May 2008

Toronto: Cyclists block westbound Gardiner

Toronto Star, May 31, 2008
Laura Stone

The westbound Gardiner Expressway was shut down for about 20 minutes tonight when over 200 cyclists got onto the highway at Jameson Ave. shortly before 8 p.m.

The cyclists rode for those 20 minutes before being directed towards the off-ramp at Dunn Ave. by police. Traffic was stalled as the bikers took up all the westbound lanes, but has since returned to normal.

One man, whom police said is part of a cycling group, was taken into custody and faces several charges under the Highway Traffic Act. Police believe the group was participating in a protest, but have no details. The man is set to be released later tonight.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/434482

Lovelace to face judge who put him behind bars; Former chief doesn't fear being sent back to jail

Kingston Whig Standard, May 31, 2008
Frank Armstrong

Bob Lovelace isn't worried about facing the Kingston judge who sent him to jail for the last three-and-a-half months even though he could again imprison the Algonquin leader.

"At this point, not really," Lovelace said yesterday.

Superior Court Justice Douglas Cunningham put the Queen's University lecturer and former Ardoch Algonquin First Nation chief behind bars in February for refusing to obey an injunction to stop blocking a proposed uranium site north of Sharbot Lake.

Lovelace will go before Cunningham again on Monday to face a second contempt-of-court charge. Standing with him will be co-chief Paula Sherman and Ardoch Algonquin war chief Harold Perry, who is in his late 70s. They all face the same contempt charges.

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1052548&auth=Frank+Armstrong

Ottawa River orphaned by bureaucracy: conservationists

CBC News, May 30, 2008

The fact that a massive sewage spill in the Ottawa River took a year to come to the attention of the provincial government and almost two to come to the attention of Ottawa city council highlights the fact that nobody is taking responsibility for the health of the river, environmental groups say.

The discharge of 1.2 billion litres of raw sewage took place in the summer of 2006, and has been blamed for fouling an Ottawa beach, but only became public knowledge last week.

Since then, the federal, provincial and municipal governments have all launched investigations into the incident.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/30/ot-ottawariver-080529.html

Approved transit plan impresses ministers

Ottawa Citizen, May 30, 2008, page F3
Jake Rupert

Ontario Transportation Minister Jim Bradley gave Ottawa's new transit plan a positive review yesterday and two federal and provincial cabinet ministers say they are interested in the plan, too.

This is good news for city officials because to get the ambitious, light-rail-based city-wide system going, both upper tier governments are going to have to put billions on the table over the coming decades.

Mr. Bradley said he likes the long-term approach the city is taking -- and the fact that the municipality will be tying land-use policies designed to create a more compact city to the transit plan.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=727394d2-e178-46ed-930f-28ada87a6791

NCC executive takes the high road

Ottawa Citizen, May 30, 2008, page F1
Kelly Egan

Using light-rail on the parkway not a no, but it's not a yes, either OC Transpo began using the Ottawa River Parkway in the early 1970s in what was to be a temporary arrangement. Like income tax.

By 1986, NCC chairwoman Jean Pigott was no longer amused. "Parkways belong to the nation, they're paid for by taxpayers across the nation, so they're not for local bus traffic."

Well, time changes everything. The squatter is now sounding like lord of the manor.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=4393adad-b775-4acb-82c6-e12b7dd8e7e3

Toronto: Waterfront plan would tear down east Gardiner
$300-million proposal to be unveiled today

Globe and Mail, May 30, 2008
Jeff Gray and Jennifer Lewington,
with a report from Matthew Campbell

TORONTO -- The Gardiner Expressway should be torn down east of Jarvis Street to make way for the dramatic rejuvenation of the city's waterfront, according to a proposal being pushed by Mayor David Miller.

The plan, which would replace the eastern and less-used section of the Gardiner with a University-Avenue-style boulevard, would cost more than $300-million, according to one official familiar with the proposal.

Waterfront Toronto, the joint city-provincial-federal development agency that has long been accused by critics of dragging its feet, will outline the plans at a news conference this morning.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080530.GARDINER30//TPStory/Front

'A seminal event, a massive change'
Council approves project, but financing, hard decisions on route choices still to come

Ottawa Citizen, May 29, 2008, page D1
Jake Rupert

City council approved a new mass transit system based on electric light rail yesterday.

It could provide a public transportation backbone in the region for a century, but now the hard parts begin.

The long-term city-wide plan would see light rail serving all parts of the city and is estimated to cost $8 billion if every part were completely constructed today. The first phase is estimated to cost $4 billion, based on 2007 estimates, and the city will have to secure at least $1.33 billion each from the Ontario and federal governments to get it going.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=088667e2-7ce7-43e4-88ca-b42af69bad1f

Feds launch own probe of massive Ottawa sewage spill

CBC News, May 29, 2008

Environment Canada will conduct its own investigation into a massive discharge of raw sewage into the Ottawa River in 2006 that is already being probed by Ontario's Ministry of the Environment and the City of Ottawa.

Meanwhile, an Ottawa-area MPP is calling for a public inquiry into the sewage spill, which has been blamed for fouling an Ottawa beach.

The federal department's enforcement branch launched the investigation earlier this week under the Fisheries Act, confirmed Garry Keller, spokesman for Environment Minister John Baird, who is also the MP for Ottawa West-Nepean.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/29/ot-feds-sewage-080529.html

Ottawa council approves $5B transit plan despite unanswered questions

CBC News, May 29, 2008

A multibillion-dollar transit plan that includes a downtown tunnel and electric light rail lines in north-south and east-west directions has been passed by Ottawa city council despite criticism that questions about important details have not yet been answered.

City council voted 19-4 in favour of the plan Wednesday afternoon.

The plan, also known as "Option 4" because it was the last of four options proposed by staff earlier this year, would replace the bus transitway with electric light rail from Baseline to Blair stations in the east-west direction and upgrade the single-track diesel O-train to twin-track electric light rail in the north-south direction, extending it south to Bowesville and the Ottawa International Airport.

The most recent estimates of the cost are more than $5 billion and suggest no electric train will be taking riders for at least another eight years.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/29/ot-transit-080529.html

Compact suburbs mandatory for transit success

Ottawa Citizen, May 29, 2008, page D1
Randall Denley

Those who favour a compact, transit-reliant city inside the Greenbelt weren't offered much hope this week. City councillors spent the day on their $4-billion transit plan yesterday, but intensification only came up as a lever to get rail for the suburbs. At the same time, the city is holding a series of public forums on intensification based on a discussion paper that will do little to spark enthusiasm for the concept.

Using rail to serve only the denser areas inside the Greenbelt makes good planning and financial sense, but councillors simply can't wait to push it out to the suburbs. They endorsed a motion by Councillor Marianne Wilkinson that opens the door to take rail to the eastern and western suburbs sooner than the 2031 time limit of this plan. For good measure, councillors want to bring rail to Barrhaven as well, although at least not on the route of the old north-south rail line they rejected in 2006.

It all seems premature, at best, given that the city will first have to build the inner rail so the suburban lines have something to connect to. Just building the downtown and inner parts of the system will tax the city's financial and planning capacity. It's never too soon to make a political promise, though.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=d7b8d15c-b7c6-4f95-aa6c-dfe022221a02

Small-town students powered by clean-energy project

Globe and Mail, May 29, 2008
Mark D. Dunn

Hardhats and safety harnesses are the latest in spring fashion wear at Elliot Lake Secondary School. Students don the gear while climbing the school roof, where 12 solar panels and a vertical wind turbine are being installed.

The project, which will generate 5.5 kW of renewable energy, was made possible with a $50,000 grant from the Ontario Ministry of Energy's Community Conservation Initiative (CCI) along with additional help from local partners. It's a rare, hands-on learning opportunity in clean energy for students that also helps power the school's cafeteria's kitchen.

The school of 500 sits near the centre of town, surrounded by forested lots of small-town suburbia. Adjacent to the ELSS parking lot, a hump of bare Canadian Shield marked by 50 years of graffiti looms as a reminder that this is hard country.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080529.wgtgenahead0527/BNStory/Technology/home

Transit plan now on track

Metro News, May 29, 2008
Tim Wieclawski

A slightly plumped up "Option Four" stayed on the rails yesterday, with city council rolling out conditional rail lines farther east and south to finalize Ottawa's new regional transit plan.

Extended light rail lines to Barrhaven and Place d'Orleans are the new components of a plan approved by a 19-4 vote yesterday, but otherwise it remains the same long-range transit strategy approved by a committee earlier this month.

Mayor Larry O'Brien said the completed system will trim a quarter hour off the average transit commuter's ride and provide an economic boost for Ottawa. The first phase of the plan is projected to cost $4 billion.

http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/local/article/60535

Sharbot Lake protesters released from jail

Ottawa Citizen, May 28, 2008

An aboriginal leader jailed for defying a court order while staging protests at a potential uranium mine near Sharbot Lake has been released.

Robert Lovelace, a retired Ardoch Algonquin First Nation chief jailed on contempt-of-court charges on Feb. 15, has been released after the Ontario Appeal Court in Toronto reduced the six-month sentences of seven aboriginal protesters jailed over disputes with mining companies to time served.

Mr. Lovelace was found guilty of contempt of court in February for staging protests at a potential uranium-mining site under consideration by Frontenac Ventures Corp.

