The Barrhaven Bullet?

[BlackRedGold]

From http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2007/11/12/4649233-sun.html

With drivers spending more time in traffic and little vision to solve the city's transportation woes, Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder and Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Steve Desroches say potential commuters need a reason to start taking the bus and a guaranteed arrival time may just be what the commuter is waiting for.

Desroches has already coined the possible rapid transit bus route the "Barrhaven Bullet."

"We need a rapid commuter service into the downtown core," he said. "We aren't going to attract riders with a lumbering bus service."

Desroches will lobby for Barrhaven to get at least two of the city's new double-decker buses expected to arrive soon as a pilot project for the "Barrhaven Bullet" rapid transit service.

Harder said with no major transit project in the municipal wings to replace the cancelled LRT, she wants the city to act quickly to ensure Barrhaven commuters get downtown as quickly as possible.

With the population of South Nepean closing in on 70,000, almost 30,000 more than just seven years ago, Harder said bus commute times from her ward to downtown can run up to two hours. It can be a longer ride home during peak traffic times.

I can't believe the 2 hours ride time. An express from downtown to Fallowfield station takes 25 minutes. I never took the local routes, but could they really take over an hour to get to the end of their routes?

[waterloowarrior]

Barrhaven to downtown in 40 minutes or your pizza's free.
That's one possible marketing ploy that two west-end city councillors are tossing around to get people who normally take their vehicle to get to work downtown to park it and hop on a bus.

With drivers spending more time in traffic and little vision to solve the city's transportation woes, Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder and Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Steve Desroches say potential commuters need a reason to start taking the bus and a guaranteed arrival time may just be what the commuter is waiting for.

Harder said with no major transit project in the municipal wings to replace the cancelled LRT, she wants the city to act quickly to ensure Barrhaven commuters get downtown as quickly as possible.
"Forty minutes or free pizza," she said. "But we haven't flushed it out yet. We definitely are underserved out here."
LOL

[harls]

40 minutes, that's a quick bullet.

[Rathgrith]

I call bullshit on the pizza. They never speicfied what "kind" of pizza. So it will probably be made of cardboard.

[BlackRedGold]

I call bullshit on the pizza. They never speicfied what "kind" of pizza. So it will probably be made of cardboard.

Does anyone else in Ottawa besides Pizza Pizza sell "pizza" out of cardboard?

[the capital urbanite]

I think Councillor Harder should keep her mouth shut....Ever heard of the Transitway that offers rapid transit at all times of the day from Barrhaven to downtown in under 30 minutes? ....or perhaps she's not aware of express routes (not one, not two, but 5) providing almost door-to-door service for Barrhaven-downtown commuters.

Councillor Desroches, on the other hand, is the one to spearhead such a service in his ward (Goucester South)...Riverside South is in dire need of a proper express route and/or rapid transit solution...call it the Riverside South Bullet ...but don't let it go to Barrhaven!

[Dado]

We in Ottawa seem to love the word "South". 'Riverside South', 'Gloucester South', 'Ottawa South' (ok, there are east and west versions of this), 'South Nepean/Nepean South', 'Barrhaven South'. These latter are particularly daft. We have Barrhaven, which is, umm, south of the Greenbelt, then south of that we have the South Nepean Town Centre (where the NSLRT was to intersect the Transitway), and, yes, get this, south of that and the Jock River, wait for it: Barrhaven South! Effing brilliant.

Imagine living there and trying to explain to someone where you live:
"Where do you live?"
"In Barrhaven South."
"Where's that?"
"South of South Nepean Town Centre."
"And that is where?"
"South of Barrhaven, basically South Barrhaven."
"But isn't that where you live?"
"No, I live in Barrhaven South. It's south of South Nepean Town Centre and Barrhaven."
"Oh, ok. So where are all these places then?"
"South of the Greenbelt, which is located to the south of Nepean."
"I won't ask."
"Please don't. There are no more names to repeat north of that."
"So what will be the name of the next development south of Barrhaven South?"
"I don't know, but we're all hoping it'll be Jock River South."

