Cycling in Ottawa

[J.OT13]

Transit in this area has been complete garbage since they removed the streetcars in the 50s. Not a peep from any politician. Remove access to cars from QED (which is never that busy anyway) for a few months, and the Mayor stands up and calls for immediate restoration of car access!

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by roger1818

This!!! But of course he wants to generate fictitious evidence that there is a war against cars that he wants to combat to increase support from his ignorant populous base.

Smart politics really. Protect his right flank without having to actually spend any money on what is federal jurisdiction. Meanwhile he's pretty far to the left on most of his decisions so far. Watson had a pretty similar style. Stagnation without anything bold in either direction.

[skyscraperaccount]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Smart politics really. Protect his right flank without having to actually spend any money on what is federal jurisdiction. Meanwhile he's pretty far to the left on most of his decisions so far. Watson had a pretty similar style. Stagnation without anything bold in either direction.

Its Watson's handlers pulling Sutcliffe's strings so expecting different isn't sensible.

[Nepean]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Smart politics really. Protect his right flank without having to actually spend any money on what is federal jurisdiction. Meanwhile he's pretty far to the left on most of his decisions so far. Watson had a pretty similar style. Stagnation without anything bold in either direction.

You're right. Sutcliffe won the election with his "stop the war on the car" nonsense and he is continuing to use this as a wedge issue. Ottawa is a weird city: While it is true that we have a lot of bike paths in certain areas, it is also true that large parts of the city are designed for cars rather than people. In many sections of town (etc. areas of Nepean, Barrhaven, Orleans) you can't get around without a car.

Sutcliffe's comments are frustrating. Thanks to a botched LRT, reduction in the quality of OC Transpo service, and suburbs that are designed for cars rather than cyclists/pedestrians, we are effectively encouraging tens of thousands of people to drive. Rather than look at different solutions to reduce our reliance on automobiles, Sutcliffe has opted instead for a cheap wedge issue that appeals to suburban car owners, which are his base.

[bartlebooth]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Smart politics really. Protect his right flank without having to actually spend any money on what is federal jurisdiction. Meanwhile he's pretty far to the left on most of his decisions so far. Watson had a pretty similar style. Stagnation without anything bold in either direction.

It’s cute to see people giving him this much credit. He’s not playing 4d political chess. He’s simply communicating what he believes. He’s mediocre and can’t think beyond the idea that city building is effectively a form of traffic management.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by bartlebooth

It’s cute to see people giving him this much credit. He’s not playing 4d political chess. He’s simply communicating what he believes. He’s mediocre and can’t think beyond the idea that city building is effectively a form of traffic management.

That's more likely. He's not a politician, he's a opinion columnist. He's running City Hall based on is beliefs and opinions, which is largely based on trying to make everyone "happy" by "compromising" to the point of not actually progressing the City. The rural and suburban Councillors (for the most part) are not big on compromise, so it's the urban Councillors who often have to move.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

That's more likely. He's not a politician, he's a opinion columnist. He's running City Hall based on is beliefs and opinions, which is largely based on trying to make everyone "happy" by "compromising" to the point of not actually progressing the City. The rural and suburban Councillors (for the most part) are not big on compromise, so it's the urban Councillors who often have to move.

Yeah I think you two are right. Compromise is a big buzz word in the circles he frequents. Actually what we need are some radical changes in both directions.

[LRTeverywhere]

While I don't want to give Sutcliffe credit for a 4D chess move, I gotta say the timing of his comments about the QED closures lines up perfectly with the release of the Transportation study for Lansdowne 2.0 that made it very clear the city requires QED to remain open to support Lansdowne 2.0.

(Too note, I support both Lansdowne 2.0 and a full closure of QED )

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

It seems to me that this conversation has veered a bit away from 'Cycling in Ottawa'.

You're right. Conversation moving here:

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...hlight=parkway

[Harley613]

They are installing a reconfigured bike lane at Rideau/Sussex/Colonel by/Mackenzie with signs flaunting '1.6 million dollar investment'.

Isn't there a plan to completely reconfigure this entire area and tear down the existing bridge???

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Harley613

They are installing a reconfigured bike lane at Rideau/Sussex/Colonel by/Mackenzie with signs flaunting '1.6 million dollar investment'.

Isn't there a plan to completely reconfigure this entire area and tear down the existing bridge???

I thought the NCC had a competition going to reconfigure the intersection. The you have the City who has a reconfiguration scheme in the ByWard Market Public Realm Plan (which probably won't be done until well after Mayor Subpar is gone).

With all of that, we're still waiting on the whole tramway situation. Will it be built? where? loop? if so, what street will be used to loop around? It seems the tramway, Wellington, the intersection, the ByWard Market plan and Alexadra Bridge are all intertwined. The tramway is the first thing that needs to be figured out before everything falls into place.

[zzptichka]

Originally Posted by Harley613

They are installing a reconfigured bike lane at Rideau/Sussex/Colonel by/Mackenzie with signs flaunting '1.6 million dollar investment'.

Isn't there a plan to completely reconfigure this entire area and tear down the existing bridge???

I suspect the city is pushing back hard on it.

[J.OT13]

This kind of shows once again that the City botched the re-opening of Wellington. If they were going to do that with temporary bike lanes, they should have been bi-directional, on the north side in order to connect with the Rideau bike lanes.

[Fading Isle]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

This kind of shows once again that the City botched the re-opening of Wellington. If they were going to do that with temporary bike lanes, they should have been bi-directional, on the north side in order to connect with the Rideau bike lanes.

It’s absolutely terrifying trying to navigate those intersections by bike, especially going eastbound or northbound. Nothing connects to anything.