Growing up Ottawa

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

This is my proposal for a better and more compelte Ottawa. It's not really finished, but I wanted to show it to you guys and see what you think. Please be honest, debate, ask questions and please make suggestions for this.

Fair warning, it is very long. Feel free to comment on any particular section, sincing commenting/criticizing overall would be very hard and take a long time.

GROWING UP OTTAWA:
MAKING A BIG CITY
BECOME A BIG CITY

Introduction

Ottawa has repeatedly been described as a "big-city with a small town feel". This simply needs to stop. Ottawa is no longer a small town in the hinterlands of Eastern Ontario; it is Canada's fourth largest metropolitan area with an area population of 1.2 Million people if you include the twin city of Gatineau. That is not a "small town" and a city of Ottawa's size should not have that feeling. We are the Capital of a G8 nation, and we "pride" ourselves on being called a "big city with a small town feel". It's time for Ottawa to grow up.

It is time for Ottawa to move forward in a massive growth spurt. She has the capability to do so and should be willing to accept any challenge that the world throws at her. Too long has Ottawa been stagnant and too long has Ottawa let great opportunities pass her by. Ottawa is one of the world's most intelligent communities and has the highest percentage of university graduates in the entire country. Ottawa also hosts over 79,000 post-secondary students. With over 21,000 diverse businesses and Canada's greatest per capita density of technology companies, this is a place that breeds globally successful brands. Ottawa is smart, and Ottawa is a destination for smart money, attracting approximately 28% of Canada's investment capital - seven times its GDP contribution. If so many other people are investing in our city(not a small town), why aren't we?

The answer is simple, but unfortunately sad. No one knows and no one in a position to change things really cares. Most of the time, projects of any magnitude are bitterly opposed by a small but loud minority of disgruntled citizens who more often than not know nothing about city planning. While overall the project would be successful, it is inevitably pushed back or cancelled all together due to the small minority of people, affectionately known as NIMBY's. Debate is healthy for a city, but one needs to find the median, as either extreme(no debate at all, or a shoutfest) can result in disastrous consequences for a city. Ottawa needs to find focus and purpose in this ever shrinking world. We need to find our place and soon. This cannot be debated for decades and deemed a solution to "getting it right" for our city. No plan will ever be perfect, so there will need to be comprimises in order to find a plan that works for the city. Ottawa needs a clear, focused plan; and determined people to get her there. It's time for Ottawa to grow up and take her place in the world.

Ottawa has problems, and we would like to quote a Ken Gray article to illustrate some of the problems in Ottawa.

The Making of Modern Ottawa
The capital created by the planners of the '40s and '50s represents a triumph of the car, and a failure of sustainable development
Ken Gray
The Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, October 25, 2007

Did the federal government planning process in Ottawa succeed in creating a great national capital? Did the plan forged by the noted French planner Jacques Gréber work? The short answer is no.

Why? Because the plan reflects the period in which it was formulated, and the circumstances that created those decisions have changed. The car in the 1940s and '50s was perceived as the great liberator of the masses. No longer would individuals be confined to their neighbourhoods or downtown.

Families could live where they wanted. They created diffuse suburban communities that allowed families to grow but were inefficient in terms of energy and pollution. The National Capital Commission and its predecessors created the majestic capital driveways in response to that great North American pastime of a half-century ago - the Sunday drive. The Gréber plan resulted in the triumph of the car, a legacy that remains today.

These driveways - Colonel By, Queen Elizabeth, Rockcliffe and the Ottawa River Parkway - helped create urban sprawl by making car travel to the suburbs easy. They also cut off neighbouring communities from the waterways that they showcased for car passengers by creating an asphalt barrier to the shorelines beside which they were built.

In my neighbourhood, Westboro, to get to the Ottawa River, pedestrians must cross the uncontrolled Ottawa River Parkway. To do so is tricky. The speed on the parkway is supposed to be 60 km/h but realistically cars travel at as high as 100 km/h. That's a very effective pedestrian barrier. As a result, there is but one people place along the long expanse of the parkway that stretches from Carling Avenue to the parliamentary precinct.

That's Westboro Beach, access to which is facilitated by a tunnel under the parkway. The national capital region has three major rivers and a UNESCO world heritage site in the Rideau Canal. But, in part due to the NCC driveways, we don't think of Ottawa as a water city. Again that's the result of the 1950s triumph of the car.

In San Antonio, Texas, along its canal, there are restaurants and entertainment establishments that create the River Walk. In Ottawa, we have bicyclists and the occasional jogger along the river but nothing like the kind of people activity the River Walk sees. The Texas example is a tourist spot unto itself. Instead, here, if you want a rather eerie, perhaps dangerous, certainly lonely walk after dark, trundle along the Rideau Canal.

In the 1950s, the city almost seemed as though it were in the way of the capital. Car-oriented suburbs took employees and their families far away from the majestic Parliament Buildings. LeBreton Flats, a real neighbourhood with a significant heritage, was razed, in part, because it was seen as an eyesore too near the parliamentary precinct. Tramways were perceived as a blight with their unsightly overhead wires. They were eliminated in favour of the car and the bus. Train lines were lifted because their smoke and noise destroyed the tranquility of the capital. Trains downtown were seen as obstacles to road travel. During the light-rail debate, that same argument was heard from merchants on Slater and Albert streets. In addition, back in the 1950s, industry appeared to destroy the parliamentary vistas.

Thus the heritage of Gréber is a one-industry government town, with a lack of private enterprise, little modern mass transit, and urban sprawl created by suburban planning and the individual mobility of the car. The city was but an afterthought for the pioneering planners of the 1950s. That was a heritage carried on by the NCC until recent days.

Today, Ottawa is a low-density urban area, like Edmonton, Calgary, Peel, Halton and York. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities estimates that the ecological footprint of these areas is one-third higher than in high-density cities.

As John Lorinc wrote in his 2006 book, The New City: "Sprawl is directly tied to higher consumption levels. That may be good for economists and manufacturers, but these unsustainable urban development patterns have precipitated a vicious cycle of environmental degradation that is eroding the quality of life in the very places where our economic future will be made or broken."

In other words, we are degrading the conditions of our cities, where 80 per cent of Canada's population lives. Those cities produce most of the wealth that pays for all the good things that power the economies of our city, province and country. Urban congestion, inefficiencies, bad planning and pollution can't continue without hindering our economic development.

Meanwhile, the focus of environmentalism is changing. Once it emphasized forest-cutting or acid rain. Now, it's global warming. The predominance of the car cannot continue without catastrophic climactic consequences.
Ottawa, as a G8 capital, the best-educated major city in Canada, and as the richest metropolis in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, should lead the fight against environmental degradation. In fact, it lags behind. It is the largest Canadian city without an environmentally friendly subway or light-rail system. Incredibly, the two petrochemical capitals of North America - Houston and Calgary - have electric light-rail systems. Ottawa's urban sprawl is enormous because our 12 former municipal governments allowed the city to expand across the Greenbelt, which should have been a natural boundary for the community.

Our suburbs are far from self-contained and invite long, polluting, energy-consuming commutes - because there is no light-rail system - not just across kilometres of suburbia but, ironically, across the NCC Greenbelt, which was to have been a pristine reserve. In fact, the Greenbelt, by extending car commutes, is contributing to the very environmental degradation that is the focus of today's green movement. The Greenbelt is part of the heritage of 1950s national capital planning.

