Future of NCC Parkways

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Queen Elizabeth Drive closure slowing fire response
Thirty per cent of the calls from the Ottawa fire station on Fifth Avenue are delayed because of the NCC closure of the Driveway

Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Published Sep 28, 2023 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 2 minute read

Thirty per cent of the emergency responses by the city’s fire station on Fifth Avenue near the canal were delayed because of the shutdown of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway, according to data collected by the fire service.

While the fire service is meeting its minimum response standards, analysis of calls at Station 12, at the corner of Fifth and O’Connor Street, showed 30 per cent of them experienced some sort of delay because the Driveway has been closed to vehicles for much of the summer by the National Capital Commission.

“Although we’re meeting our thresholds, what we’ve seen in this area when we ran the data from July 2022, we reported 30 per cent experiencing delays getting to those calls because of the closure,” Fire Chief Paul Hutt told the city’s Transportation committee Thursday.

Firefighters have to regularly adjust their routes because of obstacles such as road construction, but the fire service did its best to look specifically at the effects from the Queen Elizabeth shutdown, Hutt said. Those delays include having to stop the truck and have firefighters move the wooden barricades aside, he said.

The NCC continued to close the QED between the NAC and Fifth Avenue in the summer of 2023 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.—and on weekends in the spring and fall— for all but active transportation use.

But the city says the QED is a critical part of the capital’s road network that was used by about 10,000 vehicles a day near the busy Pretoria Bridge section.

The shutdown has been a polarizing issue with car commuters angry when the QED isn’t open and neighbours complaining about increased traffic on surrounding roads. Meanwhile, cyclists, both recreational and commuters, say the shutdown has made their rides safer and faster.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is on record saying he wants the Driveway reopened, but so far, the NCC hasn’t budged.

Hutt told the committee that the NCC listened when the fire service asked that the roadway be open during the night, but added that if the closure of the QED becomes permanent, the service will have to re-evaluate its deployment at Station 12.

“We’ll have to ask, ‘Is that the appropriate location for that station moving forward to serve our residents.'”

I'm in the let's open it back up camp but this seems like bureaucratic maneuver more than a real issue. Meanwhile that plot of land where the fire station could probably be sold for high density housing well into the 8 figures. Less if we want to give some lucky lottery winner affordable housing facing the canal.