I am thinking the stars are beginning to align for the Byron corridor...and I could not be happier.
The reason I think so are:
1) The NCC seems awfully cool to the parkway idea. This is going to be worse then pulling teeth to build anything there.
2) It seems a number of parties (councilors, newspapers perhaps even city staff) are doing what they can to sink
the Carling idea.
At least in the paper it was called "a street car" *gasp* the forbidden word!
They also went to the trouble to mention that it will stop at 30 traffic lights.
I frankly can't think of many ways to create a worse impression of that route. This think makes it sound like you will be luck to get from Kanata to Downtown by noon if you leave at 6AM. Transfers, stop lights, and just general slowness.
Quote:
Streetcars new wrinkle in transit plans
By DEREK PUDDICOMBE, Sun Media
City commuters could end up with a choice of light rail transit or streetcars.
City staff unveiled four transit scenarios today and a possible streetcar line along Carling Ave. has been drawn into the long-range plans by city staff.
The Carling Ave. streetcar would be built into the current roadway and would face about 30 traffic lights along with 30-km stretch of road.
A Carling streetcar is proposed in case the National Capital Commission does not give the city permission to run light rail along the Ottawa River Parkway.
The city operates OC Transpo buses along the parkway with permission from the NCC but it’s been non-committal so far about allowing LRT to operate along the corridor, which is a vital part of the city’s plan to bring light rail to the west end.
Councillors Clive Doucet and Christine Leadman have said all along that the NCC won’t approve use of the parkway and that the city should be considering running street cars along Carling Ave.
They have argued that taking light rail down the parkway will destroy its environmental integrity. They admit the Carling Ave. route isn’t a new idea, but because it’s a major roadway and a clean, straight route with links to the highway, the existing western Transitway, downtown and Quebec via the existing O-Train line, it’s the best way for the city to connect the downtown with the west end.
However, Bay Coun. Alex Cullen, who is also the chairman of the city’s transit committee, said council has already rejected the notion of a streetcar line down Carling.
Cullen said the NCC is asking for an environmental assessment to be completed to investigate all options for light rail to link the west. That would have to include a 5-km stretch of road in Westboro known as the “Byron Strip,” the former route of the old tramcar system.
The Byron Strip, which stretches from about Holland Ave to Richardson Ave, would have to be considered if the NCC doesn’t give its approval to use the parkway.
“We don’t want the Byron Strip,” said Cullen. “But if the (parkway) plan crashes?”
However, Cullen is convinced the NCC will allow light rail to run along the parkway.
The Carling Ave. piece of the $4.7-billion, 23-year transit plan, is among four scenarios unveiled yesterday.
The original $4-billion plan grew by $700 million in three months as the city added pieces like the Carling Ave line and other bus routes that hadn’t yet been costed.
Scenario 3 is shaping up to be the preferred option among councillors which includes taking light rail transit 30 km from Riverside South to the University of Ottawa then another 4 km to the Blair Rd. transit station and west to Tunney’s Pasture.
It also includes a $112-million bus bypass that must be built to maintain commuter service while a portion of the east-end Transitway is converted to light rail.
Staff also seem to like Scenario 3.
“This scenario is clearly easier to get off the ground,” said Nancy Schepers, deputy city manager of planning, transit and the environment.
Council will decide the preferred route in November.
derek.puddicombe@sunmedia.ca
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So on that note...Byron it is.
And I have to agree with m0nkyman, that some of the other options were put forward to eat the opposition so that Byron can be left standing. This same approach was taken in certain parts of the transitway. The designer called it "winning room" You need to give people space to feel they have won. Ie in the case of NIMBYs...don't put it in their back yard....put it in their living room instead. Then they turn into NIMLRs (not in my living room). You accept that and move it to their back yard and they walk away satisfied..since they were too busy protesting the living room route.
