cycling in Ottawa, oc Transpo, pedestrians, Preston street2 Comments

New Preston Separated Bike track

Westsideaction

Preston Street and West Wellington were reconstructed several years ago with much improved pedestrian facilities and nice landscaping [every street should be similar]. However, neither included bike lanes or bike tracks (tracks were recently constructed on most of Churchill Avenue south of Byron).  Instead, people who cycle were viewed as “recreational” , able to be diverted off the main street onto side streets (eg Armstrong) or the Trillium Pathway. That people who cycle might want to shop or eat was underrated, and still is by some BIA’s. I was surprised, therefore, to see this separated bike track appear just days … Continue reading New Preston Separated Bike track

Ottawa

Farmer Doug arrives at City Centre

Westsideaction

Farmer Doug will be selling  vegetables at the north east corner of the City Centre parking lot on Saturdays this summer and fall. He will be there the last Saturday in June (27th) (that’s THIS weekend) until the last Sat in October. He plans to operate from 10 am to 4 pm. He uses no pesticides, not even ‘organically approved’ ones. He’s focused entirely on a healthy soil food web (minimum tillage, maximum compost, etc) and on a landscape that supports diversity. Thus far, the local stores that sell his produce have been pleased with the quality. Doug says:  “I price to compete … Continue reading Farmer Doug arrives at City Centre

design, Ottawa3 Comments

Promoting Literacy one block at a time

Westsideaction

  The City may be planning a multi-million dollar library building, but west side residents are taking literacy to the streets. The up-cycled advertising flyer box shown above is in front of Vito’s, oops,  Preston Grocery oops, Kit Kat store at the corner of Elm and Preston. Local residents are invited to deposit their surplus books into the box for others to enjoy. When I looked inside I found some femlit, a cooking book, some light reading, and a DVD by David Chernushenko. There is another one at the corner of Christie and Cambridge Streets:   You can see what is … Continue reading Promoting Literacy one block at a time

Ottawa1 Comment

Early MUP is a great MUP

Westsideaction

  The City has done it again. Delivered a multi use path not on time, but EARLY. In this case, it is the the pathway on the north side of Albert, running from Bayview Station to Bronson Avenue on the edge of downtown. This MUP is wonderful: well removed and slightly elevated above adjacent car traffic, it has longish-stretches without intersections, and is continuous pavement, unlike the pot-holed, cracked, and patched take-your-life-in-your-hands Albert Street adjacent. It drains, rather than puddles. It has been torn up in multi-block sections due to the rebuilding of Albert and its associated sewers and pipes. … Continue reading Early MUP is a great MUP

Ottawa

A Pie for Mayor Watson

Westsideaction

  I was surprised to see Mayor Watson is going to a pie throwing contest later this morning. Attending an opening event is in character, but being pied  just doesn’t seem in character … But upon closer reading, I realized he was officiating, but the advert did not promise that he would be the target. If I paid my two bucks, I’d probably forget who I pied right after, anyway. Maybe I’d be better being the butt of laughter doing yoga. Continue reading A Pie for Mayor Watson

cycling in Ottawa2 Comments

Inflate thyself

Westsideaction

  I note with dismay that [some?] gas stations now charge for air to refill your tires. Even worse, I will never return for gas to one  that had free air for car tires but charged for bike tires. Regular readers here will recall seeing numerous examples of municipally supplied air pumps. While I appreciate the service, I do wonder if it is something we should be supplying from the general tax payer. In other countries, where initiative is more rewarded, I see ‘free air’ for cyclists offered as an inducement or invitation to patronize a business.   In the … Continue reading Inflate thyself

Boston, design, Ottawa, pedestrians, walkways3 Comments

Harbinger of New Walkway Design

Westsideaction

Like in any entrenched religion or philosophy, internal contradictions eventually create cogitative dissonance in civil engineering standards. That people who walk must always defer to people who drive is one such encrusted rule slowly crumbling in the face of pedestrian revolt. Occasionally we see examples of people who walk getting the right of way over people who drive, but there very scarcity makes them noticeable. At selected road crossings, after much lobbying and pressure, the engineering staff may, with many caveats, permit a walkway to cross a minor road with priority going to the people who walk. Scarcely common. Cambridge, … Continue reading Harbinger of New Walkway Design

Confederation Line2 Comments

Pimisi Station takes form

Westsideaction

  It only takes a few weeks out of town to realize how much things can change in even a short absence. The photo above shows Pimisi Station taking form on LeBreton Flats. The view is from Fleet / Booth intersection and Claridge Design Centre, and just north of [new] Wellington Street,  by the War Museum. Concrete columns have been poured to support the new much-higher Booth Street. Booth will rise up gently from the foreground of the photo to go over the Confederation Line using the overpass being constructed. That same overpass will be part of the new Pimisi … Continue reading Pimisi Station takes form

cycling in Ottawa, design, downtown, LRT, O-Train, Ottawa, planning, Portland6 Comments

