NCC Ottawa River South Shore Riverfront Park Plan [Kichi Zībī Mīkan] | In Progress

[Ottawacurious]

If they want cars to go slow, narrow the road as much as permitted.

I hope in those "pinches", there is sufficient space for segregated cycling and pedetrian pathways. I hope it's also far enough for the xc ski trails in the winter to not be impacted by plows/pushed snow.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by Ottawacurious

If they want cars to go slow, narrow the road as much as permitted.

I hope in those "pinches", there is sufficient space for segregated cycling and pedetrian pathways. I hope it's also far enough for the xc ski trails in the winter to not be impacted by plows/pushed snow.

I feel like they DON'T want cars to go slow. They want a parallel Mini-417 like Greber wanted.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Harley613

I will never be able to comprehend why we are sticking to the Greber 'mini freeway' in this redesign, again creating a dead space between opposing sides and effectively cutting off the city from the water. It should be a straight tree lined 50km/h interlock stone promenade with dozens of at grade pedestrian crosswalks.

Interlock stone? Hell no.

[Kitchissippi]

If I had my druthers the parkway west of Island Park would be down to two lanes with shoulders that fast cyclists could ride on, much like the eastern parkway east of Aviation.

[J.OT13]

I hope this alignment was drawn up by the City, and the NCC has different ideas. I would prefer a straight alignment over the tunnel with narrow lanes and a tree lined medium. Add a couple crosswalks with the flashing lights we've been seeing around town the last few years, That might slow down drivers more that the fun, winding motor speedway.

I'd much prefer maximizing park space and minimizing tree clearing.

[zzptichka]

Originally Posted by Harley613

I will never be able to comprehend why we are sticking to the Greber 'mini freeway' in this redesign, again creating a dead space between opposing sides and effectively cutting off the city from the water. It should be a straight tree lined 50km/h interlock stone promenade with dozens of at grade pedestrian crosswalks.

It's ridiculous. The amount of dead space lost in between is bonkers. Because of that, the MUP can't be properly widened and proximity to cars makes being there unpleasant. Also, it makes it impossible to ski groom the trail in the winter.
NCC had a huge opportunity to easily fix the alignment during the tunnel construction, and they didn't do shit.
"Riverfront Park" yeah right.

[Kitchissippi]

Westboro Beach Pavilion from the water. I wish the addition was more of a flat-roofed structure, or something that just sloped one way and didn't have a peak. I find it doesn't visually integrate well with the old building and overwhelms the silhouette of the towers.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Westboro Beach Pavilion from the water. I wish the addition was more of a flat-roofed structure, or something that just sloped one way and didn't have a peak. I find it doesn't visually integrate well with the old building and overwhelms the silhouette of the towers.

I agree. Could be worse though.

[zzptichka]

I'll be posting Ottawa River pathway content here even if it's outside the "park".

Some new public space behind the Parliament? Or just a retaining wall?

[zzptichka]

The new bridge is much wider and higher above water.

[Kitchissippi]

Looks like the bridge will be carrying pipes as well? Is this part of the heating and cooling plant scheme?

Cycling from the west end has been really terrible this year with the river pathway all cut up for this and the LRT, plus extensive work on the Scott Street corridor.

[zzptichka]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Looks like the bridge will be carrying pipes as well? Is this part of the heating and cooling plant scheme?

Cycling from the west end has been really terrible this year with the river pathway all cut up for this and the LRT, plus extensive work on the Scott Street corridor.

Yes. Wonder if they will close the detour after the bridge is back. I bet they will

[SL123]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

I'll be posting Ottawa River pathway content here even if it's outside the "park".

Some new public space behind the Parliament? Or just a retaining wall?

I'd say its just a retaining wall. Here's what the website says about the work being done:

Parliament Hill escarpment rehabilitation work.

Remove vegetation at the base of the escarpment.
Plant erosion-resistant vegetative cover.
Build retaining walls.
Flatten the slope.
Repair and reinforce the natural exposed bedrock face.
Replant vegetation to restore the natural appearance of the escarpment

[J.OT13]

Some nice Federal and NCC projects going on.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Here's the newest concept of the re-alignment and landscape plan, courtesy of Leiper. Alignment looks the same as what was shown years ago.


Zoomable PDF: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4usov...=hnmkir3h&dl=0

Closeup of Kitchi Sibi Station.


https://kitchissippiward.ca/2024/08/...t-landscaping/

[zzptichka]

Can't get over how wasteful this is and that they are not doing anything about it:



Acres of dead "green" space, while the narrow MUP has is squeezed between the river and the road.
It literally can't be groomed for skiing in the winter because it's too close to the road and gets piles of grit and salt, so Britannia and KS winter trails can't connect. And it's never fun to bike/walk on this stretch in the summer either.

[Richard Eade]

I think that the entire ‘Park’ layout is very poorly done. We were told that the tunnel didn’t need to be very deep because the roadway would be above it. Thus, there was no need for a deep soil-base for plants on top of the tunnel.

Then someone reckoned that having a long, straight road, over the straight tunnel, might encourage drivers to speed – which would make the area less safe for pedestrians. Thus, a serpentine pattern was added to the roads, to ‘calm’ traffic. This meandering, somehow, took the roads off, and away from, the tunnel – which will not have the overburden to support large plants.

The whole design is for a Parkway – for cars, not a ‘Park’ for people. To me, it looks to be a design for a road with an 80+ kph speed limit. (It reminds me of West Hunt Club, with its gently meandering parallel roadways, where drivers routinely travel at 100 kph.) It is a waste of tens of millions of ‘Park’ dollars. (Remember, the NCC extracted an additional $30M from the City for creating this ‘Park’ as a condition of using the Parkway corridor.) This is a reinstatement of the Parkway which drivers sped along in the past. (Although, incredibly, it is even worse, in some ways.)

[zzptichka]

They should've really just kept one lane in each direction, like every other parkway in the NCR.

They've been closing one roadway from time to time in the last couple of years for LRT realignment and heating plant pipes excavation, and it worked just fine.

NCC even proposed it at some point, too bad they caved in.

[vtecyo]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

They should've really just kept one lane in each direction, like every other parkway in the NCR.
...

Don't forget the Aviation Parkway - south of Montreal Rd it has two lanes in each direction. Although it is the worst of the NCC's "scenic parkways" - with nothing worth looking at but grass and trees.

[VANRIDERFAN]

On google maps the little overpass project west of island park drive has the two main cement blocks installed. To the west, the Westboro Beach project hasn’t even started yet. Today the Westboro is almost done while it appears there will be another year of construction of the little overpass.