from old hands that were present back then, that a decision was made by Helen Gault at the city to route the track around an existing utility pole in the middle of the field. This was done to avoid the cost of moving said pole. Again, old hands tell me that … Continue reading Helen Gault Pole relocated
Last week, we saw the hose blowing cellulose insulation up the stairs and into the walls. Some of the 6mil plastic vapour and moisture barrier were started. They prevent moist heated air from penetrating into the exterior walls and eventually … Continue reading Monday House, week xii, closing up the walls
The Monday House passed various city inspections, for electrical, plumbing, and stud walls and structure. This had to be done while all the walls were still “open” and work visible. The next step is to blow cellulose insulation into the … Continue reading Monday House, part xi, insulation
If my (fallible) memory serves me correctly, all the Confederation Line LRT Stations are freestanding, at ground level, in a ditch, or underground. Only at three downtown stations are the stations under the street but exiting up partially through existing … Continue reading First high rise LRT station?
Ottawa City Council has approved speed cameras on roads and streets. But only near schools. Provided the streets fit certain other criteria. Jump through all the hoops and yup, there may be some speed cameras installed, someday, in some innocuous … Continue reading Not enthused about speed cameras
Each day the Monday House seems to make large strides towards our finished idea of a house. For example, the living room ceiling has been levelled: Old houses have varying degrees of crookedness (so do new built homes too…) and … Continue reading the Monday House, part x, room functionality and liveability becomes apparent
Construction has begun on the Confederation LRT line Bayview Station. The station will be built where the former overpass was over the OTrain Trillium tracks, ie, it is an elevated station incorporating the new bridge. A series of posts is … Continue reading Drilling for Passengers
The picture shows a standard beg button at a crosswalk. One seldom really knows if these things actually work or are necessary to make the signal change. The yellow advisory plate pictographic is the city’s obscure way of telling you … Continue reading Beg Button, theme and more variations