The Oakville-based mining company was exploring the 5,000-hectare site when they faced the protests from Ardoch Algonquin and Obaadjiwan First Nations, as well as from other area residents.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=969fb86a-4507-4364-b1b8-6a742d07cad1

Kingston: City eyes 'green' money; Provincial grant program could help retrofit municipal buildings

Kingston Whig-Standard, May 28, 2008
Jennifer Pritchett

A new provincial grant program announced yesterday may help the City of Kingston retrofit about 40 municipal buildings to save on energy costs.

Ontario's $20-million Municipal Eco Challenge Fund is designed to encourage municipalities to make infrastructure improvements that will conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The program, part of the province's Go Green program, enables municipalities to apply for grants to subsidize projects that will help cut their energy costs. It focuses on new, innovative technologies that aren't yet commonly used, such as installing LEDs for general office ceiling lighting.

The grants are available to cover as much as 50 per cent of retrofit costs, up to a maximum of $500,000.

Municipalities have until July 2 to apply for the first round of funding.

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1047156&auth=Jennifer+Pritchett

Council poised to approve transit plan
Proposal that defers suburban rail expected to face little opposition

Ottawa Citizen, May 28, 2008
Jake Rupert

A $4-billion mass transit system is expected to be approved by Ottawa city council today by a wide margin.

The system would see light rail running north along the Transitway from Baseline Road, curving east (including a stretch on the Ottawa River Parkway, requiring co-operation from the National Capital Commission), crossing downtown in a subway and continuing east to Blair Road. A north-south rail line would run from Bowesville Road south of the airport and hook into the east-west line at LeBreton Flats.

Expanded and dedicated bus transitways would serve the suburbs of Kanata, Orléans and Barrhaven and link with the light rail line at its east and west termini.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=dd00b1cb-3b05-493c-8378-31877841855f

Editorial: Bridges to the future

Ottawa Citizen, May 28, 2008

Build it and they will come: That has been the case with the popular Corkstown footbridge that now spans the Rideau Canal between the University of Ottawa and Somerset Street. Since opening in 2006, the bridge has attracted throngs of pedestrians and cyclists to cross the canal in a people-friendly way or just to hang out and see the canal from a new perspective.

The $5 million bridge was controversial. It was narrowly passed by council and opposed by many, including those who thought it would spoil the aesthetics of the canal. The footbridge has done the opposite, serving to enhance the canal and make it more accessible.

Anything that makes the urban core more livable is a good idea. In the grand scheme of municipal infrastructure, something like a footbridge is a small item, but the benefit attached to it -- making the downtown area more bicycle -- and pedestrian friendly -- is very significant.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=b7ae23e5-0b25-45f1-9723-79b7397c7a2f

The trouble with Sparks St.

Ottawa Sun, May 28, 2008
Susan Sherring

Pick any hot summer day, and you'll find Sparks St. packed with public servants soaking up the warm rays, enjoying their lunch hour or coffee break.

Head back that same evening and the place is almost barren.

Has Ottawa's only pedestrian mall been an abysmal failure?

No, says Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes, but it's a cautious response.

Truth is there are a number of factors that have hurt the mall. It seems almost everyone involved would be willing to consider opening up Sparks St. to traffic if they could be convinced it would attract shoppers.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/28/5689936-sun.html

Barrhaven project gets committee OK

Ottawa Citizen, May 28, 2008

A new Barrhaven subdivision, which would see urban-like residential densities in suburbia, was endorsed by city council's planning committee yesterday. The Mattamy Homes project uses several techniques to raise the number of residential units from 24 per hectare, which is typical in suburban areas, to 40 per hectare, which is roughly comparable to an urban area like Old Ottawa South. The whole plan calls for 1,600 homes on 85 hectares near the intersection of Greenbank and Cambrian roads. The city is revamping its land-use rules with the goal of creating more compact and financially sustainable neighbourhoods. City staff support the project because of its higher density and because it contains a core area for commercial operations and jobs.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=c8e5b895-e8b7-448f-a85a-42f4e49069ff

From corn cups to carbon offsets
Popular demand pushes Ottawa festivals to go green

Ottawa Business Journal, May 28, 2008
Peter Kovessy

As North America's largest Dragon Boat festival wrapped up in Ottawa last year, many of its tens of thousands of visitors sent e-mails and left messages on online discussion forums, asking organizers to introduce a recycling program.

The organizers, it seems, listened.

"We received hundreds and hundreds of e-mails of mostly congratulations, but also suggestions from our customers ... Our customers asked for this," said Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival executive director John Brooman.

http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/340845389335550.php

City of Ottawa worker fired over massive 2006 sewage spill

CBC News, May 28, 2008

A City of Ottawa employee has been dismissed over his alleged conduct in the wake of a massive sewage spill into the Ottawa River two years ago.

Deputy city manager Richard Hewitt e-mailed councillors to inform them of the dismissal Wednesday afternoon. The news came a day after Hewitt revealed the worker did not immediately alert the Ministry of the Environment about the July 2006 spill as he was supposed to do and as he claimed to have done.

The spill is believed to have caused bacterial contamination that closed an east-end beach to swimmers for 45 days that summer.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/28/ot-sewage-080528.html

Hopping mad over dirty water
Former kickboxing champ says raw sewage spill disclosure supports his $1-million lawsuit against city

Ottawa Sun, May 28, 2008
Donna Casey

Jamie Sabourin is angry.

There's the five months of excruciating pain he endured from a mysterious infection after dipping a cut on his left foot in the waters of Petrie Island on August 8, 2006.

There's the thwarted Olympic dreams when the 40-year-old Canadian kickboxing champion spent the fall of 2006 hooked up to an IV drip instead of training for a spot on the national tae kwon do team.

But what gets Sabourin really riled is what he's learned during the past week -- how some city staffers knew 960,000 cubic metres of sewage spilled into the Ottawa River, but didn't think it was a public health concern.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/28/5689896-sun.html

Toronto: Bridging car-centric past with vision of the future
Some Swansea residents want to rejig cloverleaf to make area more foot, bike and transit friendly

Toronto Star, May 28, 2008
Tess Kalinowski

Designed in the late 1950s, it's a familiar sight from the Gardiner Expressway and an obsolete vestige of Toronto's car culture, according to some west-end Toronto residents.

People moving into the south Swansea area say the cloverleaf of road ramps at the South Kingsway and The Queensway no longer suits the rapidly growing residential character of the neighbourhood. As the redevelopment of The Queensway continues, city officials are trying to bridge the divide between the neighbourhood's industrial past and its rapidly evolving, transit-oriented future.

"There's an opportunity to redesign the interchange to better reflect the urban reality of the community," says Christopher Holcroft of the Toronto Urban Renewal Network (TURN). "It's a community you want to walk around; you want to use your bike."

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/432122

Ontario liquor stores ban plastic bags

CBC News, May 27, 2008

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario has announced it is phasing out plastic shopping bags at its retail outlets.

The LCBO estimates it provides shoppers with about 80 million bags per year. Liquor stores will continue to offer paper bags and cardboard boxes for purchases once the current supply of plastic bags runs dry.

David Caplan, minister of public infrastructure renewal, and John Gerretsen, minister of the environment, announced the changes Tuesday afternoon.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/05/27/lcbo-bag.html

City of Ottawa could face charges over 1.2B-litre sewage spill

CBC News, May 27, 2008

A City of Ottawa employee has been suspended without pay after allegedly providing incorrect information about a massive sewage spill into the Ottawa River in the summer of 2006.

The information was revealed during an internal city investigation that began last week, said deputy city manager Richard Hewitt in a memo to city council Tuesday.

"It is now my conclusion that the employee who was responsible for reporting the incident to the Ministry of the Environment's spills action centre did not do his job and, in fact, did not make the call," the memo said.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/27/ot-sewage-080526.html

Cap on green-power suppliers criticized

Toronto Star, May 27, 2008
Peter Gorrie

It could be lights out for renewable electricity in Ontario if the province goes ahead with new rules, industry officials say.

The changes jeopardize several wind and solar projects, and are giving investors second thoughts, critics said yesterday.

"They're not only throwing the baby out with the bathwater, they're throwing out the entire bathtub," said Sean Whittaker of the Ottawa-based Canadian Wind Energy Association.

"It feels like a freeze. Everything has stopped," said Elizabeth McDonald, head of the Canadian Solar Industries Association, whose members would be hardest hit.

http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/431235

Planners praise Barrhaven subdivision design
Proposed project's high number of residential units meets goal of densifying suburbia, city officials say

Ottawa Citizen, May 27, 2008
Jake Rupert

A new Barrhaven subdivision with more residential units than normal is the way of the future if the goal of densifying suburbia is to be met, city planning officials say.

The Mattamy Homes project, near the intersection of Greenbank and Cambrian roads, is to be examined by council's planning committee today, and it meets with the city's goal of bringing urban-like densities and lifestyles to suburban areas, the planners say.

Karen Currie, manager of development approvals at the city, said a typical suburb has about 24 residential units per hectare of land designated for residential use.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=c9296bf8-69ca-4a1b-8112-2f03d57d7f8c

Ottawa firm's shiny solar technology wins Wal-Mart contract

CBC News, May 26, 2008

A little Ontario company has a contract with the biggest retailer in the world to test and demonstrate its powers of concentration - of the sun's energy.

Menova Energy's concentrated solar power system will soon grace the roof of a Wal-Mart somewhere in Ontario as part of a pilot project worth up to $5.9 million, funded half by the provincial government and half by Wal-Mart itself, the company announced Friday.

