● More problems with bike paths and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system.
David Reevely of the Ottawa Citizen has found another problem with bike routes and the construction of Ottawa’s new Light Rail Transit (LRT) system.
A few weeks ago he reported how the Booth Street bridge that will pass over the LRT tracks will have no bike lanes, a situation that will make things very dangerous for cyclists. David Reevely is now reporting that according to existing plans, the construction of the LRT system will result in a major and permanent detour in the north end of the pathway that currently runs next to the O-train tracks (the Trillium multi-use pathway).
The Trillium pathway only opened a few years ago and provides for a very popular north-south bicycle route in the city. It roughly parallels Preston Street and connects the pathways around Dow’s Lake with the Ottawa River pathway.
The Trillium pathway is currently subject to a temporary (and frustrating) detour because of LRT construction. But it now seems it will also be subject to a permanent detour (with a 30 foot climb) once everything is completed. David Reevely says this amounts to a break in the pathway.
If I understand David Reevely correctly, the people responsible for the design and construction of the LRT system are only concerned with the execution of their project. It’s up to the City of Ottawa to consider how plans for the LRT will affect other aspects of the city. When it comes to bike lanes and pathways, it appears that Ottawa has been asleep at the switch when considering the plans for the LRT system.
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what else is new in ottawa… there are signs of this all over the place. One minute you have a bike lane the next minute, there is no bike lane as though during some era there was money then the era ended and the money was gone. Like drunken fools, we as a society, receive huge influxes of money on infrastructure to kick start the economy (housing, stocks, oil) – creating temporary jobs without a long term vision or sustainable vision… the money dries up, then everyone goes – what happened like fools. With spending on infrastructure should be a long term vision, long term sustainable funding (maintenance money) etc…
that’s the problem with politics and government, its too short term.