Gotta go pee ! (again)

Westsideaction

So, the CBC this morning was featuring another story on our lack of public washrooms. So I thought it worthwhile reprinting this Feb.2015 story about public toilets. I think the potty solution from Portland would fit very nicely in Dundonald Park. As a society, we have a major aversion to acknowledging that people gotta go pee. Or poo. And that this happens when people are outside of the home. Like at transit stations. Or touristing in a city. In lieu of public WC signage, we are reduced to looking for the Golden Arches of M, where there is always a … Continue reading Gotta go pee ! (again)

Ottawa

More community gardening

Westsideaction

May is always a busy time for community gardeners, those green thumbed urbanites that think our city would look better if greener. And who don’t wait for the city to do it. Here’s some pictures of the Thursday morning gardening group. First the weedy beds at Bronson/McLaren and Bronson/Christie had to be weeded:   Some perennials were added, and then the boxes of “spent” or finished-blooming tulips from the Preston street BIA planters were opened: A hole about 10″ deep was dug, and the bulbs taken out of the pot and plopped into the hole, and covered with about six … Continue reading More community gardening

Ottawa14 Comments

Finding Nemo on Preston Street

Westsideaction

At a city meeting last night, I realized everything you need to know about the City’s proposed rezoning of Preston Street north of Somerset can be gleaned from Finding Nemo. The role of the shark was ably played by city planning staff. They controlled the location, the moderator,  the display boards, the agenda, and most importantly the options presented for the public to choose from. Most ordinary fish residents thought Preston north of Somerset, which consists mostly of residences, and has since 1902, as being a residential area. The zoning, which is all what most fish understand about city planning, … Continue reading Finding Nemo on Preston Street

Ottawa5 Comments

How the Tulips got to Preston Street

Westsideaction

West siders may have noticed all the  blooming tulips that appeared on Preston on Saturday. How did they get there? We’ll skip the months of planning, paying for the bulbs months ago before they were even grown, and jump right to last Friday when the truck arrived: We’ve already unloaded the centre two columns of boxes to make an aisle, and community gardeners and volunteers carried each box into Tom Brown Arena for refrigerated safe keeping until Saturday.  Each box contains 8 blooming pots of several tulips: Go ahead and do the math (hint: there’s about 50 boxes). Before the … Continue reading How the Tulips got to Preston Street

Ottawa4 Comments

WLRT , part iv, Baseline Station, Queensview, Pinecrest, Bayshore

Westsideaction

Confederation Line trains leaving Lincoln Fields Station will proceed south into the Pinecrest Creek corridor. Immediately past Woodroffe HS, the line will split, with some trains going on to Baseline and others turning west towards Bayshore. Baseline Station is located on the west side of Woodroffe Avenue at the western edge of Algonquin College campus, itself a large traffic generator. The Station will be the southern terminus of the Confederation line for many many years and thus will be a major transfer point to local buses and buses to Barrhaven / Riverside South. Before the current plaza was built on the … Continue reading WLRT , part iv, Baseline Station, Queensview, Pinecrest, Bayshore

Ottawa17 Comments

WLRT Stations, part iii, New Lincoln Fields, new Iris Stations

Westsideaction

The new Lincoln Fields Station will, in the LRT era, no longer be a major transfer station, and can be downsized dramatically. The little Iris Station, now merely a bus shelter on the verge, gets major engineering. When the first transitway plans for Lincoln Fields Station were revealed back in the 70’s, the station was directly under the Carling Avenue overpass. The neighbours to the south objected, claiming excessive noise and rowdy behaviour by station patrons, some councillor chimed in that the underpass location would be dark and dangerous, so the expensive drive in-drive out transfer station was built north … Continue reading WLRT Stations, part iii, New Lincoln Fields, new Iris Stations

Western LRT2 Comments

WLRT Stations, part ii, Cleary and New Orchard

Westsideaction

  Cleary Station and New Orchard Station are both walk-in local-area stations. They will also offer the wider public access to the river front. The stations are very different: one is sunlit, the other is unlit. The Cleary Station will be located at the western end of the very expensive shallow tunnel being constructed by the City starting behind The Keg Manor and Coolican Building. The new station is primarily a local (minor) station to serve adjacent neighbourhoods. To meet NCC requirements, the platforms will be underground in the tunnel section (only people who drive motor cars shall be permitted … Continue reading WLRT Stations, part ii, Cleary and New Orchard

