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Graffiti: What you Need to Know The city’s new graffiti by-law was enacted on January 9, 2008. All property owners are now required to maintain their property free of graffiti. The city’s By-law services will issue written notices to property owners found to be in contravention of the new by-law. If a property owner fails to remove the graffiti in a reasonable period of time, the city can remove the graffiti itself. The city’s cost for removing the graffiti can be added to the property owner’s tax bill. Click here for more information Being Good Neighbours Article on Strathcona Park by noted local architect Barry Padolsky appears in Ottawa Citizen Public Art for Sandy Hill Park selected The Search Committee for Public Art for the new Sandy Hill Park is pleased to announce that Marie-Josée Coulombe's Nymphéacée, or Nymphaeaceae, has been selected by a jury of experts as the winner in the Art in Sandy Hill Park competition. Concerned about graffiti in Sandy Hill? Find out what the City of Ottawa and Ottawa Police Services are doing to address this issue Say "No" to plastic Bags! Action Sandy Hill has started a campaign against the use of plastic bags in our community. Click here for more information Transportation IssuesJohn Verbass - April 2008 The following is a brief overview of transportation issues which are of potential interest to residents of Sandy Hill. A. Sandy Hill Internal Issues
King Edward Ave is undergoing a multi-phase infrastructure renewal (new sewers etc). Reconstruction will bring new more pedestrian friendly intersections and some streetscape beautification. Phase 3 is the section from St Patrick Ave south to Rideau and is to begin in 2008. Phase 4 is the section from Rideau St south to Laurier and should begin in 2009. During Phase 1 construction King Edward Ave had been reduced from its original 6 lanes (3 per direction) to 4 lanes. There is a group of local residents who are organized under the name “King Edward Avenue Task Force” who brought a case before the City in Fall 2007 suggesting that 4 lanes was all that was necessary as no significant traffic problems seemed to have been created during this current construction phase. While the road is currently constrained to 4 lanes the Task Force argued that now was the ideal time to study whether a 4 lane option was feasible. City council agreed and directed City Staff to perform such a study up to a maximum cost of 150,000$. As your Sandy Hill transportation representative, I am involved and will advocate that the study scope should also examine why the section from Rideau St south to Laurier needs to be 4 lanes and why it should not also be configured similarly to King Edward south of Laurier. As of March 2008 City Staff had not yet begun the process of negotiating with the King Edward Avenue Task Force the details of the study scope. Further information can be found at the following web links: Detailed history and issues surrounding King Edward Ave (King Edward Avenue Task Force) City of Ottawa Project Page for King Edward Avenue ‘Renewal’
The Official City of Ottawa terminology for this is “Area Traffic Management (ATM)”. In general (2008) there is almost no money available at the City for traffic calming measures and there is a huge backlog of areas already earmarked for calming measures. However the City does implement calming measures as part of road reconstruction and hence some calming measures are to be introduced around Sandy Hill Park when the roads are reconstructed. These measures are identified as alternate side of the street parking on Nelson, Templeton, and Sweetland for the blocks abutting the park itself. In addition, there will be small ‘bump outs’ of the curb at the centres and ends of these blocks. These measures are considered by the City as effective in slowing down cars because they have some effect on reducing the perception of the width of the street. More information from the City on “Area Traffic Management” can be found at: B. Ottawa-wide Issues with Sandy Hill Implications
The NCC together with the Ontario and Quebec Ministries of Transport have commissioned a detailed environmental assessment (2007) to determine the best possible locations for a new crossing of the Ottawa River. The Action Sandy Hill transportation representative is an active member of the Public Consultation Group (PCG) whose role is to represent various stakeholders interests in the study. The Environmental Assessment is planned to be completed in mid-2009. Discussions regarding any potential for the actual construction of any recommended new crossing would not begin until after 2009. The stated main purpose for a new crossing is to divert heavy trucks out of the Nicolas-Waller-Rideau-King Edward corridor and to accommodate forecast increases in travel demand over the next 50 year time horizon. The eventual construction of a new crossing could be of significant benefit to Sandy Hill, however there are some concerns over just how much traffic (both car and truck) may be diverted out of downtown by any potential new crossing. The Action Sandy Hill transportation representative is working to support this initiative and to ensure that the interests of Sandy Hill in reducing the cut-through truck and commuter traffic is given full consideration in weighing the cost/benefit of each of the alternatives being considered. Further details can be found at the web link: www.ncrcrossings.ca