Menova is based in Stittsville, a community on Ottawa's western outskirts that is now part of the city.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/26/ot-menova-080626.html

Community groups mull new bridge over canal
Footbridge would link Ottawa East and Glebe

Ottawa Sun, May 26, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

Pedestrians and cyclists may have a second footbridge to cross the historic Rideau Canal.

On the heels of the controversial and successful Corkstown footbridge that connects Somerset Street and the University of Ottawa, a group of Centretown residents and the ward councillor are bringing forth plans for another bridge.

The proposed bridge would connect Fifth Avenue and Clegg Street, which are located directly across from each other just north of Lansdowne Park.

Capital Coun. Clive Doucet said a pedestrian bridge at that location is needed and would cut walking commute times from the Glebe to the communities in Ottawa east and south from about half an hour to five to 10 minutes.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/26/5674226.html

Councillors push for density
Warn that without it, mass transit won't go to suburban 'ghettoes'

Ottawa Citizen, May 24, 2008, page D1
Jake Rupert

Some suburban councillors remain cool to the idea of densification in the suburbs, even as more warned that they ignore the need for change at their peril.

"People must understand that if they don't want the suburbs to turn into the kind of ghettoes people are predicting them to be, we've got to increase the densities -- and not a little, a lot," Kanata South Councillor Peggy Feltmate said yesterday.

She said she agrees with transit and planning experts who said this week that the necessity for denser neighbourhoods applies equally in suburban and urban areas of the city, and if this new reality isn't embraced, non-sustainable areas will be on a slow downhill march as fuel prices rise and environmental regulations start getting teeth. Eventually, property values will suffer.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=fdff65de-b5ec-43cd-9410-3758e2aa314c&p=1

The path to cycling success
While the Ottawa Cycling Plan has its critics, it all comes down to money, Katie Daubs writes.

Ottawa Citizen, May 24, 2008, page D1
Katie Daubs

Ottawa is a beautiful city for cyclists. The problem is it's designed for cars.

After years of budget cuts and general inattention to a "piecemeal" path system, the city has hundreds of kilometres of bike paths, but few connections.

"All of a sudden you share the lane with transport trucks," said Charles Akben-Marchand, of the disappearance of the bike path on Hunt Club Road. "For someone who's not a road warrior, there's no alternative."

This summer, council will examine a plan that would tie the network together.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=ac75bb66-97ff-4d23-9b04-e3149fdf13c2

No big growth, no light rail, suburbs told
Committees OK plan that would limit LRT until there is demand

Ottawa Citizen, May 23, 2008, page A1
Jake Rupert

A Kanata councillor is putting her fellow suburbanites on notice: if they want light-rail service in their neighbourhoods, they'll have to accept a lot of new neighbours.

Marianne Wilkinson, a longtime mayor of Kanata and now the councillor for Kanata North, proposed the bargain during debate on the city's proposed new $4-billion mass transit system, which goes to council for final approval next week.

The transit plan has been criticized because it doesn't foresee light rail extended to Orléans, Kanata or Barrhaven until after 2031. That doesn't mean such extensions are impossible -- as long as the city is satisfied that there's demand for the service and it makes financial sense.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=f0e033aa-4010-4303-a738-849ddc508499

Tall order to protect
Highrises threaten architect's vision for Centretown

Ottawa Sun, May 23, 2008
Beth Johnston

Downtown Ottawa is reaching new heights but that's not the vision architect John Leaning had when the city paid him to look into its future more than 30 years ago.

Leaning, a city-commissioned architect, drew up a plan for Centretown in 1974 that is being threatened today by the construction of more highrise buildings.

His vision included residential pockets criss-crossed by major roads and a boundary that would keep buildings taller than 12 stories north of Gloucester St.

He says lofty new developments south of that boundary, such as the 17- and 19-storey twin towers under construction at Kent and Lisgar streets, will ruin the streetscape.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/23/5646006-sun.html

Independent review to probe 1.2B-litre sewage spill in Ottawa River

CBC Ottawa, May 23, 2008

Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien has announced an independent review of the spillage of 1.2 billion litres of raw sewage into the Ottawa River in the summer of 2006 - an incident that has recently been blamed for fouling an east end beach.

O'Brien called reporters into his office Friday afternoon and said he was calling the review because he believes public confidence in the city has been shaken as a result of the spill.

"All of us believe strongly that the safety of the public and, as importantly, the faith the public has in their municipal government have to be our highest priorities," he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/23/ot-sewage-080523.html

Gardener touts wormy weapons against grass destruction:
New pesticide ban means Ontarians must look to organic alternatives

CBC Ottawa, May 23, 2008

As Ontario's ban on lawn and garden pesticides looms, experts are encouraging gardeners to try using a parasitic worm to mow down grass-destroying grubs.

Ontario announced that it will ban more than 300 pesticide products in the category known as cosmetic pesticides, by 2009 over health concerns, and the ban is expected to include chemicals used by many gardeners to kill the chafer beetle grub.

The grubs attack grass roots and are sought after by skunks, which uproot lawns in search of the succulent snacks.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/23/ot-grub-080523.html

Editorial: On the waterfront

Ottawa Citizen, May 23, 2008, page F4

Toronto residents and planners have long complained that the Gardiner Expressway that runs near the shore of Lake Ontario cuts off what should be a beautiful water city from that precious resource.

Torontonians have talked about demolishing the Gardiner, burying it, why even running it through tubes under the surface of Lake Ontario. The Gardiner, even though much of it is elevated or runs through below-grade cuts, remains a barrier to accessing what could be the best part of that city, the water.

Take us now to Ottawa where we have built a series of parkways along our riversides so that this river city really doesn't feel like a river city.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=6913bc6e-69d8-4ace-a455-9dbe5d17e9b1

Committee OKs $4B mass-transit plan
Downtown tunnel option wins vote 9-1 in first step to 'getting transit right'

Ottawa Citizen, May 22, 2008, page C1
Jake Rupert

The municipality's preferred $4-billion mass-transit system passed its first major hurdle last night when it was endorsed by the city's transportation committee on a vote of nine to one.

It will now go to a full city council vote next week, where it is expected to pass by a healthy margin. In the fall, council is scheduled to decide in what order to build the system, and final approval of the entire transit system and strategy is slated for next spring.

The transit network is being developed along with updated land-use rules. These are being designed to support each other and encourage residential and employment density along transit routes. This is the city's second stab at creating a rapid-transit system in the last few years after the first plan was nixed by council at the last minute.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=5e1bd61b-2838-4a9e-8027-9943cb7c7bc8

Ottawa transit system 'in crisis' due to lack of maintenance: union

CBC Ottawa, May 22, 2008

Ottawa transit buses are hitting the road with faulty brakes and other problems due to a lack of preventative maintenance, says the city's transit union, which alleges that lack also led to the six weeks of peak bus service cuts earlier this year.

The Amalgamated Transit Union made the allegations while bringing a 13-page report called "A Transit System in Crisis" to the city's joint transit and transportation committee Wednesday.

"There's buses that went on the road where tires have fallen off," said OC Transpo mechanic Jamie Larkin. "We've had ... brake failure on the road. Again, preventative maintenance would have caught that."

The report lists a series of problems with the fleet and the organization and criticizes the leadership of the city-run transit company.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/22/ot-transit-080522.html

Sewage spills to be reported to Ottawa public health

CBC Ottawa, May 22, 2008

Raw sewage discharges into the Ottawa River from Ottawa's water treatment plants will be reported to the city's public health department and copied to council in wake of a spill that was only linked to the contamination of a city beach two years later.

City manager Kent Kirkpatrick said at a meeting Thursday that he himself just found out about a 1.2 billion-litre raw sewage spill in the summer of 2006 that was publicly revealed this week.

It is believed the spill, caused by a faulty valve at a sewage plant, is responsible for E. coli contamination at the Petrie Island beach in the city's east end that led to 45 "no swimming" advisories that year and later a costly study to figure out what had caused the problem.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/22/ot-sewage-080522.html

Ottawa committee endorses light rail plan with eye to expansion

CBC Ottawa, May 22, 2008

A $4-billion transit plan calling for north-south and east-west light rail lines and a tunnel through Ottawa's downtown core will be going to city council for debate and approval after being recommended by the city's joint transit and transportation committee Wednesday.

The committee also passed an amendment asking that staff look into expansions to the suburbs of Kanata, Orleans, Riverside South and Barrhaven at some point in the future.

The current plan passes through downtown at its north end, reaching Lincoln Fields in the west, Blair Road in the east and Bowesville Road in the south.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/22/ot-lrt-080522.html

NCC expects to spend $330M for Gatineau Park land

CBC Ottawa, May 22, 2008

A deal to buy a privately-owned property in Gatineau Park slated for the housing development is among an estimated $330 million worth of such purchases the National Capital Commission intends to make, says NCC chair Marie LeMay.

The commission, which manages federal lands and buildings in the Ottawa-Gatineau areas including the 36,131-hectare western Quebec park, announced Wednesday that it was buying 36 hectares of land on Carman Road, just north of Farm Point, a few hundred metres inside the park's eastern boundary.