This city should be an example for the world in development intensification, mass transit and green practices. When tourists from around Canada and the world descend on Ottawa, they should see a model city from which to take home ideas. Diplomats, on their return to their native lands, should have stories to tell about the innovative Canadian capital.

In fact, Ottawa sets a bad example. This despite hundreds of millions of dollars of federal largesse being pumped into this community. Our city is so bereft of leadership that provincial and federal governments have been unable to give away more than $400 million to construct a green, efficient light-rail system. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told me in a recent interview that the more than $200 million in provincial funding waiting for an Ottawa light-rail plan is the hardest $200 million he has ever tried to give away. The province can't give away money to the City of Ottawa to build green mass transit. How is that possible?

The triumph of the automobile began in the 1940s and '50s during the years of the Gréber plan and subsequent moves by the NCC, its predecessors and Ottawa's municipal governments. Our community suffers as a result. They tore up the rails and the tramways to facilitate a core of museums, monuments and federal buildings where few walk after 5 p.m. Through the NCC parkway system, and later the Queensway, planning was such that it made driving easy and created a vast, loosely developed suburban city that contributes to our pending environmental crisis.

Former Nepean mayor Ben Franklin, late in his life, told me he wished his city had never jumped the Greenbelt to create Barrhaven. His realization was correct, but too late.

Mr. Gray is right; Ottawa needs to seriously fix herself, and fast. There cannot be delays, there cannot be redundant studies that go on for decades, there can not be endless, repetitive debates that go on for years. Ottawa needs to get up and move with the rest of the rapidly changing Modern world.

What does Ottawa have?

In order to find a plan that works for the city, we need to find our strengths and focus on them unwaveringly. But just what are Ottawa's strengths? As it was mentioned earlier, Ottawa is home to Canada's greatest per capita density of technology companies, Canada's highest percentage of university graduates, 21,000 diverse businesses and Ottawa also attracts approximately 28% of Canada's investment capital. This is a good start.

Ottawa also attracts tourists from across Canada and the world who come at all times of the year to see our many festivals and sights. There are the parliament buildings, the Chateau Laurier, the Byward Market, the Rideau Canal(a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and the stunning Museum of Civilization. People also come from far and wide to see Gatineau's Balloon Festival and International Fireworks Competition. Tourists also come for the Winterlude Festival, the Tulip Festival, and the changing of the leaves in Gatineau Park.

In other words, Ottawa's strengths are intelligent people, technology companies and year-round tourism. These three areas are our definate strengths and we should focus on them as a city. Ottawa is sitting on a gold mine and not capitalizing on it. We have an opportunity staring us in the face, and we should capitalize on it. With the right planning and determination, Ottawa could explode onto the world-stage and get on with the long overdue growth spurt.

In 2006, Ottawa-Gatineau posted the second-best year on record for non-residential construction, with $882M, yet booming cities in Western Canada have surpassed activity in Ottawa and Montreal. Also in 2006, Ottawa led large Eastern cities in growth rate of commercial construction. Ottawa also has the third-largest amount of office space in Canada, after Toronto and Montreal. Ottawa's average office lease rate is now the second most affordable among big Canadian cities, given inflation in booming western cities.

Where do we start?

There are so many problems with the city and so little money that many people find it daunting and find themselves asking: "where do we start"? With so many expensive issues such as road repair, services, transit and infrastructure, there is little money or time to focus on anything else. So the two basic concerns we need to deal with before anything else, is money and time. Making the time is easy enough. The City should create a department or council or taskforce or whatever one wishes to call it, whose sole purpose and job is to focus on Ottawa's Master Plan. This group of dedicated individuals should focus and closely work together with the NCC on making Ottawa better. They will do this every day and all day. And voila, you have the time to stop and focus on where you want Ottawa to go.

Now the second part, money, is a little harder. One simply cannot make money appear out of nowhere and getting handouts from the government all the time is not a feasible nor sustainable method. As much as it will pain people, Ottawa should stop the tax-freeze. Already we are running with a deficit. We can't expect to keep our current services as the status quo and not hike taxes by even a small margin. Every growing city experiences growing pains. Another way to bring some money into our poor city is to give people a reason to invest here. What should they invest in? Our intelligent and plentiful university students of course. Let's not forget our technology businesses. The City of Ottawa needs to market herself as a great place to do business and making doing business in this city as easy as pie. If they city wants more money, we need to attract investors. If Ottawa wants investors, we will need to give them more reasons other than just smart students and some already settled in businesses. Ottawa will need to reform her policies and immediately develop some key projects that will help investors salivate over the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Key developments

Ottawa needs to focus and develop a few key projects in order to attract investors. The main projects that this team sees are the proposed projects involving the Government Conference Centre and the Congress Centre. Ottawa should proceed with the proposal for a new, modern, architecturally stunning, environmentally friendly and pedestrian friendly Congress Centre. There is also the proposal to transform the Government Conference Centre into an Innovation Hub for Ottawa. These two projects alone will help make Ottawa very attractive to businesses and other investors.

The proposed Congress Centre will be constructed over the existing footprint of the current Congress Centre and will close off two lanes of Colonel By Drive for the length of the building, thereby not making much of a detriment to traffic flow. This new building willb e stunning and offer picture postcard perfect views of Parliament Hill, the Chateau Laurier, the Government Conference Centre(old Union Station) and of course, the canal. It will offer much more space than the current one and won't take up much more room. This means bigger conferences, conventions, trade shows, occasions, etc. for Ottawa, and in greater numbers as well. In other words, more investment which in turn means more money. New Congress Centre equals more conventions which equals busier(and maybe even more) hotels which equals more money being pumped into the city.

Another project is the proposed Ottawa Innovation Hub. This proposal call for the transformation of the Government Conference Centre into a meeting place full of innovative ideas. It will reportedly do/have the following:

Connections that put people in touch with the people they need to know, and vice-versa.

An access point for global-best services that businesses want and need.

A headquarters that will be a service centre, a destination and a landmark architectural achievement.

A commercialization fund, catalyzed by Realize Ottawa, that puts their money where their mouth is.

This development will also house an entrepreneurship centre, class "A" office space, a conference centre, business incubation space, an "innovation mall" and a cafe/restaurant. It will also help immensely that it is mere seconds away from what will be the new Congress Centre. This will not be unlike the MARS Centre in Toronto. These two projects alone will help kickstart Ottawa's growth spurt and encourage businesses to invest in Ottawa. Et voila, more money for the city.

Taking it a step further

However, it isn't enough to get people to invest in Ottawa. While we've given them a reason to invest, we also need to give them a reason to stay. When people go on business trips, they want to be comfortable, get around easily, and see some of the sites while they're at it and live a little bit of the city. If we're going to get businesses to stay in Ottawa and work at these new centres downtown, we need to get people to find downtown Ottawa very attractive. However, this needs to be broken down into numerous sub-sections, as there are many objectives to complete and plan for if Ottawa is to grow in a smart way.

The City of Ottawa made predictions about a massive influx of people into Ottawa's core. That isn't happening for numerous reasons; transit is insufficient in this city, lack of interest in the downtown core, cheap suburban housing and zoning bylaws preventing certain projects from achieving fruition to name a few. Step by step, we will talk about key projects for the downtown core that will help to revitalize the core, how to deal with urban transit, lifting height-restrictions, and infusing new life into the downtown cores of both Ottawa and Gatineau, namely by hosting World Expo 2017.

