Cumberland Transitway

[J.OT13]

From Kate Porter.




https://twitter.com/KatePorterCBC/st...46341858799626

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

From Kate Porter.

https://twitter.com/KatePorterCBC/st...46341858799626

Ugh! I can't beleive I am saying this, but I think I am with the NCC on this one. It seems as though the city is playing politics and selling this as the best route for the transitway when in reality is just the best route for a new road.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by roger1818

Ugh! I can't beleive I am saying this, but I think I am with the NCC on this one. It seems as though the city is playing politics and selling this as the best route for the transitway when in reality is just the best route for a new road.

And it certainly looks like the City wants to eat-up as much land as possible with this plan. Windy roads, strangely placed intersections and huge gaps between the Transitway/Brian Coburn/MUP.

[Tesladom]

This is actually going over an existing roadway for the most part (Renaud Rd)

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Tesladom

This is actually going over an existing roadway for the most part (Renaud Rd)

While about 2/3 of the road would (maybe a bit less), Renaud Rd is only about 10m wide (according to my measurement in Google Maps) and the planed paved parts roadways and MUP are 47m, not including all of the ditches, which look to be about that much again. If they abandon the plan for BCBE and close Renaud Rd and replace it with a transitway, then maybe it would be okay.

[lrt's friend]

Isn't this just great? We are building rapid transit as far away from people as possible. It might as well be an expressway.

And where is the greatest transit demand in the vicinity? Innes Road. So, we choose to build rapid transit that is for the most part not within walking distance of Innes Road.

And the likely outcome, is that we focus service where it is not needed and then cut service to a crappy local route on Innes.

[RuralCitizen]

When you zoom out of the map a little bit, the purpose of the Brian-Coburn extensions should be a connection for the Baseline/Heron/Walkley connection. In a BRT point of view, it does make sense since it is the natural extension, and would provide rapid public transit to the southern part of the city. In the current plan, it is routing the Orleans BRT to Blair station

Although I agree with the NCC, the Mer Bleue Bog is sensitive area and is one of the most studied wetland in the world. It should be protected. A compromise could be to allow only for the BRT portion to cross the greenbelt, while also minimizing the land area being used for it. This might encourage people to take public transit while not making it easier on the individual drivers commute. Brian-Coburn proper, could end at Navan Rd.

Innes might be where the commercial strip is, but Orléans grew by a lot in the southern portion. So Brian-Coburn is not "away from people" but rather where people also live. In terms of bus routes, in my opinion, it shouldn't be Innes vs. Brian-Coburn. The 3 east-west routes should be maintained.
LRT; Innes/Indestrial ; Brian-Coburn/Walkley/Heron/Baseline.

With these alignments, people from the West end using LRT can transfer at Hurdman to go the Innes. While the Brian-Coburn alignment allows people to avoid going through downtown if they need to reach the southern-west portion of the city. LRT might be the main route cross town, but it does get pretty packed at peak hours (in normal non-covid times), the city will continue to grow (population wise), and we have to have a backup plan in case LRT gets shut down for any reasons.

The options the city is proposing are just weird, in terms of intersections and amount of space required.

[Tesladom]

Most of this mess is caused by the very existence of this Greenbelt. Its a huge cost for us to build through this area, we need to reconsider this (but that will never happen... so we just need to build more roads, sewers and transit lines through this 5km ring separating inner vs suburbs)

[hwy418]

Originally Posted by RuralCitizen

When you zoom out of the map a little bit, the purpose of the Brian-Coburn extensions should be a connection for the Baseline/Heron/Walkley connection. In a BRT point of view, it does make sense since it is the natural extension, and would provide rapid public transit to the southern part of the city. In the current plan, it is routing the Orleans BRT to Blair station

Although I agree with the NCC, the Mer Bleue Bog is sensitive area and is one of the most studied wetland in the world. It should be protected. A compromise could be to allow only for the BRT portion to cross the greenbelt, while also minimizing the land area being used for it. This might encourage people to take public transit while not making it easier on the individual drivers commute. Brian-Coburn proper, could end at Navan Rd.

Innes might be where the commercial strip is, but Orléans grew by a lot in the southern portion. So Brian-Coburn is not "away from people" but rather where people also live. In terms of bus routes, in my opinion, it shouldn't be Innes vs. Brian-Coburn. The 3 east-west routes should be maintained.
LRT; Innes/Indestrial ; Brian-Coburn/Walkley/Heron/Baseline.

With these alignments, people from the West end using LRT can transfer at Hurdman to go the Innes. While the Brian-Coburn alignment allows people to avoid going through downtown if they need to reach the southern-west portion of the city. LRT might be the main route cross town, but it does get pretty packed at peak hours (in normal non-covid times), the city will continue to grow (population wise), and we have to have a backup plan in case LRT gets shut down for any reasons.

The options the city is proposing are just weird, in terms of intersections and amount of space required.

100% agree with the Brian-Coburn/Walkley/Heron/Baseline corridor.