LeMay said that in the future, the park intends to spend approximately $30 million buying up vacant land and $300 million purchasing built properties in the park, which together make up 605 hectares or about two per cent of the park. The rest is owned mostly by the NCC, with a minority stake held by the Quebec government.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/22/ot-ncc-080522.html

NCC to buy Gatineau Park property
Supporters hail move that stymies planned 18-home subdivision

Ottawa Citizen, May 22, 2008
Neco Cockburn

The National Capital Commission is set to buy more than 35 hectares of private property on Carman Road in Chelsea, putting an end to a planned development that had caused an uproar among Gatineau Park defenders.

The NCC said yesterday it made an agreement in mid-March to acquire the vacant land and had since received Treasury Board approval to buy the property.

NCC chief executive Marie Lemay would not discuss the purchase price until the deal is final -- something she expects to happen in the next two weeks -- but said funding for the property will come from the commission's regular land-acquisition budget.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=0a7d7b68-38ab-4b47-8d89-1482f8b13d79

Debate enough to derail confidence

Ottawa Citizen, May 22, 2008, page C1
Randall Denley

Unbelievable.

After months of public consultation and an entire day of having the city's new $4-billion transit plan explained in excruciating detail, city councillors still found themselves confused yesterday over what staff were proposing.

Thanks to the leadership of Councillor Clive Doucet, councillors nearly stumbled into approving an all-rail system that would cost double what the city can afford.

Once staff explained it all again in terms a child could understand, they got straightened out.

It didn't create that warm feeling of confidence that these people are capable of deciding how to spend $4 billion. Or $4, for that matter.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=ebfc4f57-facf-418e-8f46-d7c412086eb0

What's the poop on Petrie scoop?

Ottawa Sun, May 22, 2008
Susan Scherring

It seemed almost as if a veil of secrecy surrounded the Petrie Island fiasco yesterday.

There were plenty of questions, but no one was giving any answers.

On Tuesday, the three east-end councillors -- Innes Coun. Rainer Bloess, Orleans Coun. Bob Monette and Cumberland Coun. Rob Jellett -- held a news conference to announce they'd learned 960,000 cubic metres of human fecal matter had poured into the Ottawa River back in 2006, but no one was told about it.

Yet someone within the city's bureaucracy signed off on a report advising the environment ministry in 2006.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Columnists/Sherring_Susan/2008/05/22/5633616-sun.html

Centretown's highrise growth spurt worries planner
Councillor says city often approves highrise exceptions to plan

CBC News, May 21, 2008

The neighbourhood at the core of Ottawa's downtown is growing up - way up - contrary to a 30-year-old plan for the community. And the sprouting stands of highrises may make it feel uncomfortably crowded, says the architect who wrote that plan.

John Leaning's vision for Centretown, commissioned by the city in 1974, included residential pockets criss-crossed by major roads and a boundary that would keep buildings taller than 12 stories north of Gloucester Street.

He said new highrise developments south of that boundary, such as the twin towers under construction at Kent and Lisgar streets, which are slated to hit 19 and 17 stories, have the potential to make the community less livable.

"Livable area means one which is probably quite dense, but is not overcrowded with massive building structures that destroy the human scale of the area," he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/21/ot-highrise-080521.html

Le train léger traversera la ceinture de verdure

Le Droit, le 21 mai 2008
Dominique La Haye

Les élus de la Ville d'Ottawa ont approuvé, hier soir, un projet de transport en commun plus global que celui retenu jusqu'à présent, incluant un train léger qui s'étendra dans le futur vers les banlieues à l'extérieur de la ceinture de verdure.

Après une journée de délibérations, les élus siégeant aux comités de transports et de transport en commun ont approuvé quasiment à l'unanimité ce plan qui comprend notamment la construction d'un tunnel au centre-ville.

Le projet retenu est conforme à celui proposé précédemment par les fonctionnaires municipaux, tout en suggérant une vision élargie à plus long terme qui s'appliquera uniquement lorsque certaines conditions seront remplies.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080521/CPDROIT/80521262/6784/CPDROIT

Transit pick on track

Ottawa Sun, May 21, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

Once again, the city is about to begin the long and arduous debate on the fastest, most affordable and convenient way to shuttle people around the nation's capital.

Eighteen months ago, there was a $1-billion light-rail plan in place that would have taken passengers from Barrhaven to the University of Ottawa, but city council decided that wasn't the route to take and cancelled the project.

It's now looking at a massive $4-billion, 25-year transit project that includes light rail from Baysview to just short of the Riverside South community, a tunnel under the downtown core and converting the bus transitway from Baseline to Blair Rd. to light rail. The annual operating cost of the plan by 2031 is estimated at $434 million.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/21/5623711-sun.html

Light rail will 'destroy' Parkway

Ottawa Citizen, May 21, 2008, page C1
Thulasi Srikanthan

City planners' preferred option to see a light railway line along the Ottawa River Parkway came under fire last night at a packed town hall meeting at the Hintonburg Community Centre.

"It will destroy the recreational use of the parkway," Robin Goodrich said to bursts of applause from the more than 90 residents who gathered at the centre.

Ms. Goodrich, who has lived in the area for 15 years, said the city should consider using Highway 417 or going underground with the rail line. She said she was concerned about the impact of such an initiative on the "incredible" area, which contains many wetlands.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=fe926a93-8041-47b8-9a58-359d3d7fd46c

Open sewage pipe fouled Petrie Island beach
Councillors not told of malfunctioning sewer outlet for two years

Ottawa Citizen, May 21, 2008, page C9
Jake Rupert

East-end city councillors are pleased by a partial explanation for high E. coli counts at Petrie Island Beach in 2006, but they are disappointed that it took municipal staff two years to tell tell them about it.

The man-made beach, into which the city has sunk about $4 million, has been the target of ridicule since the summer of 2006, when it was closed for 45 days after the water was deemed unsafe for swimming.

Yesterday, the city's head of water and waste water, Dixon Weir, came clean on at least part of what plagued the beach. A large swath of the downtown core has combined sanitary and storm sewers. Under normal circumstances, the sewers carry their contents to the sewage-treatment facility on the Ottawa River in Gloucester. During heavy rains, the system is overwhelmed and storm water and raw sewage are pumped into the river through five pipes.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=2aaeeaf0-0f5e-4f3c-9c99-d3c58c6f151b

Pesticide Bylaw
City pestered by province's bill

Toronto Star, May 21, 2008
Donovan Vincent

Toronto's board of health doesn't want the city's tough pesticide bylaw weakened by legislation the province is considering bringing forward.

The concern is wording in Bill 64, currently being debated as part of second reading at Queen's Park, that would make municipal pesticide bylaws like Toronto's "inoperative.''

"If the Act passes with its current wording, situations might arise where Toronto residents receive less protection from pesticide exposure than they do under the current bylaw," Dr. David McKeown, Toronto's medical officer of health, said in a report that was before the city's board of health yesterday.

McKeown and the health board want the bill amended so if there's a discrepancy between the city's bylaw and the bill, the most restrictive rules apply.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/428097

What did you like most about Venice, my dear? No cars!

Ottawa Citizen, May 20, 2008, page A13
David Chernushenko

As a dutiful parent and temporary "home schooling" teacher, I just had to ask my daughter that pedagogical question: "What did you like most about Venice?"

This is the girl who, ever since reading Cornelia Funke's The Thief Lord, was aching to visit Venice. We asked each child to name the place they would most like to see on this combined family sabbatical and documentary film research trip. My son, lover of all things gladiatorial, and inspired by a great teacher of classical history, chose Rome. My daughter, without hesitation, picked Venice.

I was expecting her to answer my question with one or all of the Venetian standards: the gondolas and canals, St. Mark's square, the winding streets, even the gelato ice cream. But no, without hesitation or prompting from "eco dad," she declared: "There are no cars!"

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=cafcc85e-c39c-4465-99ff-95ab62259917

Councillor questions delay in reporting sewage spill near Petrie beach

CBC News, May 20, 2008

An Ottawa city councillor is asking why it took almost two years for city council to find out about the accidental discharge of more than a billion litres of raw sewage that likely caused the contamination of an east end beach on the Ottawa River.

Employees in the city's waste water division knew about the valve malfunction at the Robert O. Pickard water plant right after it occurred in July 2006. That summer, abnormally high bacterial counts at the Petrie Island beach led to 45 "no swimming" advisories, but no one knew what caused the problem until this week.

On Tuesday, Cumberland ward Coun. Rob Jellett said he still has questions about the incident and how it was reported.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/20/ot-petrie-island-080520.html

The rebirth of downtown
Urban Ottawa is suddenly home to thousands of condo-dwellers

Ottawa Citizen, May 20, 2008, page B1
Mohammed Adam

They are empty-nesters with spare cash and a hankering for a new urban lifestyle, or younger professionals who'd rather stroll down the street for a latte than roadrage to the suburban power centre.

Around Ottawa in the last few years, legions of homebuyers like Crystallina Chiu and Nancy and Pierre Gagné have been snatching up new condos and fuelling the revival of the city's moribund downtown.

Housing intensification is turning out to be a big success and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says construction of new condominium apartments in Ottawa, most of it downtown, will go up 33 per cent this year. But the big question is whether the new breed of buyers is turning Ottawa's downtown into the exclusive domain of the rich -- as experts say is happening in cities such as Vancouver and Toronto.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=bad1ff91-c7c9-4715-b076-b0963ed2d311

Saving the planet with goo

Ottawa Citizen, May 20, 2008, page B4
Kate Heartfield

For those who do have flowerbeds to nourish, or neighbours with green thumbs, composting is a no-brainer. In a world of tough decisions, a no-brainer is just what we needd.