They couldn't have come up with a name based on something that already existed, like, say, the Jock River. There's Jockvale (the name of a road that will disappear some day), Jockboro/Jockborough, Jockton/Jocktown (or, the way suburban naming goes these days, Jocktowne/Jock Towne), Jockville, Jockham, Jockholm, Jockburg/Jockburgh, Jockby, etc., but I digress.

[BlackRedGold]

We in Ottawa seem to love the word "South".

That's because south implies warmth.

'Riverside South', 'Gloucester South', 'Ottawa South' (ok, there are east and west versions of this), 'South Nepean/Nepean South', 'Barrhaven South'. These latter are particularly daft. We have Barrhaven, which is, umm, south of the Greenbelt, then south of that we have the South Nepean Town Centre (where the NSLRT was to intersect the Transitway), and, yes, get this, south of that and the Jock River, wait for it: Barrhaven South! Effing brilliant.

I've never heard of 'Gloucester South'. It's usually 'South Gloucester' and implies the big (and what used to be mostly deserted) stretch of the former city that lies south of Ottawa.

'South Nepean' was used in things to describe the ridings in Barrhaven. The Walter Baker Sports Centre used to be known as the South Nepean Center because it was used for all Nepean residents, not just those in Barrhaven.

I haven't heard 'Barrhaven South' used much but the new developments there are named 'Half Moon Bay' or Stonebridge.



"So what will be the name of the next development south of Barrhaven South?"
"I don't know, but we're all hoping it'll be Jock River South."

I'd guess they'd be called Manotick.

They couldn't have come up with a name based on something that already existed, like, say, the Jock River. There's Jockvale (the name of a road that will disappear some day),

Why is going to disappear? After all the money they've spent adding traffic circles to it, I should hope it won't disappear.

[Dado]

I've never heard of 'Gloucester South'. It's usually 'South Gloucester' and implies the big (and what used to be mostly deserted) stretch of the former city that lies south of Ottawa.
'Gloucester South' is used informally at the very least. Gloucester South Seniors Centre, Gloucester South Raiders, etc.


'South Nepean' was used in things to describe the ridings in Barrhaven. The Walter Baker Sports Centre used to be known as the South Nepean Center because it was used for all Nepean residents, not just those in Barrhaven.

I'm not sure this provides a rationale for putting 'south' in the name. After all, it's Andrew Haydon Park and not North Nepean Park.


I haven't heard 'Barrhaven South' used much but the new developments there are named 'Half Moon Bay' or Stonebridge.
Yes, but the City's name for the whole lot of them is 'Barrhaven South':
http://ottawa.ca/public_consult/barrhaven/index_en.shtml


I'd guess they'd be called Manotick.

There's still enough room to shove something else in there. Manotick North, maybe.


Why is [Jockvale] going to disappear? After all the money they've spent adding traffic circles to it, I should hope it won't disappear.
Sorry, not all of it - just the part between the Jock and Greenbank, i.e. the part of Jockvale that is in the vale of the Jock:

http://ottawa.ca/residents/planning/community_plans/completed/south_nepean/index_en.html

The current 'Barrhaven Town Centre' and 'Riocan Marketplace' mess at Strandherd & Greenbank is the north end of the 'South Nepean Town Centre', if that makes things any clearer. Maybe one of the terms will end up displacing the other - it's possible that 'Barrhaven' might just have enough staying power to end up referring to the entire South Nepean suburban area. That mess along Strandherd, btw, is zoned as "high rise mixed-use". Amusing, isn't it? It's allegedly supposed to "fill in" over time at higher densities, so one day we might be able to talk about downtown Barrhaven. We shall see.

[BlackRedGold]

The current 'Barrhaven Town Centre' and 'Riocan Marketplace' mess at Strandherd & Greenbank is the north end of the 'South Nepean Town Centre', if that makes things any clearer. Maybe one of the terms will end up displacing the other - it's possible that 'Barrhaven' might just have enough staying power to end up referring to the entire South Nepean suburban area. That mess along Strandherd, btw, is zoned as "high rise mixed-use". Amusing, isn't it? It's allegedly supposed to "fill in" over time at higher densities, so one day we might be able to talk about downtown Barrhaven. We shall see.

