CFRA, On Sept.17th, interviewed Erin Kelly , the Executive Director for the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce.
When talking about the plan to take 30 years to build the transit plan, she stated “ The system needs to be available to where people live and our fear is if we don’t accelerate the expansion East & West, the people won’t use the system”. She also said that her fear is that the ridership will go down because of having to transfer and in fact, take more traveling time.
The first phase of the Watson, O’Brien transit system is going to take at least 10 years and use up all the money. There will be no money for going East and West.
She also said, when asked about the NCC allowing Tram Cars on the parkway, she said “it’s a vital question to be asking. What we are basically saying is if you don’t have that answer, going ahead & building the first part of the transit system when you don’t know what comes next – she paused – its vital to have that answer.
I ask you – do you think the NCC will allow tracks and the ugly overhead wires on the Parkway?
I don't think the NCC will allow LRT on, or near, the parkway. That being said, hopefully they will reconsider their decision about buses on the parkway also. The parkway is suppose to be a scenic drive to show off the beauty of the city. It should not be used for commercial use, and have hundreds of filthy, smelly, noisy, and heavy destructive buses that drip oils and ruin the parkway for everyone. At least if LRT was adjacent to the parkway, we would not have the noise, smell, or oils dripping onto the pavement ruining the roadway.
ReplyDeleteWell the people have spoken, and it's great to see that over 87% of voters want some form of LRT, and over 72% want the current LRT plan that is on the table. I would say that is quite decisive. Thankfully they thought out their vote carefully and realized that BRT is a thing of the past and the future lies with LRT and other rail options.
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