Key downtown projects

It's not enough that Ottawa has the Byward Market, we need to make the downtown appealing as well. Two projects that should come to mind is the development at 150 Elgin and the proposal for a new Central Branch of the Ottawa Public Library building. Below are our major recommendations for the Central Business District of Ottawa.

Chamber Music Society Concert Hall:

This development was/is to be a mized-use building, housing both office space and condominiums on Elgin. It was also to have a 900 seat concert hall that was to be the new home of The Chamber Music Society. It was also to feature ground level retail and commercial space. This project has been stagnant for years, and it's time to take some serious action. We propose scrapping this project and replacing it with a new one. This new project will still have a 900 seat concert hall and will become the new home of the CMS. There will be ground level retail that will be part of an office complex that will be six storeys tall. Atop the six storey complex will be a 34 storey Condominium tower that will also be a signature tower in Ottawa. The total structure will be 40 storeys tall.

Main Ottawa Public Library:

We recommend that the new library be built at the current site of the Lorne Building. We recommend that the existing structure be torn down and a new, architecturally stunning library be built over the current space as well as the parking lot behind it. A 24-30 storey tall tower will be built on top of the library and will be a mixed-use of condos and office space.

Portrait Gallery of Canada:

A gallery of national attraction and importance belongs in Ottawa. We have the local base, and numerous other institutions. The Portrait Gallery of Canada will also bring some much needed life to the core and would help tourists learn a bit more about Canada.

River Cruise:

The River Cruise would be remeniscent of the cruises available of the harbours in Hong Kong and Singapore. In the summer time, people would have parties and dinners outside on the deck of a ship that will travel between the Alexandra and Portage Bridges. Cruises would be available from two(one of which will be new) Hull marinas and will offer magnificent views of Ottawa and Hull. In winter, the cruises could still run but people would eat dinner within the comfortably heated ship which will have large and wide windows to allow for great winter vistas of Ottawa and Hull.

Our suggestions for other key Ottawa-Gatineau projects

So far, we have discussed projects such as the new Congress Centre, the proposed Innovation Hub, 150 Elgin with the 900 seat concert hall and a new Main branch of the Ottawa Public Library. We have some more projects that will help Ottawa become recognized around Canada and the world. First, let's start with Gatineau, since we have less suggestions for the City of Gatineau.

E.B. Eddy/Domtar Site

In doing a little research, we know that Gatineau is minutes away from Gatineau Park, which is home to a vide variety of plants and creatures and in Gatineau are federal offices for the CRTC and the Department of the Environment. We also became aware that the Domtar/E.B. Eddy mills in Gatineau and Ottawa are closing and looking for tenants. The area we speak of encompasses the Domtar site in Quebec which is bordered by the Booth St. and Portage Bridges, Rue Laurier and the Ottawa River. There is another little sliver of land on the Gatineau side that is bordered by the Booth St. Bridge, Rue Laurier/Tache and Parc des Portageurs. All the islands are on the Ottawa side, and have the plant has facilities on Victoria Island and the other island(which we could not name).

Our plan for this area is to redevelop it into a new neighbourhood called "Milltown". Any historic and beautiful architectural buildings that can be preserved will be, and will be converted into low-rise condominiums, office space and retail space. On Victoria Island, in an open field on the eastern side, a statue of numerous First Nations people will be gathered around a fire in a powwow, as an homage to the Algonquin natives of the Outaouais.

On the other island, Condos and office space will be created by either constructing new buildings that fit in with their surroundings, or converting existing buildings to fit their new purpose. These condos and offices will offer spectacular views of the river, the Chaudiere Falls and downtown Ottawa.

On the Domtar site in Gatineau, Rue Laval will be extended and curve around to connect with a small road that then connects with the Booth St. Bridge. East of the road extension will be a grand building that will become the International Centre for the Development of Environmental Technologies, which will focus on making environment-friendly products and will also focus on how to make cities "greener" by developing new technologies. Facilities will include a lab, convention space, manufacturing tools, offices, etc. The rest of the site will be occupied by a 40 storey tall mixed-use signature tower, a hotel, a Condo tower, and two office buildings.

The little slice of land that is bordered by the Booth St. Bridge, Rue Laurier/Tache and Parc des Portageurs, will be converted into Gatineau's version of the Byward Market. This will be one hub of entertainment that opposes Place Aubry. We propose to connect the two by creating a BIA for Promenade du Portage and developing that street into a pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare that will create a lively downtown Hull(Gatineau) with two hubs at each major end of the street and will be called Place du Portage.

Scott Plant Site

We propose to go ahead with the NCC's plan to redevelop the Scott Plant into a major park, but we propose to have it completed by 2017, to tie into Canada's 150th Birthday. The park will offer a large, public plaza at it's main entrance and will have lots of open space for playing sports and hosting festivals and events but will also offer a significant amount of shaded areas for people to relax. Near the water, there will be a ferry service in a nice looking building that will also serve as a small marina.

Since this park will be a prime location to hold festivals and other significant events, we propose to call this park "Festival Park". It could hold events such as Winterlude, outdoor art shows, outdoor markets, etc. We also propose that a permanent outdoor theatre be built so that there could be theatre in the park. Another suggestion is to set up a movie screen and have people watch movies at night, much the same way as what happens in Dundonald Park every summer.

Boul. St. Joseph

Boulevard St. Joseph has great views of Gatineau and Ottawa and also has a very nice village-esque vibe about it. This should be preserved. We recommend introducing a BIA for the Boulevard so as to preserve its village like qualities and to offer great views of the city below. This would also introduce a more aesthetic nature to the Boulevard as we would call for more trees to be planted and for old-style lamps to be installed.

UQO and the proposed Bus Transfer Station

The UQO is proposing to build a new campus beside their currnet one and plan to make it a bus transfer station. This will be near the railway tracks near the Prince of Wales Bridge. We propose that the O-Train be extended across the PoW Bridge and immediately turn east and follow the right of way until the Portage Bridge(this will be explained in detail later). As a result, the O-Train station would be built at the very end of the PoW Bridge's terminus. To the west of this new O-Train station, will be the new STO Station that will serve as a transfer station for OC Transpo, STO and the O-Train. Beside the station will be the new UQO campus, which will house modern and state-of-the-art facilities. This won't have too much impact on the nearby park, and great effort will be made to preserve as much of that area of the park as humanly possible.

Above and below-grade transfer station at Maisonneuve

We know that the proposed Rapibus System is going to terminate at the portage Bridge, near Maisonneuve and Laurier. STO buses will stop near Place du Portage before crossing the Portage Bridge into Ottawa. We propose that Ottawa interconnect with the Rapibus system by extending the O-Train into Gatineau by going across the PoW Bridge and immediately stopping at the UQO, proceeds east to Parc des Portageurs(where there will be a stop near the Domtar site), and then a final stop just under the Portage Bridge.

The Rapibus stop will be above-grade, while the O-Train stop will be below-grade. The Rapibus station will go from the surface along Maisonneuve down below and proceed south under Laurier until it reaches the new O-Train station.

Facilities will include elevators to allow for handicap access and will be heated in the winter months and will also have coordinated schedules and routes.

O-Train spur into Gatineau

We propose that the Cities of Ottawa and Gatineau allow for a spur directly to downtown Hull be created. There has already been much controversy over such a decision, especially with the railway that runs north up to the Casino. The last thing that Ottawa needs is to extend its own service into an area that will just suck up more of city taxpayers' dollars. We should head East, to where the Federal offices which are in Gatineau's Central Business District. There is also existing rail right-of-way there. We could extend there and all the way east to the Portage Bridge, where the Rapibus' final terminus is going to be. Stops would be at Parc Brebeuf/UQO Campus where the bridge ends, near the intersection of Eddy and Laurier/Tache, and the final stop will be at the Rapibus terminus/transfer station.