Hope is a pile of slimy black gunk. At least, it is at our house. The mass of peelings and scraps that threatened to burst our composter around Christmastime has almost finished its metamorphosis.

Composters across the city are the repositories of hope. Gardeners peer into those dark depths and see shoots and blooms.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=04e782d7-cad4-4cbf-9573-c805d0b1dad2

City urged to move on transit now

Metro News, May 20, 2008
Tracey Tong

On the eve of Ottawa's downtown transit decision, O-Train advocates yesterday made a final push for a plan they say would get riders moving in a much shorter period of time.

The future downtown transit option will be finalized today, but Friends of the O-Train said that extending the existing O-Train would get commuters rolling now compared to a rapid transit plan involving a light rail tunnel which will take years and billions of dollars to build.

"The O-Train could be extended by this year or next year easily," said David Jeanes, president of Transport 2000 and a member of Friends of the O-Train.

The group wants the existing O-Train lines extended south to Leitrim Road and north into Gatineau, with east-west service from Orleans to Bayshore, all on existing rail.

http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/local/article/56480

Transit will determine if we're a city or suburbs
Council and staff have done a poor job of selling the idea of a dense, vibrant, transit-dependent core that all 'real' cities have, writes Randall Denley.

Ottawa Citizen, May 18, 2008, page A16
Randall Denley

Ottawa city councillors' big decision next week on the future of transit is really more about planning than it is about transit. Or at least, it should be. The transit plan councillors recommend will determine what our city will be like in the future. Will it be a dense, urban city where people can live without cars, or is the goal to use commuter trains to enable even more suburban expansion?

City staff have it right when they recommend stopping light rail inside the Greenbelt. Higher-order transit like light rail is expensive and it only really makes sense where there is enough population density to justify frequent service. The decision to build rail in the core of the city must be accompanied by a much more effective intensification plan.

The alternative is the commuter train model, which would encourage people to live in the suburbs, but at great public expense. The inside-the-Greenbelt expansion and the extension of suburban transitways alone will cost $4 billion. Councillors who argue for rail to go all the way to their suburban wards are taking a stand guaranteed to please their constituents, but it would be poor planning. There just aren't enough people in the suburbs to justify the cost of bringing rail through the Greenbelt to reach them.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=636973c2-c422-4b42-845a-acfa0b09450d

A true bicycle culture remains elusive
Scarcity of bike lanes and sparse political support stand in way of T.O. aping likes of Amsterdam

Toronto Star, May 18, 2008
Murray Whyte

They shuttle swiftly along a thin strip of pavement, legs pumping, in a thin-but-steady stream. Beside them, four lanes of car-clogged Lakeshore Drive; just beyond a concrete barrier, six more lanes of stop-and-go Gardiner Expressway.

If recent statistics gathered by a pair of urban transportation gurus from Rutgers University are to be believed, they are the less than one-in-a-hundred citizens of our city who routinely use their bike as something more than a joyriding, fair-weather cruiser.

They are, as the current coinage of cycling taxonomy would have it, the utility riders, for whom cycling is survival, not sport - a daily fact, not a weekend diversion.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/426996

Stop the madness of building roads

Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 2008, page E4
Ken Gray

Don't build another road. Don't build one, not one.

You see, we have enough roads. Most times of the day cars can travel around town easily. Trucks can make deliveries. Businesspeople can roam in search of sales.

No, the congestion problem exists for only a couple of hours every day during the morning and evening commutes. At those two times, you could widen the Queensway from Kanata to downtown or the Split to 25 lanes and it wouldn't be able to handle the volume. And if those roads did happen to flow smoothly, an unlikely prospect, freeways just channel thousands of cars into a downtown grid network, designed in the 19th century, running at more than capacity. Freeways just don't work. Long commutes by car are a time-consuming, frustrating, inefficient, hopeless exercise. Don't people have better things to do?

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=2d32c6b4-e472-4505-95dd-3505dedb4f4e&p=1

Transit plan flexible: manager
Report on public consultations leaves room for speed, expansion and the money to pay for it

Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 2008, page E1
Jake Rupert

With the city's transit ridership growing at rates unseen for years and the price of fuel marching ever upward, planning officials are making sure construction of a proposed city-wide light-rail system can be accelerated and expanded if needed and that the money to do so is available.

In a report on the results of a recent round of public consultations on the $4-billion plan, deputy city manager for planning, transit and the environment Nancy Schepers said several people feel the city's future ridership projections are too low, and that the municipality should be thinking about a bigger plan.

In the report, Ms. Schepers said she will be stressing that the proposed system is flexible enough to be extended if needed and there's a way to pay for it.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=056b0c89-5f87-493e-a2cc-166e1fd57925

Editorial: The market and the mall

Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 2008

The mall is predicated on cheap gas, suburban living and uncluttered roads. With basic changes occurring to those supports, the long-term future of the mall is in question.

Thus Ottawa City Council was right to resoundingly vote down a proposal to limit parking at malls that are located near Transitway stations. After all, there's little point in passing a bylaw that the marketplace is going to take care of anyway.

Furthermore, given the current makeup of the suburban mosaic, who's going to stop people from driving their cars to the malls to shop? And why should anyone? Don't people have the right to drive their cars when and where they want?

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=2ed32581-9b31-47ac-a4f0-4cd434882d81

'Elegant' Corktown Footbridge earns award

Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 2008

The Corktown Footbridge, a "simple but elegant statement," across the Rideau Canal in central Ottawa, has won the 2008 National Urban Design Award in the civic design category.

A release from the three national organizations sponsoring the annual awards praised the pedestrian and bicycle bridge for its appearance, respect of heritage, environmental sensitivity and usefulness to University of Ottawa students, transit riders and downtown residents. The lead architectural firm for the project was du Toit Allsopp Hillier.

The bridge, a structure combining steel, stainless steel and stone, was commissioned by the City of Ottawa in collaboration with Parks Canada, which owns the canal, and the National Capital Commission.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=495a1f0d-3bc5-4736-a192-077889d67a77

City backs provincial pesticide ban

Ottawa Sun, May 15, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

The city's Community and Protective Services Committee has endorsed the provincial government's recent announcement to ban the use and sale of cosmetic pesticides.

The committee also recommended to council that the provincial legislation be amended to allow municipalities to adopt bylaws regulating cosmetic pesticide use consistent with the intent of the provincial legislation - to ban the use and sale of cosmetic pesticides. With this Ottawa joins the City of Toronto in asking for this amendment.

Bay Ward Councillor Alex Cullen, who introduced the motion this afternoon, called the Ontario's initiative "a welcome step in eliminating threats to public health, especially for children."

The recommendation will make it to council May 28.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/15/5577111.html

How bikes and cars co-exist

Ottawa Citizen, May 15, 2008, page A14
David Chernushenko

In every city there are thousands of closet cyclists, people who would love to ride their bikes but don't dare. They see cycling in the city as something for bike couriers, for the fiendishly fit, for neighbours with nerves of steel.

Our cities are just bursting with pedaling potential, and it's time to set it loose on the streets. The key lies in building the right kind of infrastructure. Cycling routes designed by cyclists for cyclists.

To make my case, I'll take you to two cities in Europe, to Stockholm -- a northern city that has plenty of ups and downs, and cold; and to Freiburg -- bordering on Germany's Black Forest mountains.

Quite literally, cycling is for everybody.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=21bcec4c-5e68-4c41-8583-0508e6241ce1

Shopping for solutions
Plan to restrict mall parking spots to boost public transit shot down by suburban councillors

Ottawa Sun, May 15, 2008
Susan Sherring

It turns out just building it doesn't make them come after all.

Such is the case in suburbia, where the almighty car still rules the road.

And the shopping centres.

And simply building a transit station near a mall won't see suburbanites take the bus for grocery shopping.

"We're not taking (groceries) home on the bus. We need our cars. It's specific to the way we live," said Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder.

Harder was speaking to a motion at council yesterday that would have seen the number of allowable parking spots at shopping malls located near transit stations reduced.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/15/5569851-sun.html

TTC's hybrids fail to save amount of fuel it hyped

Globe and Mail, May 15, 2008
Jeff Gray

Toronto's new and expensive hybrid buses are saving less than half the amount of diesel fuel the transit agency - and the governments that paid for them - claimed.

The Toronto Transit Commission and the federal, provincial and city governments said as recently as March that the new hybrid diesel-electric buses - which cost $734,000, compared with $500,000 for a conventional bus - were using 20 to 30 per cent less fuel.

But the TTC's current fuel-savings estimate, incorporated in its 2008 budget after tests on the new fleet last summer, is just 10 per cent - although officials expect that number to improve.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080515.whybrid15/BNStory/National/home

City moves to spare Roman Avenue homes
Council opts to ask province for use of Queensway for transitway, but solution has a time limit

Ottawa Citizen, May 14, 2008
Mohammed Adam

In a decision one councillor says could save the homes of Roman Avenue residents for 10 years, the City of Ottawa agreed Wednesday to ask the Ontario government to allow the use of the Queensway for public transit.

The province has already indicated that it would agree to dedicated bus lanes on the Queensway as a temporary measure until it is ready to widen the provincial highway in an as-yet-undetermined timeframe. Councillor Clive Doucet said since the widening won't be done for about 10 years, council should run the buses on the Queensway and save 25 Roman Avenue homes that face demolition to make way for the transitway.