It's the Chapman Mills Marketplace now. And I think compared to the other big box centers in Ottawa, it's actually pretty well planned. Except for the Loblaws store and it's brutal parking lot.

If you want a mess, take a drive out to Kanata. Is there anything that could be done to fix Kanata Centrum (the older part, not the newer Kanata Centrum Walk) other then a bulldozer?

From that report you linked to, I highly doubt that you'll ever see the big Wal-Mart and Loblaws stores replaced with smaller-footprint buildings as suggested in the final build out siteplan.

But there is hope that there could be a decent streetscape along Chapman Mills Drive considering how the backs of the stores at Strandherd Meadows could be converted to storefronts rather easily.

[waterloowarrior]

Barrhaven Bullet' a quick route to rail transit
http://www.ottawasun.com/news/ottawa/2009/10/05/11313176.html
Coun. Jan Harder reveals proposal developed in 1998
By DEREK PUDDICOMBE, City Hall Bureau
Last Updated: 5th October 2009, 6:20pm

http://storage.canoe.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/?src=http://www.ottawasun.com/news/ottawa/2009/10/05/AF31867_2_94714_.jpg&size=248x186

An artist's drawing of the 'Barrhaven Bullet' commuter rail service that was proposed in 1998.

The Barrhaven Bullet may be just the rail line to get commuters from the south-west end of the city to downtown.

With the possibility of an electric heavy rail transit option for commuters, Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder says it’s time to renew an 11-year-old rail transit plan proposed by UniRail Canada Inc. to run a heavy rail commuter line from Barrhaven to downtown using existing rail lines.

Harder wants the city to head back to the table and talk with VIA, the company that operates the rail corridor between Barrhaven and Ottawa’s central VIA station.

“I think it should be looked at,” said Harder. “It’s the perfect line.”

Harder said that the cost of building light rail transit (LRT) is too much and now is the ideal time to renew the effort to convince VIA that the 18.5 km Barrhaven to Ottawa rail corridor can work.

“(LRT) cost overruns are so prohibitive that the public won’t be able to tolerate it,” said Harder, who refers to the potential line as the Barrhaven Bullet.

The 1998 report, which was tabled before the Ottawa-Carleton regional government, suggested it would require a small capital investment and could get rolling right away. The average speed between the proposed 10 transit stations along the route — including ones at Billings Bridge, the Merivale and Colonnade business parks and the Walkley transit station — would be 50 km/h, it would generate almost 4,000 rides per day and take less than 20 minutes to get from Barrhaven to the VIA station.

“The CN Barrhaven-Ottawa station corridor when compared with other options indicates a greater potential to attract new ridership to the rail transit service as well as establishing integration with existing transitway corridors and services,” says the report.

Council colleague Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Steve Desroches supports Harder’s idea.

“It’s an opportunity we shouldn’t pass over,” said Desroches, who among other councillors is surprised by an option to build an electric heavy rail transit line that the city will bring to council next month. He is now questioning the city’s commitment to build LRT.

With a VIA station already located in Barrhaven, Desroches would also like to explore the opportunity to help VIA fill any empty seats with commuters on its regularly scheduled operations from Barrhaven to downtown.

“The timeline to bring LRT to Barrhaven is such that using the existing rail corridor is an opportunity to bring commuter rail to Barrhaven,” he said.
derek.puddicombe@sunmedia.ca

[RTWAP]

They should be using the existing rail lines wherever possible. Commuter rail from Kanata and Barrhaven would be great. Build it fast with diesel trains and then electrify and upgrade to LRT over time.

[Kitchissippi]

What I find ironic is that this site is a few blocks from this rail line, and they are calling for some low density:
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.ottawacitizen.com/limited+sale+bayview+property+works/2065998/2066021.bin