This way, Ottawa doesn't throw more money away at the Casino, actually goes to a place where increased ridership is guaranteed, goes to places where people want/need to go, and would also be a first step in the integration of Ottawa and Gatineau's transit systems.

Injecting life into downtown Hull(Gatineau)

Hull needs some life and vibrancy in order to make it feel more like the big-city it is going to become. We feel that this could be accomplished by encouraging ground level retail in all developments such as condominiums and office towers. This will help to make downtown Hull denser and more vibrant and will also benefit from the Promenade du Portage retail strip focus which will be bordered by Place Aubry and Place du Portage.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Ottawa developments and projects

Now we will talk about what we recommend the city should do for numerous issues from transit to infill, to new developments, to green space, etc. All of this is part of our Master Plan for the Ottawa-Gatineau region, and many of these projects would depend on the completion and/or success of another project.

Major Key to Master Plan: Expo 2017 Ottawa

We propose that Ottawa host Expo 2017, and that the bid should be about a greener future. As a result, designers from countries from all around the world would design green developments that will be built on the lands in LeBreton Flats and Bayview Yards. These new buildings should reflect their nation of origin, and be environmentally friendly and architecturally stunning. The two new villages of LeBreton Flats and Bayview would be "green villages" that would be environmentally friendly, beautiful and visually stunning. It should be a new village that has shops, restaurants, offices, condos, parks, etc. to make for a vision of a greener and more environmentally friendly future, which will be a living, breathing, community in Ottawa. Gatineau would also partake in this by going ahead with the Scott Plant Site conversion into a park and by following our proposal for the E.B. Eddy/Domtar Site.

Similar to what the NCC is doing for LeBreton Flats, we will divide the area into "lots" that will be awarded to numerous and various architects and designers who will develop those parcels of land in order to create a "green village" that spans from Gatineau to Bayview to LeBreton Flats. The result will be a varied, diverse, stunning, beautiful skyline and village right beside downtown Ottawa. These need to be real villages, with more than just condos, office space and ground-level retail. If you look at the current plans for the area, it is just "cookie-cutter" condos that are all around the same height. A real village with libraries, stores, plazas, art galleries, museums, theatres, districts and even a shopping centre should be created. There needs to be focus on the aqueduct and a pedestrian mall should be oriented on that area, with retail on both sides of the aqueduct. This will continue east to the bridge near the escarpment and will also continue west to the new Bayview transit station and even further west into the new Bayview Yards redevelopment.

Since these villages will also be a living and breathing part of Expo 2017, the various cultural plazas and exhibitions need to pay homage to their respective countries while showcasing the best in ingenuity and being environmentally friendly. This will allow for a diversified and stunning skyline which will also allow for new technologies and designs to be applied in our very own city.

In addition to the green villages that will be developed on the Flats and in Bayview, a year-round theme/amusement park will be built adjacent to Lemieux Island. The island will be built in much the same way as the Expo grounds were developed for Montreal back in 1967. With all the construction and tunneling that will be happening in the city by this point, all the dirt, rock and other things will be dumped beside Lemieux Island and added onto it on the eastern side of the PoW Bridge. This is where the park will eventually reside. This would be the new, modern, larger and better home of Ottawa's Super Ex. Since it has permanent facilities, there will be many exciting, huge and permanent rides. Tying into the whole "green theme" of the expo, all the rides will be constructed using as many recycled materials as possible, making the amusement park green and environmentally friendly as well.

Experimental Farm conversion into giant park

The city should focus on development within the greenbelt and on intensification. We believe that this would be partially achievable by converting most the Experimental Farm into a giant, central park. Many of the world's great cities have massive public parks. Two glaring examples of this are Central Park in New York and Hyde Park in London. Ottawa lacks such a park, and has the capacity for one not too far from the heart of Ottawa. The Arboreteum is a beautiful place frequented by many locals and tourists and is an excellent place to relax and offers spectacular views of the Rideau Canal and the Rideau River. This park will be fenced in stone and wrought-iron, similar to how the Governor-Generals residence is bordered but the iron fence will only be just above average height. This park will become known as Prince of Wales Park, after the Prince of Wales Dr. which runs through the park.

This new park would offer good transit connections, given the proximity of Baseline and Carling, both of which have bus routes and in our plan, will be converted to LRT. Entrances into the park will be lovely stone plazas that will mark entrances into the park. On the part of the park that borders Carling, will be two of these plazas. One will be at the end of Champagne and will be a round-about that will intrude slightly into the park. Cars will be allowed to turn around and stop in this area, which will be the Northeast pedestrian entrance into the park. Beside the entrance will some proposed, low-rise condos that will line Carling but won't intrude onto the park. The other entrance on Carling will be at the end of Parkdale and be similar in construct to the one at Champagne. It will have a round-about so that cars can access and turn around in the area. There will also be limited on-street parking near the entrance. The entire area from the buildings on the south side all the way to Holland will be park. No condos or buildings of any kind will be allowed to develop in this area.

Only very old and beautiful buildings currently occupying the park grounds will be left standing and will be converted into Federal Offices. All other buildings will be demolished and replaced with parkland. The border of the park is as follows; Starting from Carling and the train tracks, head west until you hit Holland/NCC Driveway. Follow NCC Driveway until you hit Ash Lane. Head south on Ash Lane until you hit McCooey Lane. Head west until Fisher and then head south to Baseline. Head east from Baseline until you hit Prince of Wales Drive and follow it until just past the offices, church and houses in the area. turn east and head down to the canal. This connects the park to the Arboreteum and defines the new park as well. Also, in the middle od the park will be a huge lake/pond. All other lands outside of the aforementioned borders will be developed into upscale condos and business towers that will have ground-level retail. The Experimental Farm will be moved out into the boondocks.

On Baseline, there will be a plaza entrance near Lexington St. Other entrances will be built along Ash Lane and the NCC Driveway once development fills in. Baseline by this point will also provide good transit connections, helping to spur development in the area.

Place Laurier

Place Laurier will be Ottawa's version of Times Square. This will also help to attract tourists and businesses to the Capital. The sidewalks from Laurier to Somerset are supposed to be widened soon, which will mean more pedestrian space. This perfect since there is already a plaza of sorts at the corner of Bank and Laurier. This will be made wider when construction eventually begins to widen the sidewalks. We came up with this idea after hearing that the Mondrian Condominium development was to have an LCD screen on the side of the illuminated parkade. The are is eprfect tos et up a Times Square of sorts; there are already ads in the area, namely Moore's, GNC, Shopper's Drugmart and Cash Money.

We believe that by placing LCD screens in strategic places, it would create an atmoshpere not unlike Times Square. The LCD screens would be angled down so as not to annoy Mondrian residents. To add to Place Laurier, there will also be huge movie posters/ads that will stand atop the Shopper's Drugmart building. Most of the ads and LCD screens will be angled and focused towards the plaza, where the highest amount of traffic usually is.

