Wellington Street (downtown) at risk of being renamed

[adam-machiavelli]

Originally Posted by reidjr

Its one thing to name major streets after canadian activists who have or did help people in canada etc its another thing if you start naming major streets after people that really had little to no impact on canada.

Only in Canada is this kind of petty nationalism socially acceptable.
1. Just because YOU don't think they made a difference in Canada, doesn't mean they didn't make a difference.

2. You shouldn't have to make a positive difference in Canada to be honoured here.

Regarding "Nelson Mandela Bridge", this is the first time I'd heard about that idea.

[McC]

Originally Posted by adam-machiavelli

Only in Canada is this kind of petty nationalism socially acceptable.
1. Just because YOU don't think they made a difference in Canada, doesn't mean they didn't make a difference.

2. You shouldn't have to make a positive difference in Canada to be honoured here.

Regarding "Nelson Mandela Bridge", this is the first time I'd heard about that idea.

The proposal has been circulating for a few years to rename Pretoria Bridge after Madiba. Paul Dewar (among others) has promoted it.

[m0nkyman]

Originally Posted by ServiceGuy

Great idea... let's completely gridlock the downtown core not to mention the overwhelming success of Sparks Street Mall.

Actually, moving the Pedestrian street from Sparks to Wellington and opening Sparks to traffic would be something I could get behind.

[rodionx]

Originally Posted by McC

The proposal has been circulating for a few years to rename Pretoria Bridge after Madiba. Paul Dewar (among others) has promoted it.

Yeah, that idea has been on a slow burn for ages. Conversely, the proposal to name the footbridge after Mandela went up and down like a rocket. This article in the Centretown News alludes to international names being "outside the city's mandate," whatever that means.

I remember reading about a similar-sounding battle between the municipality and the federal government about whether to commemorate Igor Gouzenko with a plaque in Dundonald Park. The feds were afraid of offending Russian spies or something. In the end, the City and the feds put up separate plaques. What a town.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by adam-machiavelli

I approve!

In all seriousness, there are enough streets named after long dead government figures. I'd like to see streets named after the activists who improved the lives of everyone...as opposed to the fat cats who helped the people in high political office or big business. Terry Fox Drive was a good start. We should also honour recent Nobel Peace Prize winners such as Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Muta Maathai, and Liu Xiaobo.

How about renaming Fallowfield and Greenbank?

You see the problem with your suggestion? Given that the likely streets for such renamings or namings are bleak suburban arterials, it's an open question whether you would actually be honouring the intended honorees or not.

[reidjr]

Originally Posted by adam-machiavelli

Only in Canada is this kind of petty nationalism socially acceptable.
1. Just because YOU don't think they made a difference in Canada, doesn't mean they didn't make a difference.

2. You shouldn't have to make a positive difference in Canada to be honoured here.

Regarding "Nelson Mandela Bridge", this is the first time I'd heard about that idea.

As for its only in canada not true if you start talking about renaming a street after someone would made a big impact on that country and changing it to someone who had little to no impact well thats would not go over well.As for they should be honoured sure no question name a park after them or a street that does not have a key name etc.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by adam-machiavelli

Only in Canada is this kind of petty nationalism socially acceptable.
1. Just because YOU don't think they made a difference in Canada, doesn't mean they didn't make a difference.

2. You shouldn't have to make a positive difference in Canada to be honoured here.

Um, yes, you should. This is the capital of Canada. I don't see monuments and boulevards in Washington DC, Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna, Mexico City, Tokyo, etc. named after foreigners who made a difference in the world.

Sure, they should be honoured for their contributions, but where it makes sense.

[OttawaSteve]

Originally Posted by immanuel_smcs

Wellington Street should be more of a touristic street than high-traffic boulevard.

[...]

They should make it a pedestrian street from Elgin to Bank.