Council Wednesday passed a motion directing staff to ask the Ontario government for permission to convert one lane in each direction between Pinecrest Road and Woodroffe Avenue into a west transitway.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=1d40eb38-897f-442a-b605-0e98f92daa99

Renfrew County poised to cash in on Ontario's pledge to wind power

Ottawa Citizen, May 14, 2008
Kelly Egan

In pioneer days, the highlands of Renfrew County broke many a promise, maybe the odd back.

Settlers found land that was thin-soiled, rocky and full of pitch. Logging was arduous, winters long and the views isolating, if beautiful.

But today, finally, there may well be gold in them there hills -- in the very air they breathe.

A buzz is building across portions of the county about the economic harvest to be generated from windmill farms planned for Renfrew's rugged peaks.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=1fad2c5d-01d1-4adf-89ab-d689d81381f5

Ontario unlikely to help city save 25 homes, top manager warns

Ottawa Citizen, May 14, 2008, page C2
Mohammed Adam

A senior city official is warning Ottawa councillors not to expect the Ontario government to bail them out on the decision to raze 25 homes on Roman Avenue for a transitway extension. In a memo to councillors yesterday, Nancy Schepers, the deputy city manager of planning, transit and the environment, said the province is unlikely to agree that one lane on the Queensway should be used for a transitway extension. Ms. Schepers said the province is planning to expand the Queensway between Pinecrest and Woodroffe and a transitway corridor is not part of the plan.

After the controversy over knocking down the homes to make way for the transitway extension, the transit commission had suggested using one lane on the Queensway to save the homes. The issue is expected to be debated in council today.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=bf914585-2458-4fb9-84da-0597e1cb0c38

City wants do-over on Carp River study

Ottawa Citizen, May 14, 2008, page C4
Mohammed Adam

Ottawa's planning committee agreed yesterday to hire an independent consultant for up to $250,000 to redo a controversial study that permitted development on land along the Carp River that could be prone to flooding.

If council agrees to the recommendation, an engineering firm that is not based in Ottawa and has not done any work for developers engaged in the Kanata West development will be hired to re-examine the whole issue and report back to the city.

Several councillors warned staff to make sure that the cost of the new study, which is pegged at between $150,000 and $250,000, is not borne by the city.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=8186f9c9-4fdf-4e45-ab46-2438f3d9902c

Editorial: Bring on the hybrids

Ottawa Citizen, May 14, 2008, page C4

Ottawa has been foolishly slow to allow hybrid taxis on its streets. While other North American cities are already reaping the economic and environmental benefits of low-emission fleets, Ottawa has not encouraged its drivers to make the switch.

In fact, the city's restrictions on vehicle size have made many hybrids ineligible. Ottawa has a tradition of micromanaging the taxi industry; this is just one more example.

Many hybrids have plenty of space for luggage. Toyota's Prius, for example, has 16.1 cubic feet of cargo capacity. That's less than the 20.6 cubic feet for a Ford Crown Victoria. But the Prius can go more than three times as far on a litre of gas.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=e47dd583-e130-43e7-a214-84a75a7d63f9

Councillor calls her idea 'B'etter' transit option

Ottawa Citizen, May 14, 2008, page C2
Mohammed Adam

Kitchissippi Councillor Christine Leadman yesterday unveiled her alternative transit plan that extends light rail to Barrhaven, Kanata and Orléans -- and saves at least $600 million.

Ms. Leadman said she doesn't know the full cost of her "B'etter Option" plan but believes it would be that much less than the roughly $4-billion cost of the city's preferred plan, the so-called Option Four, to run light rail along most of the existing transitway and add new busways into suburban communities. More important, she said, her plan would redress a significant weakness in the city's plan by extending rail east-west where the population and the demand is.

A key part of her plan is the elimination of the north-south rail, replacing it with an extension of the O-Train to Leitrim, which could save at least $600 million. Ms. Leadman said there are just not enough riders in the south end of the city to support light rail in Riverside South.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=8cd8cc03-f382-4b1c-9a70-e12ea8b70d17

Another councillor, another transit plan

Ottawa Sun, May 13, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

A city councillor has come forth with yet another plan aimed at solving Ottawa's commuter frustration.

Kitchississpi Coun. Christine Leadman will unveil her vision for Ottawa's transit future, something she says the latest plan fails to do.

Leadman said she is frustrated with the lack of vision in what has come to be known as "Option Four," which council adopted last month and presented to residents.

She told the Sun yesterday the latest plan doesn't address ideas that could immediately resolve traffic congestion building across the city.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/13/5546891-sun.html

Councillor has plan to let hybrid cabs roll

Ottawa Citizen, May 13, 2008
Patrick Dare

Hybrid-engine taxis, which are taking off in other North American cities, could soon be rolling on Ottawa's streets in force -- if cab drivers are willing to make the investment.

With crude oil topping $126 U.S. a barrel, it's a decision that's taking on new urgency. A councillor wants the City of Ottawa to change its taxicab rules so that smaller vehicles, with less trunk space for luggage, are permitted, aiming to get rid of the main regulatory impediment to operating a hybrid taxi in Ottawa.

Taxis that use both gasoline and electric power to save fuel are a big trend in the industry. New York City expects to have 1,000 hybrid yellow cabs by this fall, then another 3,000 by the fall of next year. By 2012, all 13,000 New York yellow cabs are to be hybrids. New York estimates drivers can save $10,000 a year.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=6fc1ceca-203d-42cd-b6eb-73a05f7370d8

McGuinty says he won't change pesticide ban to keep tougher laws

CBC News, May 13, 2008

Premier Dalton McGuinty says he won't change Ontario's proposed pesticide ban to allow municipalities to keep tougher laws.

He says the province will have a single standard that bans both the sale and use of pesticides, which goes further than any municipal bylaw.

But there are concerns that some residents could be less protected from pesticides under the province's ban than under existing bylaws.

Toronto's medical officer of health says the provincial ban doesn't include a common weed killer that's prohibited in Toronto, for example.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/13/mcguinty-pesticides.html

Watered down pesticide ban?
Doc wants T.O.'s strong bylaw to trump Ontario's

Toronto Sun, May 13, 2008
Sarah Green

Toronto's medical officer of health wants to weed out potential problems with Ontario's planned pesticide ban.

Dr. David McKeown, in a report to be given to the health board next week, said the proposed provincial bill could leave Toronto with a watered-down version of its own strict pesticide ban.

Toronto's pesticide bylaw, which came into effect in April 2004, restricts the cosmetic use of pesticides on public and private property.

"If the act passes with its current wording, situations might arise in which residents receive less protection from pesticide exposure than they do under the current Toronto bylaw," McKeown said in the report. Under the province's proposed ban, the list of restricted pesticides does not include the common weed killer glyphosate, sold as Roundup, which is currently banned in Toronto.

http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/05/13/pf-5548071.html

Council Urged to Support Pesticide Ban

CFRA, May 12, 2008
Josh Pringle

Ontario's proposed ban on the cosmetic use and sale of pesticides is receiving support at City Hall.

A report for the Community and Protective Services Committee recommends Council endorse the Ontario Government's proposed bylaw and urge the speedy passage of Bill 64.

Once the proposed ban takes effect in 2009, Municipalities will be forbidden from enacting tougher bylaws than the provincial standard.

The City of Ottawa stopped using pesticides for cosmetic purposes on its own properties in 2002.

http://www.cfra.com/?cat=1&nid=56816

City puts development applications online

Ottawa Citizen, May 11, 2008
Patrick Dare

The City of Ottawa is going online with all major development applications in an effort to increase transparency and build public confidence in the planning-approval process.

As of Tuesday morning, citizens can go on the city's website and see all of the current development applications and supporting studies for everything from zoning changes that allow taller buildings to site plan applications that show exactly how a building project will be laid out.

It's a big move to get more information on planning out to the public. While citizens were always legally entitled to see the documents, actually getting them could be a real chore. The city's new policy is that when an application for development comes in, the builder must file an electronic copy as well, so that the documents can be posted on the city's website.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=fba0ad05-fa01-4e3a-b102-5ed2fd353d7c

Heritage designation may lead to cleaner Ottawa River

Ottawa Sun, May 10, 2008
Beth Johnston

The Ottawa River is flowing closer to a heritage designation.

Environment Minister John Baird announced yesterday he will support the plan to make the 1,271-km river, which runs through Ontario and Quebec, a heritage river.

"This is a really important acknowledgment of what we all know -- that the Ottawa River is an extremely important asset that needs to be protected," said NDP MP Paul Dewar, who introduced a motion in the House of Commons in 2006 for the government to protect and preserve the river, which serves as the source of drinking water for 1.1 million people.

The designation will help reduce pollution in the river because it will be monitored regularly.

"This is terrific for promoting eco-tourism," Dewar said, comparing the pending designation to last year's UNESCO designation of the Rideau Canal as a World Heritage Site.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/10/5524621-sun.html

Website to close info gap between Ottawa developers, residents

CBC News, May 9, 2008

Ottawa residents looking for more information about a development planned for their neighbourhood will soon have access to a database of all development documents submitted to the city.

The database will contain site plans, traffic studies and environmental assessments that had been hard to obtain until now. They will be accessible through the City of Ottawa website starting Tuesday.

