About 40 protesters carrying signs that read "Save the Parkway" showed up Monday night at an open house at the Nepean Sportsplex about possible routes for Ottawa's proposed light rail network.I wanted to attend this open house, but ran out of time. But wouldn't it be nice if residents could see past their own fears and imagine how great light rail along the parkway would be for the entire city? How about getting protesters together to demand light rail in their neighbourhood? Maybe run the track down the strip? Who's with me????
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Slow week ahead
I'm out of town for the week, so no new content until next Monday... sorry!
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West loses, Bells Corners gets nada
Mayor sees light rail ‘war’ ahead at city hall-
Kanata has been ‘double-crossed’: Wilkinson
Blair Edwards/Daniel Reid, Kanata Kourier-Standard
Mayor Larry O’Brien is warning west end councillors looking to start a war over light rail transit to be careful because “in a war there are casualties.”
City staff unveiled four transit options on Thursday, Sept. 11, detailing alternate routes for light rail to be constructed over the next decade.
The mayor along with transit committee chair Alex Cullen, planning and environment committee chair Peter Hume and River Coun. Maria McRae said they support Option 3, sending light rail to Riverside South and east to Blair Road.
The plan is similar to the north-south route council rejected in 2006, say west end councillors.
“The north-south route is identical except it doesn’t extend to Barrhaven,” said Kanata North Coun. Wilkinson.
O’Brien had promised to make east-west light rail a priority, she said.
“He’s double-crossing us,” Wilkinson said. “He promised in the election that he would support going east-west first and cancel the (former north-south) project.”
“That’s bullshit,” said O’Brien.
“Anyone who would be suggesting that I changed my position on this is absolutely dead wrong.
“My promise during the 2006 election was to push the reset button on transit.”
O’Brien said his priority, all along, was to solve the problems of the core first and move out to the rest of the city. His priority remains with a downtown tunnel, he said.
“I want to make it very clear that there has been no flip flop on this,” he said. “(During the election) I said reset, reset, reset. Tunnel, tunnel, tunnel.”
Option 3 has light rail extending to an existing rapid Transitway in the east and will help the city capture new riders in the relatively unserviced south, he said.
“The west is not getting ripped off,” he said, adding that the expansion of Hwy. 417 will help downtown commuters. “The west will be pretty well served . . . Regardless of what happens, there’s not going to be anything going out to Kanata at this time.
“If we can build to the south, in (a short) time frame, why shouldn’t we do it?”
Council voted to approve the city’s new rapid transit network last May. The network will eventually include a downtown tunnel, converting the Transitway to light rail between Baseline and Blair stations, upgrading the O-Train to twin-track electric light rail and extending south to Bowesville with a link to the airport.
Council also agreed to extend light rail further east, west and south as population growth warrants and funding becomes available.
The four scenarios for Phase 1 are:
Option 1: tunnel and LRT east.
Option 2: tunnel and LRT west.
Option 3: tunnel and LRT east and south.
Option 4: tunnel and LRT east and west.
Each of the options will cost $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion to complete.
RIDERSHIP
Wilkinson said east-south light rail is the most costly – because of low ridership in Riverside South, taxpayers will have to subsidize the annual operating costs.
She predicts taxpayers will face an annual two to four per cent tax hike to subsidize the project.
“She’s speculating,” said Cullen. “You can say that for any scenario not just (Option) 3.”
West Carleton-March Coun. Eli El-Chantiry said voters overwhelmingly rejected the north-south light rail plan during the 2006 election.
“You’re going back to the original plan basically,” he said. “You have a goat dressed like a sheep now.”
El-Chantiry said he is disappointed the mayor and some councillors made their decision before consulting with the public.
The city is hosting a round of public consultations across Ottawa this fall.
“If you already made a decision then why wait for people to show up (for a public consultation)?” asked El-Chantiry. “Wouldn’t you rather spend an evening with your kids at the soccer field?”
OPTION 4
Wilkinson prefers the fourth transit option, with a downtown tunnel, and light rail from Blair Road to Baseline Road, with an extension of the O-Train to serve Riverside South.
“The whole west end of Ottawa has a large population,” she said. “You have a huge ridership going to the west.”
Kanata and Stittsville’s population is expected to almost double over the next two decades, increasing from 90,000 to 172,000 people by 2031.
Meanwhile, Riverside South’s population of 7,000 people will increase to 40,000 over the same time period.
Kanata South Coun. Peggy Feltmate said light rail should extend east-west first.
“I think that’s what the last election was fought on,” she said. “Unless people speak out, we are in danger of repeating the mistakes of the 2006 north-south light rail project.”
Cullen said a final decision hasn’t been made yet.
“This is not a done deal,” he said. “We wanted to provide people with some direction of what the leadership of council is leaning towards. We thought we’d help debate by indicating a preference.”
Cullen said extending light rail to the south will help direct development to Ottawa South.
The route from downtown Ottawa to Baseline runs along the Ottawa River Parkway, but the NCC is currently studying its parkway policy, which could take three years to complete – making east-south light rail a more attractive option, he said.
“Why wait for three years when we can move on the east and the south?” he asked.
“Somebody has to be first, somebody has to be second, somebody has to be third,” Cullen added.
The environmental assessments for light rail to Riverside South are already complete, he said, making the southern route a faster and easier option.
Stittsville-Kanata West Coun. Shad Qadri said public transit isn’t convenient for people travelling from the west end to downtown.
“(Councillors) keep coming back to the ridership number, how it’s strong in the east, not in the west,” he said, adding those numbers are skewed by the existing Transitway and bus lanes.
People travelling from the east end to downtown Ottawa can save time using a dedicated bus lane, but buses travelling from the west end must weave in and out of Queensway traffic, adding time to their commute.
“We haven’t made it convenient in the west to use the Transitway to downtown,” he said.
Stittsville and Kanata west are growing at a rate of 1,500 to 1,600 people per year, added Qadri.
He predicts his ward will grow to 50,000 people over the next two decades.
Qadri, Feltmate, Wilkinson and El-Chantiry plan to meet next week to discuss strategy to defeat the mayor’s preferred north-south light rail plan – but they say it looks like the majority of council will support Option 3.
Ottawa will host public consultations from Sept. 11 to 30, including:
Monday, Sept. 22: Nepean Sportsplex, salon A, 1701 Woodroofe Ave., near West Hunt Club.
“Public pressure played an important role in defeating the 2006 north-south light rail project,” said Feltmate. “I would encourage everyone to participate in the consultations to make sure councillors and staff know how people in the city feel.”
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