For some years now the City of Ottawa has had listed as one of its top priority new road projects a corridor joining Conroy Road at Walkley through to Nicholas Avenue at the Queensway. A coalition (Citizens for Healthy Communities) was formed including representatives from Sandy Hill to oppose this on the basis of the number of new additional cars it would dump into the downtown area. The coalition felt any such transportation investments were much better spent on new transit initiatives. The City of Ottawa began public consultations towards an environmental assessment (EA) for the construction of this road in 2001. The coalition opposed to this road appealed to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment that this EA was incomplete and should be subjected to a more rigorous process (bump-up request). In January of 2008 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment denied this ‘bump-up’ request. Whether or not the City of Ottawa proceeds with the construction of this road will depend on its continued prioritization as part of the 2008 Transportation Master Plan (TMP) which is due to be brought before City Council for a vote in early 2009. The ASH transportation representative will take part in public consultations related to the TMP and reiterate their opposition to this major new artery into downtown. Further Details can be found at: http://www.ottawaeast.ca/AVC.html
In 2003 the Ontario Ministry of Transport (MoT) completed a detailed environmental assessment for the addition of a fourth lane in each direction to the Queensway starting from Kent Street moving eastward as far as Walkley Road. Like the Altavista Corridor a coalition of citizen’s groups (City Centre Coalition) opposed to this initiative appealed to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MoE) that this was not a typical ‘Highway expansion class’ of environmental assessment and should be ‘bumped-up’ to a more rigorous review process. In January 2008 the MoE instructed the MoT to meet with the City Centre Coalition to try and address their concerns. The coalition continues to standby their bump-up request and we are currently awaiting a ruling on this request from the MoE. It is not clear at this point where a possible Queensway expansion is prioritized at Queen’s Park. There is no mention of it yet in the 2008 Ontario budget. The Action Sandy Hill transportation representative continues to be active meeting with our MPP provide arguments as to why such an expansion is not in the best interests of our neighbourhood. Further information can be found at: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/engineering/417ea/
After the cancellation of the 2007 Light Rail project and as part of the preparation for the 2008 update to the City of Ottawa Transportation Master plan, the City is undertaking public consultations for a new Rapid Transit Expansion plan. A key component of this plan is the proposal for a downtown transit tunnel. Four alternatives have been put forward and the City expects to bring a preferred option before City Council for a vote in late 2009. For details on the downtown tunnel aspects of the 2008 Transportation Master Plan:
The City of Ottawa is near completion (March 2008) of a new Cycling Plan. The Action Sandy Hill Transportation representative is involved with the Citizens for Safe Cycling group in reviewing and making comments on the plan to the City of Ottawa. More information can be found at:
The NCC has hired (Mar 2008) an engineering firm to make proposals on enhancing this intersection to reflect its importance as a ‘gateway’ to parliament and the governor general’s residence. They also wish to improve this intersection from a pedestrian and cycling point of view. The outcome of the study will be a proposed design concept that is intended to achieve the NCC’s goals of making this a distinguishing intersection for the National Capital. The Action Sandy Hill transportation representative will follow this initiative to ensure the quality for all modes of transportation in the community are adequately taken into account in any proposed redesign of this intersection. No further information is available on the www at this time. C. Other Useful Links 1. City of Ottawa Transportation Web page: 2. Ottawa 2003 Transportation Master Plan: 3. Ottawa Cycling Plan: 4. Citizens for Safe Cycling (Public Advocacy Group for Cycling in Ottawa) 5. Friends of the O-Train: (supporters of increased use of rail transit in Ottawa) 6. Transport 2000 - Public Interest Lobby Group in Canada on Sustainable Transportation
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