Atop Eggspectation, a raised plaza will be created that will serve as a meeting place for people and will be marked by a huge work of art such as a statue that will be visible from ground level so as to intrigue people. Stairs will lead up to the plaza and will be right beside the stairs that take you up into the Esplanade.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

LRT in Ottawa

LRT in Ottawa has clearly been a difficult issue and proves to be even more contentious every day. Ottawa needs a comprehensive system and fast. Many ideas have ben floated around, by professionals and by the general public voicing their opinions. We have tried our best to accomodate as many of their suggestions for LRT in Ottawa while creating an expansive system that serves the city as a whole. We have also layed out a suggestion for how this could be accomplished with minimal shutdowns and inconveniences. We would also like to point out at this time that LRT in Ottawa will not be easy, will not serve everyone at once, and certainly won't be cheap if a truly expansive, smart and comprehensive system is to be built.

This is what we'd would roughly like to see in place by 2017 in order to tie into Expo 2017...

Oct. 20th, 2007: O-Train from Bayview to Greenboro.

By Jan. 1st, 2008: Make a bid for Expo 2017. Begin surveys for viability of Commuter Lines (conduct surveys in Kanata North, Stittsville, Carp, Kinburn, Arnprior, Barrhaven, Perth, Smith's Falls, Vars, Limoges, Casselman, Moose Creek, Maxville and Alexandria). Start building new stations for Transit hubs.

By Jul. 1st, 2008: Temporary N/S run into Gatineau. Build N/S line extension but electrify and extend from Carleton to Leitrim and finish line down to Barrhaven. N/S Line will be double-tracked. Carleton announces new Sciences Building which will also serve as new Carleton O-Train station. Commuter Line maps and stations announced. Acquire Talent trains. Start construction. Airport expansion finished.

By Jan. 1st, 2009: Proper plans for Bayview, LeBreton Flats and City Centre site. Must be grandiose and enviro-friendly to tie into Expo 2017 Theme.

By Jul. 1st, 2009: New stations and facilities built; LeBreton Flats station, Bayview, Hurdman, Confederation, Union Station. Begin to double-track and electrify from Carleton to Bayview.

By Jan. 1st, 2010: Downtown Tunnel EA should be nearing completion.

By Jul. 1st, 2010: DT tunnel EA done. double-tracking and electrification from Carleton to Bayview complete. Begin construction of tunnel. Tie E/W Line into it(Dominion to Blair). Commuter Lines completed. Permanent N/S spur into Gatineau(up to Portage); begin construction of it. Begin constructing "new island" connecting to Lemieux Island.

By Jul. 1st, 2013: Dominion to Blair E/W Line completed along with rest of N/S Line(Bayview to Via Station) and new Carleton Building/Station. Continue Gatineau spur to Museum of Civilization(and maybe over Alexandra Bridge and down Sussex to Union Station). Extend E/W Line to Lincoln Fields.

By Mar. 15th, 2017: Theme park beside Lemieux Island opens, green villages of Bayview, Portage and LeBreton Flats are "finished" being developed. E/W and N/S Lines are fully functional along with commuter lines.

LRT Lines

We propose 5 LRT Lines that will serve Ottawa and will utilize the Siemens S70 Avanto, so as to avoid serious lawsuits that will only take away even more money from the city. It is in this part that we have borrowed heavily from the Original N/S Plan and the from the recently proposed Urbandale Plan. We have also considered numerous other options brought forward by the original Transit Master Plan.

N/S Line

There has been a great deal of argument over this line. Since we're basing this off of the orignal plan and the Urbandale proposal, this line will be electrified, double-tracked, head downtown and will serve the communities of Barrhaven and Riverside South. Now a major issue with this one is how to keep current O-Train service without needing to shut the entire system down for construction. We propose that construction of the N/S Line be tied into the construction of the new Sciences Building that Carleton University was planning to build. This new building would have also housed the Carleton O-Train station.

We also propose that this line be built from Bayview to Barrhaven Town Centre while the Downtown Tunnel Environmental Assessment is being done. That way, we are building something that we already have the go-ahead for and will be finished around the same time as the Tunnel EA.

Carleton is a very important stop on the O-Train route and is where a significant portion of the ridership comes from. We propose that the O-Train be extended across the Prince of Wales Bridge into Hull with stops at the end of the bridge where the new UQO Campus and bus transfer station will be and will then head east following the ROW to Laurier and Eddy. It's Ottawa terminus will be Carleton University. This would be beneficial as it establishes a cross-provincial line from Federal Offices in Hull all the way to Carleton University. At the Carleton terminus, the new building and station will be constructed and as it is expanded south, will expand service down south on the new S70 Avantos. While this does involve a shortening of the Ottawa route and makes transfering at Carleton practically mandatory, it is a significantly smaller price to pay than shutting down the entire current system for years while the new one is built. In order to make transfers efficient, the schedules of the O-Train and new LRT Line would be coordinated so that both arrive at Carleton at the same time and allow for a transfer to occur. This would all happen and be in place shortly after Canada Day, 2008.

After the portion of the new N/S Line is completed from Carleton to either Lester or Leitrim or further, the old O-Train section from Carleton to Bayview will be shutdown for construction of the rest of the line. O-Train Talent trains will still run from Bayview to Eddy, since they will be on the seperate spur for the PoW bridge at this time, allowing for construction at Bayview while still being able to operate as a station. By July 1st, 2009, we believe that it is possible to have a new LRT line running from Leitrim to Carleton University. and the old Talent trains running from Bayview to Eddy. The section from Carleton to Bayview will be under construction.

Stops along the new N/S LRT Line in 2009 will appear in the following order, heading from North to South; Carleton University, Confederation, Walkley, Greenboro, South Keys, Lester, Airport Hilton, Ottawa International Airport, Leitrim. We expect the rest of this line to be completed down to Barrhaven by the summer of 2010. The small line still using Bombardier Talent trains will have stops at Bayview, UQO, and Eddy. Eventually, this section will stop all together while a N/S Line spur(double-tracked and electrified) to Hull is built.

By 2010, the entire line from Bayview to Barrhaven Town Centre will be built. Going from North to South, this will be the route and the stops along the way. Bayview, Somerset, Carling, Carleton University, Confederation, Walkley, Greenboro, South Keys, Lester, Airport Hilton, Ottawa International Airport, Leitrim, Spratt, River, Woodroffe, Beatrice, Barrhaven Town Centre. When the downtown and eastern sections are finished, the line will run all the aforementioned stops but will also go all the way to Via Train Station.

E/W Line

There has been great debate over where this line should go as well. Some believe it should bypass the core of the city, while others believe it should pass directly through the core. We agree with the latter. One of the reasons why there are so many buses downtown is that there is demand for people to go downtown since are business and leisure opportunities downtown. Because of that, LRT needs to go downtown. In accordance with the N/S Line, this one will be built shortly after the completion of the tunnel, which will begin construction immediately after the EA is completed, which should be around 2010. This downtown tunnel section will be shared by the N/S Line as well.

During construction of the tunnel, track will be layed along the transitway from Blair Station all the way to Lincoln Fields. Buses that use the section of the Transitway near Scott St. will be diverted onto Scott St., where the lights will be given E/W priority to allow for buses to catch "waves", making it a fast trip from Tunney's pasture to Lincoln Fields. For the buses that want to go from Blair to St. Laurent, they will be diverted onto the Queensway so as not to lose precious time.

The construction will begin around 2010 when the Downtown tunnel EA is completed. It is recommended that the section from Bayview to Blair be completed first, so as to allow buses from the west into Bayview. Bayview Station will undergo a massive overhaul. Since the double-tracking and electrification of the N/S leg that goes over the PoW Bridge to Hull will be under construction at this point, the N/S LRT station will be lowered and will turn right heading towards LeBreton Flats, where another station will be. The tracks will stop at this station, which will be the new Bayview station, and will allow for the N/S trains to continue downtown. Trains heading to Hull will reverse direction and proceed across the bridge.