What would we do with the approximately 200 buses per hour that operate on this stretch of Wellington at peak times? (approx. 60 OC Transpo buses/hr on 6 different routes; approx. 140 STO buses/hr on 42 different routes)

[Dado]

Originally Posted by Jamaican-Phoenix

Um, yes, you should. This is the capital of Canada. I don't see monuments and boulevards in Washington DC, Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna, Mexico City, Tokyo, etc. named after foreigners who made a difference in the world.

Sure, they should be honoured for their contributions, but where it makes sense.

Paris has an "Avenue du Président Kennedy" and it's hard to argue that President Kennedy had much of a role in French history, but President Kennedy did have a significant global role.

That said, we really have no business honouring foreigners until we've honoured our own first and not to have a prominent street named after our first prime minister is a glaring omission - it just shouldn't come at the expense of a street named after someone who was instrumental in Ottawa ultimately becoming a place at where the capital could be built (i.e. without Wellington there would be no impetus and no funding for the Rideau Canal, no Colonel By over here to build it and no reason for the town that grew up around the final lock ladder to be chosen as the capital). Few if any of us would even be here in Ottawa were it not for Wellington because the Canadian capital city would be somewhere else, probably Kingston or Montreal.

[adam-machiavelli]

Berlin also has lots of streets named after foreigners.

[immanuel_smcs]

Originally Posted by ServiceGuy

Great idea... let's completely gridlock the downtown core not to mention the overwhelming success of Sparks Street Mall.

I am sure city council can find ways to resolve gridlock without renaming Wellington Street

I found this a few weeks ago and it goes along what I had in mind.
A pedestrian plaza between Elgin and Bank.
And Wellington Street can be sunk in a tunnel.
http://www.ty-a.ca/Citizen/bebold.htm

[immanuel_smcs]

Originally Posted by Dado

That said, we really have no business honouring foreigners until we've honoured our own first and not to have a prominent street named after our first prime minister is a glaring omission - it just shouldn't come at the expense of a street named after someone who was instrumental in Ottawa ultimately becoming a place at where the capital could be built (i.e. without Wellington there would be no impetus and no funding for the Rideau Canal, no Colonel By over here to build it and no reason for the town that grew up around the final lock ladder to be chosen as the capital). Few if any of us would even be here in Ottawa were it not for Wellington because the Canadian capital city would be somewhere else, probably Kingston or Montreal.

You said it great.
There exists other ways to commemorate Macdonald and Cartier, other than renaming Wellington Street.

As for no streets being named after Macdonald, I once again point out to MacDonald Street (notwithstanding the spelling mistake - no D) in Somerset Ward. It's parallel from Cartier Street and off Somerset Street.

[OttawaSteve]

Originally Posted by immanuel_smcs

I found this a few weeks ago and it goes along what I had in mind.
A pedestrian plaza between Elgin and Bank.
And Wellington Street can be sunk in a tunnel.
http://www.ty-a.ca/Citizen/bebold.htm

The proposal of a parking garage and light rail station directly under Parliament Hill -- a quaint reminder of less security-conscious times. (the article is from July 31, 2000).

[lrt's friend]

I have often wondered why the Ottawa River Parkway could not be renamed instead of streets that already have historically significant names. At the time of Pierre Trudeau's death, I thought it would have been a fitting new name to honour him, especially considering his interest in canoeing and the Canadian wilderness.

[immanuel_smcs]

Originally Posted by OttawaSteve

What would we do with the approximately 200 buses per hour that operate on this stretch of Wellington at peak times? (approx. 60 OC Transpo buses/hr on 6 different routes; approx. 140 STO buses/hr on 42 different routes)

The is issue of re-directing the buses from Wellington Street seems external to the issue at hand.

However, having done some reading, I found out that STO/OCT are planning Rapid Bus Transit for downtown over the future.

This would mean a terminal for STO in Lebreton Flats. I guess that's where the 42 routes would stop.

Anyways, the short answer is re-direct buses from Wellington onto Albert St and Slater St.
Queen street is not wide enough to accommodate the segregated bus lane.

That's my 2 cents.

Andy Haydon exposed the idea of taking buses off Wellington Street during the 2010 campaign.