Coun. Peter Hume, who gave reporters a sneak preview of the site on Friday, said there has been an information gap between developers and neighbourhood residents who opposed specific developments.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/09/ot-website-080509.html

Queensway lane proposal rolls forward

Ottawa Sun, May 9, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

The province won't make any promises, but it will look into handing over two lanes of the Queensway to the city if officially asked.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Jim Watson, MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean and a former Ottawa mayor, said the province would only consider the proposal, which could mean there would be no need to expropriate 25 homes along Roman Ave.

"We will see if there is anything we can do to help the city," Watson said yesterday.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/09/5514136-sun.html

La voie réservée sur la 417 risque de créer un problème à long terme

Le Droit, le 9 mai 2008
Dominique La Haye

Éviter l'expropriation des 25 maisons de la rue Roman à l'ouest d'Ottawa en prolongeant le corridor d'autobus rapide sur une voie réservée de l'autoroute 417 est une solution à court terme pouvant créer un problème à long terme.

C'est la question que se posent le maire d'Ottawa, Larry O'Brien, et le ministre des Affaires municipales et député provincial d'Ottawa-Ouest-Nepean où le projet est contesté, Jim Watson.

"Il y a de l'espace actuellement sur le Queensway pour réserver une voie pour le Transitway, mais que fera-t-on dans le futur, d'ici 25 ans, lorsque nous devrons élargir la 417, questionne le ministre. On peut sauver un problème à court terme et en créer un à long terme."

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080509/CPACTUALITES/805090425/6790/CPDROIT

Greely breathes easier
Residents optimistic waste plant site will be changed

Ottawa Sun, May 9, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

A few Greely residents are breathing a "guarded" sigh of relief after learning that a kitchen waste processing plant may not locate in their neighbourhood after all.

The Sun has learned that the city and Orgaworld Canada Ltd. are close to striking a deal that would have the facility locate in an industrial park somewhere in Osgoode ward and not across the road from a trailer park and other nearby homes.

Osgood Coun. Doug Thompson said yesterday he couldn't discuss details relating to the issue, but indicated the city and company chosen last year to process the contents of Ottawa's green box program could reach a deal in the next few days.

"We're close," he said.

Thompson has also cancelled a May 14 public meeting that he scheduled after dozens of residents expressed outrage at the possibility of the plant locating near several homes.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/09/5514131-sun.html

Transit committee urges Ottawa to buy Roman Ave. homes

CBC News, May 8, 2008

The City of Ottawa should buy 25 homes along a proposed west end transit route at fair market value regardless of the possibility it might expropriate them in the future, the city's transit committee recommended.

In addition, staff should look into a new alternative to demolishing the homes on Roman Avenue, just north of the Queensway west of Woodroffe Avenue, the committee decided Wednesday.

That would involve running buses along the Queensway instead of building a new bus-only route, and would require permission from Ontario's Ministry of Transportation.

The recommendations are to go to city council for approval Wednesday. Originally, the city was going to build a tunnel under a park near Roman Avenue as part of a westward Transitway expansion.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/08/ot-roman-080508.html

Let us put transitway along 417, city to ask province

Ottawa Citizen, May 8, 2008, page C1
Jake Rupert

Councillors on the city's transit committee endorsed a plan yesterday that could see the west transitway built -- and save 25 homes on Roman Avenue from expropriation. But to achieve the goal, the provincial government will have to turn some space on Highway 417 over to the municipality.

At a committee meeting, councillors heard from roughly 20 people from the Ottawa neighbourhood abutting the 417. Most urged them to reject a study that could result in the expropriation of their homes but is estimated to save $46 million on the cost of completing the last link of the transitway.

During the meeting, the committee heard the province has given notice that it is contemplating widening the highway in the area, and that there is space for the expansion.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=7d01edcf-ee54-4740-90ca-5cdc5fc70e1c

Why Halifax is a king of trash
A garbage crisis in the 1990s forced the Maritime city to take desperate measures to reduce the amount of trash going to landfills, Patrick Dare reports.

Ottawa Citizen, May 8, 2008
Patrick Dare

At Halifax's garbage plant workers stand at a conveyer belt, wearing breathing masks and gloves, and pick through garbage by hand.

A cloud of dust hangs over them as they pluck recyclables out of the constant stream of trash. It's hard, dirty work and the employees work 14-hour days so they can get four-day stretches away from the plant. It costs a lot. But such is Halifax's extraordinary commitment to reducing traditional garbage.

Its facility at Otter Lake, about 10 kilometres from downtown, gets about 155,000 tonnes of garbage a year, 300 to 400 truckloads a day. Every bag of commercial and residential garbage is ripped open by a machine. Machines retrieve any organics and plant workers pull out hazardous waste and recyclables.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=acd43ce2-fe82-42c9-8460-3762836d578d

Public consultations draw small numbers to debate transit plan

Ottawa Citizen, May 7, 2008
Thulasi Srikanthan

A generally disapproving crowd in Kanata attended the last of six public consultations on city planners' preferred option for transit this week, with critics panning the plan as inadequate and expensive.

Grumbling over the $4-billion plan, which includes a tunnel through downtown, was typical of the public consultations, which began last week. With only a couple of dozen people attending most meetings, the city received about 120 written comments from the public heading into yesterday's consultation.

City officials say the responses so far have generally favoured Option 4. It would bring electric rail south to Bowesville Road in South Gloucester, replacing the O-Train; other lines would run east and west out of downtown, but stop inside the Greenbelt.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=19cdda11-2c25-4ef6-87f1-fdd314691d41

Park-and-ride crunch frustrates Ottawa transit users

CBC News, May 7, 2008

OC Transpo's park-and-ride lots are full long before many people start work, frustrating commuters who say they sometimes feel they have no choice but to park illegally, risking fines.

"It's crazy," said Natalie Robichaud, who uses the OC Transpo lot at Greenoboro station. "You don't even look at first. You go straight to the back. By eight o'clock, 8:15, if you're not here, you don't get a spot."

With gas prices above $1.20 a litre this spring, OC Transpo said city buses have had more passengers than normal.

Many of the 350,000 people who ride public transit each day compete for 5,100 parking spaces at OC Transpo's 11 suburban lots before transferring to a bus.

The chair of the city's transit committee acknowledged that the jump in gas prices is making the crunch at the park-and-ride lots, which was already a problem, worse.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/07/ot-park-and-ride-080507.html

Pesticide battle far from finished

Guelph Mercury, May 7, 2008
Magda Konieczna

There's a heaping tablespoon of irony in the province's recent clarification on its pesticide legislation.

When Premier Dalton McGuinty made his Earth Day announcement that the province would ban pesticides, he said cities could still enact their own, harsher bylaws.

That's when Guelph enacted its own harsh bylaw.

Then McGuinty took it back, saying the provincial bans will override municipal ones.

"I think what happened -- in fairness -- is that I gave an answer which was wrong, and I think the (environment) minister was unduly deferential," McGuinty said. "I've spoken to him about that and I say, 'If I make a mistake in public, you should correct me right away so that we correct the record.' "

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/325075

Pesticide bill could do more harm than good

Northern News, May 7, 2008
Samuel E. Trosow

A new bill banning pesticides, while well intentioned, is fundamentally flawed and may threaten local bylaws in cities across Ontario.

The provincial government has finally tabled a bill intended to ban the cosmetic use and sale of pesticides throughout Ontario. Bill 64,the Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Act was introduced on Earth Day and the government is promoting it as a strong measure "that would make Ontario's pesticide rules among the toughest in North America."

The bill is long overdue and much needed, and it is good to see the government finally moving on pesticides. Unfortunately, the proposed law contains two fundamental flaws.

The first is the overbroad exceptions to the general ban contained in the bill. The first four exceptions (pertaining to golf courses, agriculture, forestry and the protection of health and safety) are typical exemptions and were to be expected. But there is also a fifth, open-ended exemption for "other prescribed uses" and the minister is delegated the authority to prescribe these "other prescribed uses."

http://www.northernnews.ca/PrintArticle.aspx?e=1017304

Why Halifax is a king of trash
A garbage crisis in the 1990s forced the Maritime city to take desperate measures to reduce the amount of trash going to landfills

Ottawa Citizen, May 7, 2008, page C2
Patrick Dare

At Halifax's garbage plant workers stand at a conveyer belt, wearing breathing masks and gloves, and pick through garbage by hand.

A cloud of dust hangs over them as they pluck recyclables out of the constant stream of trash. It's hard, dirty work and the employees work 14-hour days so they can get four-day stretches away from the plant. It costs a lot. But such is Halifax's extraordinary commitment to reducing traditional garbage.

Its facility at Otter Lake, about 10 kilometres from downtown, gets about 155,000 tonnes of garbage a year, 300 to 400 truckloads a day. Every bag of commercial and residential garbage is ripped open by a machine. Machines retrieve any organics and plant workers pull out hazardous waste and recyclables.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=b455ddd2-de2a-491e-81ce-786e05ff3ba5

Guided tours walk the walk, talk the talk
Urban visionary commemorated

Ottawa Sun, May 5, 2008
Aedan Helmer

Social activist and urban visionary Jane Jacobs would have been proud.

"No one can find what will work for our cities by looking at ... suburban garden cities, manipulating scale models, or inventing dream cities," wrote Jacobs in The Exploding Metropolis, a 1958 examination of urban decline and suburban sprawl. "You've got to get out and walk."