Since the Bayview station will be lowered, the hilly area surrounding it needs to be leveled. Due to this, we suggest that the Transitway overpass be lowered so as to allow for smoother transition for trains. a deep pit running from Bayview to LeBreton Flats will be built. It would be similar to the way the Scott St. section of the Transitway was built; in a gorge. This gorge will continue to LeBreton Flats, where a new below grade station will be built and the Booth St. Bridge will overpass the transit station. The below grade track will run east and begin to head north where it will enter the tunnel that will be built under Sparks St. and Queen St. The western section will use the Scott St. ravine all the way to Dominion where it will travel along a portion of the Parkway before transfering onto Byron where it will proceed until leaving Byron and meeting up with Lincoln Fields.

If all goes according to schedule, the new E/W Line and finished N/S Line will be finished by the summer of 2013. The following will be the stops for the new E/W Line as it will stand in 2013; Lincoln Fields, Dominion, Westboro, Tunney's Pasture, Bayview, LeBreton, Bay/Lyon, Kent/Bank, O'Connor/Metcalfe, Union Station, Laurier East, Campus, Lees, Hurdman, Via, St. Laurent, Cyrville and Blair. Expansion west to Kanata and East to Orleans will be planned for and will be given priority development. Eventually, there will also be a spur to Kanata North where it will intersect with the Commuter Line. The spur to Kanata North will run along March or Teron Road, and will provide a connection to the Kanata North Business Park and a Commuter Line transfer station. For Kanata proper, it will continue along the transitway west to Kanata Centrum and will continue to Scotaibank Place where it will wrap around the hockey arena and continue along Palladium until it hits Terry Fox where it would then head south until its final terminus at the Kanata South Business Park near Eagleson.

Orleans-Downtown Line

This line will run from Orleans South all the way to Bayview through the downtown core. This line is based off of early proposals for the eastern section of an E/W Line that bypassed the downtown core. It would follow Innes Rd. east into Orleans South through Blackburn Hamlet and then would turn south and proceed to follow the old rail ROW in that area. It would continue east before stopping at Trim Rd. Its downtown terminus would be at Union Station and would follow the N/S Line route to Hurdman, where it will turn south until it came to the proposed Alta Vista transitway extension, which will instead be reserved for LRT. This extension will proceed along the proposed ROW until it hits Russell Rd. where it will then align with Innes Rd. and follow Innes into Blackburn Hamlet and just past Blackburn Hamlet, where it will then head south and align itself with the old Rail ROW and follow it until it hits Trim Rd.

This line is designed to be coordinated with the proposed Commuter Line for Orleans South and will also become a key feature of the growing community of Orleans South. By planning for the future this way, you will have less cars clogging up Ottawa's main streets and less CO2 emissions.

The Orleans South to Downtown Line will have the following stops heading from Downtown to Orleans South; Bayview, LeBreton, Bay/Lyon, Kent/Bank, O'Connor/Metcalfe, Union Station, Laurier East, Campus, Lees, Hurdman, Lycee Claudel, Alta Vista, Station, Devon, Russell, St. Laurent South, Sheffield, Cyrville South, Blair South, Tauvette, Bearbrook, Cleroux, Orleans Blvd., Page Rd., 10th Line South, Innes, Portobello, Trim Rd.

Baseline/River Line

This line would run from Bayshore down to Baseline and down Baseline until it joined the Southeast section of the transitway and would run up to Hurdman and then would head north into the downtown core. This line's main purpose is to expand and increase ridership while also providing intensification along Baseline Rd. and the Rideau River. This line would Be at-grade all along Baseline with the exception of the section that will need to pass the Hospital to get to Bayshore. Another section of the line will be below-grade on Heron Rd. before resurfacing after crossing Heron Rd and re-aligning with the Transitway heading North to Hurdman.

The stops along the line will be in the following order heading from Bayshore to Downtown; Bayshore, Queensway-Carleton Hospital, Morrison, Greenbank, Southwood, Centrepointe, Constellation, Woodroffe, Ferguson, Pender, Clyde, Merivale, Fisher, Prince of Wales, Vincent Massey Park, Confederation, Billings Bridge, Pleasant Park, Riverside, Smyth, Lycee Claudel, Hurdman, Lees, Campus, Laurier East, Union Station, O'Connor/Metcalfe, Kent/Bank, Bay/Lyon, LeBreton, Bayview.

Montreal Rd. Line

The Montreal Rd. line will proceed from Union Station all the way to Blair. There is not enough room on Rideau St. and Montreal Rd. to allow for cars, on-street parking, buses and LRT to run at-grade. We know for sure that the section of Rideau until it hits the River should be an underground tunnel. The City of Ottawa needs to explore options that would place the line after the river above ground similar to Vancouver's Skytrain, or to continue to tunnel under Montreal Rd.

For the line itself, it needs to connect to the proposed Rockliffe Base Redevelopment. As such, there should be a spur to the newly developed Base. This spur will break from the main Montreal Rd. corridor at the Aviation Parkway where it will be above grade. It will continue north along the parkway until it reaches one of the new main streets in the development and will follow this street(at-grade and either in the median or at the edges of the street) east until it turns south. It will continue south until it joins up with the main Montreal Rd. corridor and will proceed to Blair.

These are the proposed stops from Union Station to Blair; Union Station, Rideau Centre, King Edward, Chapel, Charlotte, Vanier, Lajoie, Ducharme, St. Laurent Blvd., Montfort Hospital, Carson's, Bathgate, Blair Rd., Dunham, Ogilvie, Blair Station. For the Rockliffe Base spur, the line will run up the Aviation Parkway until it reaches Hemlock and will go along Hemlock until it reaches Altair which it will follow until the Via Venus and it will follow Via Venus and turn south onto Burma and continue until it reconnects with Montreal Rd.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Commuter Rail Lines

Ottawa should not just throw away her Bombardier Talent Trains without using them to their full capacity. They clearly are capable of running on the rails that are nearly abandoned in the Ottawa region. Ottawa should expand her Bombardier Talent fleet and use them as a highly modern, comfortable and affordable Commuter Rail solution for the Ottawa Valley. Any places that do not have stations already in place will have decent sized, heated and cooled stations. These lines will be among the least-expensive and fastest to be implemented due to the fact that the Rail ROW is already existing and many of the stations are already built.

Kanata North/Stittsville-Via Line

Using existing rails, the City of Ottawa could create a rail line from Kanata North to the Via Train Station. Since it is a commuter line, there will be minimal stops so as to maintain good travel times. The stops will be; Kanata North, Moodie, Woodroffe, Collonade, Confederation, Hurdman, Via Train Station. Stittsville will be a seperate leg/spur of the line. This line could be expanded northwards to Carp, Kinburn and Arnprior and westwards to Carleton Place should there be enough ridership demand.

Smith's Falls-Via Line

This line will run from Smith's Falls to the Via Train station. There will be minimal stops as per usual for Commuter Lines and any stations that need to be built, will be. Here are the proposed stations; Smith's Falls, Huntley Rd., Jockvale, Fallowfield, Collonade, Confederation, Hurdman, Via. The line could be extended to Perth if there is sufficient ridership demand.