In my opinion Brian Coburn should follow the hydro corridor and connect directly to Walkley Road to provide some redundancy in the road network. Then we can scrap the Hunt Club Extension between Walkley and Innes which parallels Hwy 417. For those on Brian Coburn wanting to get to Innes Rd, they can use Anderson Rd.

[OTownandDown]

If any one had any friggin' foresight around here, Navan Road would have been expanded and 'extended' to connect with the bypass. Now you've got Karen who lives there on the south side.

[J.OT13]

Apparently, the NCC is starting to warm-up to the City's Option 7. Someone posted a PDF memo on Rail Fans Canada Discord.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Apparently, the NCC is starting to warm-up to the City's Option 7. Someone posted a PDF memo on Rail Fans Canada Discord.

The City: "We need more people to use public transit! Especially in the suburbs!"

Also the City: *completely ignores and bypasses Blackburn Hamlet.*

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Jamaican-Phoenix

The City: "We need more people to use public transit! Especially in the suburbs!"

Also the City: *completely ignores and bypasses Blackburn Hamlet.*

The funny thing is that South Orleans was planned with a rapid transit corridor, but then we plan our retail corridor away from it. But hey, rapid transit may have interfered with car access to all the stores.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Jamaican-Phoenix

The City: "We need more people to use public transit! Especially in the suburbs!"

Also the City: *completely ignores and bypasses Blackburn Hamlet.*

City's definition of the suburbs - Kanata, Stittville, Barrhaven, Riverside South, Orleans.

[Fading Isle]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

The funny thing is that South Orleans was planned with a rapid transit corridor, but then we plan our retail corridor away from it. But hey, rapid transit may have interfered with car access to all the stores.

As others have said, at this point I don’t see the planned transit corridor making a lot of sense, given the way south Orleans has been developed. The planned corridor is almost entirely detached sfh with little potential to develop much else and no retail. Innes, on the other hand, has a lot more development potential, has a fair amount of denser existing townhouse development, and has all the retail.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Fading Isle

As others have said, at this point I don’t see the planned transit corridor making a lot of sense, given the way south Orleans has been developed. The planned corridor is almost entirely detached sfh with little potential to develop much else and no retail. Innes, on the other hand, has a lot more development potential, has a fair amount of denser existing townhouse development, and has all the retail.

Typical Ottawa. City has a long term transit line planned in a suburban neighbourhood, and somehow the whole thing is built as a typical low-density suburb. The Cumberland Transitway corridor and what we're seeing in Riverside South are travesties.

Meanwhile, Rideau-Montreal is densifying quickly while locked-in to the worse transit service in the City, and Carling/Baseline are densifying, but likely at the back of the list of actionably transit plans.

[rocketphish]

City files for environmental assessment of Brian Coburn 'Option 7' extension, despite NCC objections

Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Published Sep 18, 2023 • 2 minute read

The City of Ottawa is going ahead with filing an environmental assessment of its preferred “Option 7” extension of Brian Coburn Boulevard even as it remains at loggerheads with the National Capital Commission about where the road will be built.

Last spring, council voted in favour of Option 7, a $400-million project to widen Brian Coburn Boulevard, which runs east-west across the southern part of Orléans, then construct a five-kilometre extension that roughly follows Renaud Road across the north part of the Mer Bleue Bog. The extension would join Innes Road, just east of Blair Road, and also include a bus rapid transit route.

The NCC, however, balked at that plan, saying it would harm ecologically sensitive land and the Greenbelt. The NCC wants a different solution — Option 1 — that would route traffic along a widened Blackburn Hamlet Bypass.

Council delayed filing its environmental assessment with the province while the two sides negotiated, but the city can’t wait any longer, said Orléans-South Navan Coun. Catherine Kitts. She sees the project as an essential part of the city’s housing strategy.

“We’re at the tipping point and we need to move forward,” Kitts said. “This is more than just congestion. This has the potential to unlock housing.”

The city’s own environmental review found Option 7 had less impact on the environment than other options, she said. Residents say the NCC preferred Option 1 won’t do enough to ease traffic concerns of residents in Bradley Estates and won’t keep commuters from taking shortcuts on Renaud Road, a rural road with a dangerous S-curve.

At $610 million, Option 1 is also more than 50 per cent more expensive than the city’s preferred solution.

“We’re still at odds (with the NCC), but hopefully there are some compromises that can be found. Maybe it’s not exactly Option 7. Maybe it’s not exactly Option 1. Maybe there’s some room for negotiations,” Kitts said.

“We’ve had some good conversations, so hopefully we can keep it going. I really see this as a housing issue, given the rate of development in my ward, the immense growth that is projected, with thousands of units coming online. We need a solution to that.”

If, in the end, the city has to go with Option 1, then a new environmental assessment would have to be filed.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...ncc-objections

[J.OT13]

I get the allure of Option 7, but it doesn't need to be 8 lanes. Four car lanes and two bus lanes would be more than enough.

For now, the City should really focus on sidewalks, bike lanes and lighting on Navan Road. No reason that can't be done now. It's really quite terrible.

That said, starting an environmental assessment on someone else's land without their consent...