That's exactly what thousands of Canadians did this weekend for Jane's Walk, commemorating Jacobs' May 4, 1916, birthday. Jacobs died in 2006 an Officer of the Order of Canada, and inaugural walks were held in New York and in her adopted home city of Toronto last year.

The first Jane's Walk in Ottawa took hundreds of residents on guided tours through the city, as seen from street level by those who know it best.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/05/5470726-sun.html

Sparks fly over petition on transitway extension
Roman Avenue residents angered by apparent support for expropriation

Ottawa Citizen, May 5, 2008, page C1
Jake Rupert

The city's plan to study a transitway extension that could result in the expropriation of 25 homes is causing strife in the affected neighbourhood and has put Bay Councillor Alex Cullen in a bind.

In 1994, a route, including a tunnel, was chosen as the best link. Last week, however, city planners recommended looking at a previously discounted option to finish the bus transitway along Highway 417 between Pinecrest and Wood-roffe avenues. The planners estimate this alternate route, which could require expropriation, would be $46 million cheaper.

The idea has outraged people living on the south side of Roman Avenue, whose homes are at risk, particularly because they felt the issue was settled in 1994. They are even angrier now that another group of 80 homeowners who live nearby have signed a petition supporting the city's new plan to study alternate routes.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=9a67b4ac-7178-4761-8a87-e8470db7e7d2

McGuinty 'misspoke' on pesticide rules: minister

Kitchener-Waterloo Record
Robert Benzie

Cities and towns will be forbidden from enacting tougher bylaws than the province's new ban on cosmetic pesticides for gardening, the Liberal government now admits.

In the wake of Premier Dalton McGuinty's Earth Day assertion to the contrary, Environment Minister John Gerretsen has acknowledged that the Liberals screwed up.

On April 22, McGuinty boasted "nobody will be able to have standards lower than ours."

"If you're asking if municipalities can exceed the provincial standard we put in place, yes they can when it comes to use," the premier claimed.

But after the fine print in the legislation was studied, it turns out McGuinty had misspoken.

http://news.therecord.com/printArticle/345767

Heritage designation for Ottawa River finally on course after committee waded through many political challenges

Ottawa Sun, May 4, 2008
Tom Vandusen

Rough political waters which rocked a local campaign to have the Ottawa River declared a national heritage waterway seem to have been successfully navigated.

Larry Graham, chairman of the Ottawa River Heritage Designation Committee, expects an official heritage nomination will be signed sometime soon by Environment Minister John Baird for delivery to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System Board in time for a meeting set for the Yukon June 9.

That's when the board will move the process forward, hopefully in time for a positive public announcement during its meeting in Ottawa next spring.

Nomination approval should have just been a final formality.

However, it took a year of wrangling to resolve, Graham said, adding that plans are tentatively being made for a river designation celebration here next year.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/04/5464541-sun.html

Green free-for-all
More urban foragers refuse to buy into consumer lifestyle

Ottawa Sun, May 4, 2008
Elisabeth Jones

Gerard Daechsel picks through a bag and produces a container of blueberries, a couple of limes -- one that's clearly gone bad -- and an orange.

These goods came from the supermarket, but were then tossed in the garbage.

And that's where Daechsel picked them up. He'll put the edible fruit in his fridge and toss the mouldy ones into the compost pile in his backyard.

The 74-year-old said he's been "salvaging" miscellaneous items -- mostly other people's trash -- for most of his life. It's only recently that his lifestyle has acquired a name as part of a growing environmental movement: Freeganism.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/04/5464526-sun.html

Mayors, NCC boss talk cross-border transit

Ottawa Sun, May 3, 2008
Derek Puddicombe

The mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau and CEO of the National Capital Commission are discussing how to integrate the transit needs of both cities.

For the first time in two years, a three-party meeting was held at NCC headquarters to begin discussions on how to better shuttle 60,000 commuters across the provincial border every day.

Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien said the trio discussed his city's latest transit plan, which could include seeking the NCC's permission to convert the Ottawa River Parkway corridor into a light-rail route.

O'Brien said one of the options on the table for discussion is building a tunnel under the downtown to accommodate Gatineau-only commuter traffic, in addition to the tunnel council is already considering as part of its latest transit solution.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/05/03/5458076-sun.html

Work started in Kanata West before final approval

Ottawa Citizen, May 2, 2008
Patrick Dare

Some work by developers in Kanata West has gone ahead without provincial approval, says the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

The realignment of Hazeldean Creek, north of Hazeldean Road, was approved by the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans but had not been approved by the Ministry of the Environment. The application to the ministry was received a couple of days ago.

The matter has been forwarded to the ministry's investigations branch.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=44f342ad-83ee-4478-8a5a-69eca1a90454&k=51917

Editorial: Bus fare unfair

Ottawa Citizen, May 2, 2008

The City of Ottawa is wholly unprepared for a surge in transit usage.

Ridership has jumped recently by as much as 6.9 per cent over the last year with packed buses whizzing past suburban commuters hoping to catch a ride. And that's with $1.22-a-litre gas. What happens if that figure reaches $1.50 this summer or, as some experts are predicting, $2.25 a litre next year?

Many people are either feeling the pinch of high gas prices, are tired of buses flying past them while they're stuck in traffic on the Queensway, or are fed up with paying for downtown parking. Maybe even a few of them are environmentally conscious.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=b68e6f89-9e7a-45fd-bdf7-79654731f9a2

Déficit prévu au budget de carburant

Le Droit, le 2 mai 2008
Dominique Lahaye

La Ville d'Ottawa prévoit un déficit dans son budget de carburant destiné à faire rouler les autobus de la compagnie de transport en commun OC Transpo.

Selon la trésorière municipale, Marian Simulik, la hausse de 12 % du budget du diesel en 2008 ne sera pas suffisante pour compenser la hausse fulgurante du prix de l'essence.

"Nous nous trouvons confrontés aux mêmes problèmes que plusieurs autres municipalités à savoir que nous risquons de tous faire face à un déficit pour la consommation d'essence."

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080502/CPACTUALITES/805020313/6790/CPDROIT

Jane's Walk this weekend

Toronto Star, May 2, 2008
Curtis Rush

You can discover one of Toronto's oldest chapels, an aboriginal gathering place and other hidden secrets during Jane's Walk, a series of free neighbourhood walking tours that will take place in eight Canadian cities this weekend, including Toronto.

The second annual walk, named for urban activist and writer Jane Jacobs, celebrates her legacy as a champion of taking a community-based approach to city building.

The goal of Jane's Walk is to get out, observe your city and discover new areas.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/420787

OMB rejects rezoning challenge

Ottawa Citizen, May 1, 2008
Patrick Dare

The water resources engineer raising red flags over the development of Kanata West has lost an Ontario Municipal Board challenge of a rezoning for part of the property and some work is already proceeding on the land in question.

Ted Cooper, a City of Ottawa engineer who was taken off the Kanata West file after he repeatedly raised objections about the project, objected to the rezoning of about 42 acres at Hazeldean Road and the Carp River. Trinity Development Group wants to put put big-box stores on the land.

Mr. Cooper has raised concerns about possible flooding in the area and argued approvals should be delayed until conclusive new data is found to set the flood-plain line.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=4a0d1cb8-f490-488c-bd53-a07e9a99231d&k=44253

Reviews of transit proposal mixed

Ottawa Citizen, May 1, 2008, page C3
Thulasi Srikanthan

City planners' preferred option for transit received mixed reviews at Ottawa's fifth public consultation last night, with some residents calling the proposal inadequate and others saying it will do for now.

"Barrhaven, Kanata and Orléans are where most of the riders originate. The rail doesn't provide any connection for them, and Kanata is left out in the boondocks," Ottawa resident Vic Johnson said at the consultation that attracted more than 20 people to the Nepean Sportsplex.

Currently, the plan preferred by city planners is Option 4, which would bring electric rail service farther south to Bowesville Road, replacing the O-Train, and running east to Blair Station and west to Bayshore Station. It wouldn't extend into Kanata or Orléans.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=9171571f-f780-486a-9eba-a160474716e2

Transitway to wipe out west-side homes

Ottawa Citizen, May 1, 2008, page C3
Jake Rupert

Residents on one side of Roman Avenue, on Ottawa's west side, are facing expropriation of their homes as the city looks for the cheapest way to link two sections of the transitway.

At issue is the city's push to finally complete the western transitway. To do this, planners must connect the existing dedicated transitway, running north-south and crossing Highway 417 near Woodroffe Avenue, with a new east-west transitway section being built between Pinecrest Avenue and Bayshore Shopping Centre.

In 1994, when the province paid 60 per cent of transitway construction costs, the regional government of the day looked at five options, including expropriating 25 houses and building a tunnel. The study recommended the tunnel, despite the expense, because it would mean little neighbourhood disturbance.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=3fa8282f-6e2e-4f2b-8a5b-85845ac7fcd6

Ottawa mulls razing 25 homes for Transitway expansion

CBC News, May 1, 2008

The City of Ottawa will consider expropriating and knocking down 25 homes in the city's west end to save money during the expansion of its bus-only transit corridors, a possibility that's causing an outcry from some homeowners who have lived there for decades.

Originally, the city was going to build a tunnel under a park near the Queensway and west of Woodroffe Avenue as part of the westward Transitway expansion.

However, city planners discovered that the city could save nearly $46 million by instead running the route overground through the properties on the south side of Roman Avenue.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/01/ot-transitway-080501.html