Glengarry Line

This line will go from Alexandria to the Via Station and Hurdman. Heading west from its eastern terminus of Alexandria, it will head west to Ottawa stopping at Maxville, Moose Creek, Casselman, Limoges, Vars, Via Station, and then Hurdman.

Orleans South Line

The Orleans South line will head west from Trim Road to Hurdman, which will be the western terminus. This line will follow the old rail ROW in the area all the way from Trim Road to Hurdman. There will also be very few stops; Trim South, 10th Line South, Navan Rd., Via Station and Hurdman.

Crosstown Line

This line will use the existing rails to create a crosstown commuter line that will go from Kanata North to Orleans South. It will have all the stops of the Kanata North Line and the Orleans South Line combined and will serve as an alternative to the E/W Line for those who want to just bypass central Ottawa to reach the suburbs.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Tram Lines

On top of LRT and Commuter Rail, tram lines will also be implemented in the future because Transit isn't just about getting people from the Suburbs into the city, but to help spur intensification along arterial streets such as Carling and Baseline. For these tram lines, we suggest using Bombardier Flexity Swift trams, Flexity Outlook trams, or Citadis trams. The Bombardier units are enticing because they have been proven to work well in snow-covered cities such as Stockholm, Sweden. The proposed trams are all winter-proven and fast, which should be enticing enough for any Canadian city. Another benefit is that tram lines are much cheaper than LRT to implement. All trams will be single-tracked except for a few lengths of track in strategic locations; these will be used for passing.

We propose having tram lines that are versatile and serve many areas of Ottawa's older and more central communities such as the Glebe, Ottawa South, New Edinburgh and Lowertown. The tram lines will sometimes occupy their own dedicated ROW, semi-dedicated ROW, and even on the street with cars. The tram lines will all operate on an at-grade level. The trams can be hooked together and extended should there be enough demand to do so. Trams will also have a decent headway making them an appealing form of transportation.

Carling Line

This line will head from the N/S Line station at Carling west to Bayshore. This line will proceed along the median of Carling Avenue and the signal lights will be reworked to allow for signal priority for the Carling Tram vehicles. The main purpose of this line is to intensify Carling Avenue. This line will also provide access to many Ottawa attractions by the time this line is operational; Civic Hospital, Prince of Wales Park, Dow's Lake, Royal Ottawa, Carlingwood Mall and Bayshore Shopping Centre being the key attractions. This line will also help to intensify Carling Ave, which is in desperate need of some new life.

Queen Elizabeth Line

This line will head from the NAC to Dow's Lake by following the Queen Elizabeth Parkway south from the NAC. This line will provide direct access to the beautiful Rideau Canal, the NAC, Lansdowne Park, Dow's Lake, the Glebe, Ottawa South, and Centretown East. Since there is plenty of space on the western edge of the canal, the trams should run beside Queen Elizabeth Dr. through the greenspace. Very few if any trees will need to be cut down. Another option is to let the trams occupy one lane of traffic.

Confederation Line

The Confederation Line will be a tram line that will form a loop between Vieux-Hull and downtown Ottawa. The NCC has been interested in a loop that reaches both cities. This line is called the Confederation Line since it will run along much of Confederation Boulevard. This tram will loop from Wellington St. west to the Portage Bridge where it will cross over into Hull and turn east heading down Laurier to the Museum of Civilization and beyong to Jacques Cartier Park. The tram line will then cross the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge back into Ottawa where it will turn onto Boteler and head south down Sussex. Track will be layed down Sussex and MacArthur between St. Patrick and Rideau. This will serve as a passing lane of sorts for the trams where they will reunite on Wellington.

Another routing option would be for the tram to cross the Alexandra Bridge. This would be more economical as it would cost less than the route across the MacDonald-Cartier Bridge.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

The Tunnel

We suggest that the tunnel be built from The Escarpment and be under Sparks and Queen St. It will cross the canal and turn south and will re-surface slowly on Waller St. just after Laurier where it will stop(at-grade) at the current Transitway stop at Ottawa University near Nicholas St. Buses could still use the transitway up to the University of Ottawa, as new, mdoern facilities for the N/S Line will be built. If this is not satisfactory, we recommend diverting the buses from Lees Station onto King Edward where they will head up to Laurier and then re-enter the transitway from there. Eventually, when the N/S Line will be built to Hurdman/Via stations, buses will have to terminate at the St. Laurent Shopping Mall, which will have an LRT station shortly thereafter.

A Second Downtown Tunnel?

Since we are proposing numerous LRT lines and many of which will be travelling through the downtown core, we realize that Ottawa could reach maximum capacity in the future with an LRT Tunnel. We propose that after the tunnel under Sparks and Queen Streets is completed that the city make preparations for yet another E/W tunnel through the core. This one could perhaps run under Albert and Slater or under Confederation Boulevard. No matter where it goes, it should try to line up with the existing tunnel through the core.

Stations

Many stations will be brand new, modern facilities that will be heated in the winter for comfort. Other features will include places to display public art, up-to-the-minute scheduling, lit platforms to provide good visibility and to show the station location and of course, detailed maps of the system along with the timings. We believe that it would be beneficial to Ottawa to have as many station locations in as many buildings as possible and encourage business owners to partake and even contribute to construction costs. Some stations will be very different from others and will have to be built from scratch or will ahve built in stations such as would be the case for the new Carleton University station. We have compiled a list of where we'd like to see interesting stations around Ottawa.

240 Sparks St.: A station here would be perfect as it would be underground and connect directly to the 240 Sparks shopping complex.

World Exchange Complex: An underground station here would be great as it would become a part of the World Exchange plaza and the station's design could reflect that.

Union Station: Make the old architecture the stunning focal point of the station and have it be the major hub for Rideau and the Market.

Laurier Station: Located near Laurier E. and Waller, this station could be built directly into the new Desmarais Building and would also serve as an excellent transfer point to the Transitway.

Hurdman: Hurdman will be moved eastward onto the section of the Transitway that runs north to the Via Train Station. This will be a huge, new modern facilities. It will be built in such a way so that the current bus station will be kept operable and intact while a new LRT and Commuter Rail station will be built. There will be a covered pedestrian overpass to make transferring from Commuter Rail to Light-Rail or vice versa much easier, safer and faster.

Carleton: The new Carleton station would be built into a proposed building to be built over the existing O-Train station site.

Confederation: This stop is very difficult; Here we will have the intersection of the N/S Line, the Baseline/River Line, and one Commuter Rail Line. Since there isn't any room to move the rails around, the station will have to be moved. We propose for the construction of a Business Centre Tower that will house three different platforms; one for each Line. We also propose that two more buildings be built in the immediate area to provide for densification. The Commuter Rail Line station will be at-grade and will be adjusted slightly to allow for a straight landing platform. It will also be located just before the bridge over Heron Rd. Immediately to the south, will be the new Confederation station for the N/S Line(which will also be at-grade). The Baseline/River Line station will be below grade under Heron Rd.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Future Projects and Proposals

There have been many projects proposed for Ottawa and are moving at a snail's pace which is unfortunate, because a lot of these projects would be very beneficial to Ottawa. Such projects include the Gate to Chinatown which will span across Somerset St. W near Dalhousie, the proposed condo development on the site of the James St. Feed Company, Portrait Gallery of Canada, the new Galaxy Camera Flagship store, interconnectability between Ottawa and Gatineau, widening of sidewalks along Bank St., Lansdowne Park Redevelopment and numerous empty lots throughout the city which could be developed into offices and condos, densifying the core.There are many more projects and proposals floating around, but there are too many for us to mention here. What we can do is offer advice on the Greenbelt and height restrictions in the city.