Western LRT3 Comments

WLRT Stations, part i, Westboro and Dominion

Westsideaction

First up: Westboro Station, then the new Dominion Station. One sees major change, the other very little. Westboro Station gets no love. The City’s newest reveal of the details for the Western extension of the Confederation Line LRT has only the scantiest mention of Westboro. It will be rebuilt in the style of the other Confederation line stations, with improved Scott Street frontage and improved access for people who walk or cycle. No further illustration or details are warranted, so they aren’t in the plan unveiling. There is more info for Dominion Station. Currently a collection of bus stops where … Continue reading WLRT Stations, part i, Westboro and Dominion

CDP, Confederation Line, cycling in Ottawa, design, housing policy, infill, intensificatioin, LRT, oc Transpo, pedestrians, planning, sidewalks, walkways, Western LRT2 Comments

Queensview Station Crossing (part iii)

Westsideaction

In the West End, the Confederation Line LRT will eventually extend to Lincoln Fields, then along Pinecrest Creek (where the transitway is) and it will split into two directions from a point north of the Queensway. One leg will carry on to Algonquin College. The other leg vers westward under a city park and emerges from its underground tunnel between the Queensway and the west end bus garage on Queensview Drive. The in-an-open-cut  Queensview Station ( much like Westboro and Tunney’s Stations) will replace the lawn directly in front of The Brick. Directly opposite The Brick is The Ottawa Citizen plant, and … Continue reading Queensview Station Crossing (part iii)

Confederation Line, cycling in Ottawa, design, intensificatioin, LRT, oc Transpo, pedestrians, planning, Portland, Transit3 Comments

Coventry Bridge, Tremblay LRT Station Underachievers (part ii)

Westsideaction

Will the redeveloped Tremblay Station area be better than what is there today? Will there be a wonderful world of tomorrow, or just a bigger – higher – denser version of autotopia? Here’s a city-provided sketchup of the Tremblay LRT Station (formerly known as Train). Construction starts in December this year, for completion in July 2017. The ring road that services the train station is visible at the top; with the VIA Station at the top right. The parking lot shown is existing, but not for long. While the main LRT entrance is to the east, by the ring road, … Continue reading Coventry Bridge, Tremblay LRT Station Underachievers (part ii)

bike path, Confederation Line, cycling in Ottawa, design, LRT, oc Transpo, Ottawa, pedestrians, planning, Queensway, sidewalks, walkways

Coventry Active Transportation Bridge (part i)

Westsideaction

I do occasionally get out of my WestSide stomping grounds. A recent trip took me to the near East Side where I had the opportunity to use the new Coventry  bridge for people who walk and people who cycle, over the Queensway. It’s also useful to look at it in light of the similar proposed Queensview bridge. I took the transitway to the Tremblay Station (in the hole in front of VIA Rail Station). The formerly landscaped slopes around it have been clearcut for construction starting later this year of the realigned roadbed and new Confederation LRT Line station location … Continue reading Coventry Active Transportation Bridge (part i)

Florida, garbage, sewage and drains6 Comments

Surface drainage appeals to politicians more than sewers

Westsideaction

I am glad to see Federal funding for reducing the pollution of the Ottawa River. It is about time governments — Federal, Provincial, and Municipal — stopped giving themselves free passes to pollute public waterways. The City of Ottawa has on numerous occasions averted its eyes from the sewage it dumps in the river. I think it is because politicians don’t see much political value in underground sewers. Once built, you can’t see them.  Much better to spend money on visible projects, especially if they are visible around election time. As we reached “peak sewer” in the 1990’s and realized … Continue reading Surface drainage appeals to politicians more than sewers

bike path, City Hall, cycling in Ottawa, O-Train, OTrain bike path, Ottawa1 Comment

City not interested in path under Qway

Westsideaction

The City has pronounced itself regarding the replacement of the Queensway overpass at the OTrain / Trillium corridor. The existing east side pathway will get an underpass for people who walk or cycle. As for the west side, the City says:  It is deemed to be a longer-term project (post 2031) and therefore is not included in the City’s current affordable plan.  It should be noted that this west-side MUP could provide localized circulation benefits even if there were not to be a direct connection beneath the Queensway bridge.  Communities on the west side can still conveniently access the east-side … Continue reading City not interested in path under Qway

Ottawa2 Comments

Death by a thousand nibbles

Westsideaction

Walking along the Otrain pathway, I am distressed to see so many trees debarked by rabbits or mice. They probably won’t survive. Last year, we lost a whole bunch on the NCC side of Bayview Station. None of the trees there had chew guards on them, while the city trees south of Bayview Station did. This year, there were no tree guards left at all. I wonder if the contractor picks them up for reuse when they removed the posts that held up the burlap wind protection installed for the first two winters. After all, they only have to ensure … Continue reading Death by a thousand nibbles