Wellington Street Pedestrian Mall

[lrt's friend]

Wellington isn't closed "exclusively" for politicians and police. It's still mind boggling that you choose to ignore pedestrians simply because they aren't drivers, and it doesn't line up with your "authoritarian" narrative.

The whole point of creating a pedestrian only street is to increase pedestrian traffic.

However, there is already more than adequate pedestrian space on Parliament Hill and extra wide sidewalks, and with the removal of transit off of Wellington Street, I believe that there is now significantly less pedestrian traffic. If you are not a tourist, who goes there? With little possibility of creating new pedestrian oriented amenities, what are we really trying to accomplish?

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Like many city centres there are pockets of poverty and social housing in an increasingly gentrified area.

I don't think it's accurate to describe Somerset Ward as a gentrified area with only pockets of poverty and social housing when the data I've seen suggests that it has one of the highest poverty rates of all wards in the city and that it has a significantly lower median household income than the Ottawa average.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

I don't think it's accurate to describe Somerset Ward as a gentrified area with only pockets of poverty and social housing when the data I've seen suggests that it has one of the highest poverty rates of all wards in the city and that it has a significantly lower median household income than the Ottawa average.

Your link shows median income in centretown is higher than Ottawa as a whole.

Also, you have been using Somerset Ward and Centretown interchangeably. They do not have the same boundaries.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

Wellington isn't closed "exclusively" for politicians and police. It's still mind boggling that you choose to ignore pedestrians simply because they aren't drivers, and it doesn't line up with your "authoritarian" narrative.

"But only a handful of people actually walk on Wellington instead of the sidewalk!!"-- so what? You're still cherry-picking your arguments.



Again, you're cherry-picking the argument that transit vehicles are banned from Wellington. Fundamentally, they're not. The Gatineau tramway is still on the table, just like the College streetcar would still be in Toronto. The bus routes on Wellington had been rerouted long before Wellington was closed.

Also, Trudeau? Really? Ottawa's own City Council voted to keep Wellington closed.

Is closing the SJAM on Sundays for cyclists authoritarian? Was closing Rideau to cars for several years authoritarian? Is Toronto closing Lakeshore, or even Yonge Street for active use authoritarian? Is the King Street pilot project authoritarian? Is there some kind of time limit that makes a road closure an "authoritarian" act, rather than something that can benefit society in the longer term?

We are talking about the road not the sidewalk. The road has been reserved for politicians and police. Transit, tour buses, private vehicles and taxis are banned. Technically I think bicycles are also banned(they are vehicles under the Highway Traffic Act) but that is not being enforced at the moment.

Transit vehicles are absolutely banned from Wellington. Numerous bus routes used the road before it was reserved for politicians, if you don’t believe me the bus stops are visible on the google street view.

None of th examples you have provided are roads being reserved for politicians and police. You should really visit Ottawa sometime. The road is not closed. The road is not available to pedestrians. There are Jersey barriers limiting access to one lane and an “authorized vehicles only sign.”

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by JHikka

It's not exclusive to politicians and police. You're ignoring pedestrians.


You're fearmongering over a street being closed to cars. Ridiculous.


You're not making any sense. Sorry.

Pedestrians are not allowed to use the road. On weekends when the politicians and police aren’t there some pedestrians wander onto the road. There are no markings or signs anywhere to indicate it is a pedestrian area. The only restrictions are on unauthorized vehicles.

Rather the resort to name calling, please provide an example of a democratic country where a major road in the capital has been reserved for politicians and police.

[SL123]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Pedestrians are not allowed to use the road. On weekends when the politicians and police aren’t there some pedestrians wander onto the road. There are no markings or signs anywhere to indicate it is a pedestrian area. The only restrictions are on unauthorized vehicles.

Rather the resort to name calling, please provide an example of a democratic country where a major road in the capital has been reserved for politicians and police.

Pedestrians and cyclist are both allowed on the road, As well as the 2-3 convoy Lunatics left on Wellington St. Its not at all the restricted area you're whining about.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Pedestrians are not allowed to use the road. On weekends when the politicians and police aren’t there some pedestrians wander onto the road. There are no markings or signs anywhere to indicate it is a pedestrian area. The only restrictions are on unauthorized vehicles.

I'm fairly certain the public still has access to the road.

Originally Posted by acottawa

Rather the resort to name calling, please provide an example of a democratic country where a major road in the capital has been reserved for politicians and police.

Your entire argument is poor because you think closing a street to cars inhibits your democratic rights in some way - it doesn't, and it's offensive that you would trivialize this as something an actual authoritarian government would do. I'm not sure what else to tell you.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I'm fairly certain the public still has access to the road.

This is the problem with this thread. I am arguing with out of town people or WFH bureaucrats who have never seen the road. The street has been reserved for police and politicians, it is not a pedestrian street, it is not open to transit. On weekends when the politicians and police are not there pedestrians can wander onto the street a bit, but that does not make it a pedestrian street.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Your entire argument is poor because you think closing a street to cars inhibits your democratic rights in some way - it doesn't, and it's offensive that you would trivialize this as something an actual authoritarian government would do. I'm not sure what else to tell you.

The street is not closed to cars. Political cars (the short bus and cabinet vehicles) and trucks (the parliamentary delivery trucks) contractor vehicles and police cars are allowed to drive on the street freely. It is only closed to cars and buses with normal citizens in them.