Ottawa's greenbelt has provided some good results, but has ultimately failed in its effort to curb suburban sprawl. Originally intended to serve as a city limit of sorts, it ended up just being an obstacle for people in exo-communities such as Kanata and Orleans. Then, there was a plan to make the suburbs self-sufficient with their own businesses and employment opportunities. That failed in Orleans and has had some success in Kanata. Sprawl cannot be allowed to spread further and further west and east, which will only lead to more emissions, longer commutes and far more expensive transit connections. The city of Ottawa could help change the situation dramatically by doing something along the lines of what Markham, Ontario is doing by creating their own downtown. What Markham is doing is not unlike what the new Riverside South Community is supposed to look like in the future. If a project like this was implemented in every major suburb of Ottawa, it would mean less people on the roads into downtown because there will be local employment opportunities.

On top of new mega-projects for the suburbs, the Greenbelt could be developed in areas that could be connected easily such as connecting Kanata, Bells Corners and Central Ottawa together through development. The same could be said for Gloucester, Blackburn Hamlet and Orleans. This will help to densify Ottawa, shorten commutes, and lower emissions.

Another way to intensify Ottawa's urban core, would be to lift height restrictions in central Ottawa and the CBD. This will involve careful planning so as not to uglify many of Ottawa's famous picture-postcard perfect shots of Parliament Hill from Gatineau, the River Parkway, the Canal and the National Gallery and the lookout behind it. Five to eight signature, architecturally stunning towers should be built throughout central Ottawa and should be anywhere from 40 to 45 storeys in height. In terms of basic height-restrictions, the height-limit should be 30 or 34 storeys tall.

With all this proposed development that should happen sooner rather than later in the city will bring in thousands of people into our fair city. We need to attract them in the first place and give some much needed life to the streets. As such, ground-level retail free to the public should be incorporated into as many new developments as possible.

One final section of proposals are relating to future transit possibilities for Ottawa in the distant future. One is a Bank St. Subway which would run from downtown to Billings Bridge. Some other possinbilities are a Somerset/Wellington/Richmond Subway that would connect Westboro, Hintonburg, Chinatown and the Golden Triangle together in a rapid transit mode. We also propose a tram line that will go from St. Patrick St. across the bridge, and down Beechwood until it gets near the cemetary. Keep in mind, these projects are for the distant future.

Conclusion

There is much that can and should be done for Ottawa and much of it should be aimed for completion by 2017. Especially if Ottawa is to seriously consider a bid for Expo 2017. Ottawa and Gatineau have amazing potential that is just waiting to be unlocked, but both cities will need bright, young, eager and ambitious minds, a city council that thinks of the city as a whole and not solely their wards, business entrepreneurs and investors and people who are unafraid to take some risks in order to lead both cities to a truly vibrant, bright and extremely promising future.

We must choose; have an Ottawa that tries to hold onto a "small-town feel" and timidly dips it foot into the water, or an Ottawa that is ready to become a booming, world-class city and swim across a lake?

[eemy]

Out of curiousity, what was the rational for Toronto to proceed with expanding it's streetcar/LRT network? I'd like to see tram routes down Somerset/Wellington/Richmond and down Bank St.

As for the 40 story signature tower idea: great, as long as it isn't in the eastern part of the CBC. I'm now convinced that taller towers would work in the western part around Place de Ville etc; however, I really do feel that it would interfere with the character of the eastern part, especially if it was immediately on Elgin St. like 150 Elgin would be. I'm also not a huge fan of tall towers in the Market, but depending on how the street level is dealt with, they could work there as well.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Out of curiousity, what was the rational for Toronto to proceed with expanding it's streetcar/LRT network?

Whuh? This is about Ottawa, not Toronto...

I'd like to see tram routes down Somerset/Wellington/Richmond and down Bank St.

I'd like to see that too, but it probably will never happen. People will complain about speed, effectiveness, cost, road closures, space, street parking, clogged streets, overhead wires, etc. Those roads are already small enough as it is.

As for the 40 story signature tower idea: great, as long as it isn't in the eastern part of the CBC. I'm now convinced that taller towers would work in the western part around Place de Ville etc; however, I really do feel that it would interfere with the character of the eastern part, especially if it was immediately on Elgin St. like 150 Elgin would be. I'm also not a huge fan of tall towers in the Market, but depending on how the street level is dealt with, they could work there as well.

Actually, a 40 storey tall tower at the 150 Elgin site and a 30 storey at the current Lorne Building site would balance out the larger one further down Elgin and right behind that one is a huge empty lot that could be a new 30 storey tower.

This will balance out and define this area and it is set far back enough to not interfere with the major sightline from Gatineau near the water.

I am very pro-western CBD towers, but I want to see a few spread out.

Also, I would put a 40-45 storey tower in the parking lot beside the Loeb on Rideau.

[eemy]

Originally Posted by Jamaican-Phoenix

Whuh? This is about Ottawa, not Toronto...

I'm well aware of that. I think it would be relevant to know what their reasoning for expanding on-street rail operations is since it flies in the face of accepted wisdom on the subject.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Ah, okay. I didn't understand the context. My bad.

I'm not sure what the rationale was, but it would be interesting to find out.

[Rathgrith]

I think Scott Plant Site shouldn't be park. We already have enough along the river. But rather a small pedestrian village with all the streets facing towards parliament. Might as well put some density in there but nothing above 4 stories.

[Aylmer]

I would give you a hug if I wasn't viritual to you...

Me Like Plan!!!
how old are you? because I would vote for you if you ran for mayor

(but I can't vote because I live in Gatineau... and I am under 18...)

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Rathgrith015

I think Scott Plant Site shouldn't be park. We already have enough along the river. But rather a small pedestrian village with all the streets facing towards parliament. Might as well put some density in there but nothing above 4 stories.

That was something that I had considered, but I came to the conclusion that it wouldn't work for numerous reasons.

-Too big a place to suddenly create a new urban village.

-People(nimby's and people not like us) are already expecting/wanting a park to go there. Plus, the park idea works well with the Expo 2017 theme.

-If there were to be an urban village, it would be isolated from Place Aubry, Promenade du Portage, Rue Montcalm, and Boulevard St. Joseph.

For those reasons, it would be awkward and wouldn't exactly be in a residential/pedestrian friendly area.

Whereas if you look through my plan, you will see that by establishing entertainment hubs at Place Aubry and at Eddy/Laurier/Tache, you are connecting and improving the very nice streets(full of potential by the way) of Promenade du Portage, Montcalm and Boul. St. Joseph.

You in essence create one long and connected streetscape of awesomeness with hubs at the points where they intersect. To top it off, those streets are well served by transit and are in residential communities, which means a constant customer base.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by AylmerLover

I would give you a hug if I wasn't viritual to you...

Me Like Plan!!!
how old are you? because I would vote for you if you ran for mayor

(but I can't vote because I live in Gatineau... and I am under 18...)

I am 19 years old and living in Centretown.

[m0nkyman]

That was a hell of a lot of work putting that together....

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Like I said, that was all put together in the free time I had between work, sleep and hanging out with friends/social life.

[Aylmer]

Aĩe!

T'as du temps libre en tabar*ouche!
How long did it take you to compete this?

I am 19 and live in centertown

sorry, don't realy know how to quote!

I was born there...

[Aylmer]

Completely off subject;

Oi! and Jamaican Phoenix, do you realy come from Jamaica?