I am saying that that reserving major streets in capital cities for politicians and police is consistent with the behaviour of authoritarian regimes and not democratic regimes. You have yet to provide examples of other democratic countries that behave in this way.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by SL123

Pedestrians and cyclist are both allowed on the road, As well as the 2-3 convoy Lunatics left on Wellington St. Its not at all the restricted area you're whining about.

Try walking on the roadway on a weekday. Let us know how it goes.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I am saying that that reserving major streets in capital cities for politicians and police is consistent with the behaviour of authoritarian regimes and not democratic regimes. You have yet to provide examples of other democratic countries that behave in this way.

I'm under no onus to provide a counter example to your ridiculous position.

Originally Posted by acottawa

This is the problem with this thread. I am arguing with out of town people or WFH bureaucrats who have never seen the road.

I live and work in Ottawa. Try not to make assumptions of people because it won't be a good look.

[SL123]

Originally Posted by acottawa

. I am saying that that reserving major streets in capital cities for politicians and police is consistent with the behaviour of authoritarian regimes and not democratic regimes. You have yet to provide examples of other democratic countries that behave in this way.

You can literally walk, bike, rollerblade.... all the way to the steps of parliament hill. To think the fact you cant take your car all the way up to parliament makes this country authoritarian is complete lunacy. As a pedestrian i'm not allowed on the highway. You wont see me cry wolf and argue thats I live in a authoritarian regime because of that.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by SL123

You can literally walk, bike, rollerblade.... all the way to the steps of parliament hill. To think the fact you cant take your car all the way up to parliament makes this country authoritarian is complete lunacy. As a pedestrian i'm not allowed on the highway. You wont see me cry wolf and argue thats I live in a authoritarian regime because of that.

My gawd, there is such a thing as taking things too far in the name of security.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by acottawa

We are talking about the road not the sidewalk. The road has been reserved for politicians and police. Transit, tour buses, private vehicles and taxis are banned.

The sidewalk is a part of the road. Certainly, if you're arguing that the closure of the "road" is an authoritarian act, it is awfully convenient to ignore the fact that you can still walk/cycle/whatever along the road... even if you believe that you can't do any of those things on the "road" itself (which you definitely can).

Technically I think bicycles are also banned(they are vehicles under the Highway Traffic Act) but that is not being enforced at the moment.

The closure isn't governed under the HTA so this isn't relevant. This is a meaningless technicality to point out.

Transit vehicles are absolutely banned from Wellington. Numerous bus routes used the road before it was reserved for politicians, if you don’t believe me the bus stops are visible on the google street view.

My apologies, I forgot about the Route 18 which continued to serve a single westbound stop along Wellington.

But one route isn't "numerous bus routes". All of the other OC Transpo routes were redirected to Queen to align with the LRT, and all of the STO's routes were rerouted to Albert and Slater to take advantage of the transit lanes.

If you are really still concerned about Wellington's viability for transit, then you should already know that city staff were explicitly directed by city council to examine the feasibility of exclusive transit and active transportation use in the future, and that the current "ban" is a result of the street's interim state.

None of th examples you have provided are roads being reserved for politicians and police. You should really visit Ottawa sometime. The road is not closed. The road is not available to pedestrians. There are Jersey barriers limiting access to one lane and an “authorized vehicles only sign.”

This is the problem with this thread. I am arguing with out of town people or WFH bureaucrats who have never seen the road. The street has been reserved for police and politicians, it is not a pedestrian street, it is not open to transit. On weekends when the politicians and police are not there pedestrians can wander onto the street a bit, but that does not make it a pedestrian street.

I lived in Centretown during the convoy occupation. I most recently walked down Wellington on Tuesday.

I don't know what you think makes you uniquely qualified about Wellington's closure, but at this point it's clear that you're just flailing around with pointless technicalities, inane comparisons to authoritarian regimes, and some insufferable holier than thou attitude about who gets to have an opinion about Wellington.

All the while, you don't even seem to know what you're talking about when it comes to the actual decision being made surrounding Wellington's closure, and you can barely come up with a compelling argument for its reopening without diving straight to the "Trudeau bad" well.

[postingaboutottawa]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Try walking on the roadway on a weekday. Let us know how it goes.

Just got back from downtown, walked in the middle of Wellington and the middle of O'Connor north of Queen and it was fine no alarms went off no one yelled at me or threw me in a gulag. The only vehicle was a flatbed picking up a sidewalk plow.

[zzptichka]

There will be an NCC board meeting in January. Curious to see if they finally decide what to do with Wellington. Or, more likely, start a 2-year study or something.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I live and work in Ottawa. Try not to make assumptions of people because it won't be a good look.

Then surely you would know the street is not marked or identified as being for pedestrian use and the only restrictions are on non-politician vehicles.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by postingaboutottawa

Just got back from downtown, walked in the middle of Wellington and the middle of O'Connor north of Queen and it was fine no alarms went off no one yelled at me or threw me in a gulag. The only vehicle was a flatbed picking up a sidewalk plow.

What do you do when the Parliament short bus is in the lane you’re walking in?

[SL123]

Originally Posted by acottawa

What do you do when the Parliament short bus is in the lane you’re walking in?

How about you look at a map!! Theres's literally a distance of 2m between where Wellington is close and where the Bus entrance to parliament hill is. The exit for the bus is also outside the closed area.

[postingaboutottawa]

Originally Posted by acottawa

What do you do when the Parliament short bus is in the lane you’re walking in?

What do people do when it is driving on the hill? Move over and let it pass and keep going.