Cycle friendly city?

Following is a letter-to-the-editor I sent to the Ottawa Citizen ( recognized but unpublished):

I was disappointed by the arrogant tone adopted by Councillor Peter Hume in his Letter-to-the-Editor (Council made progress on a cycle-friendly city, Ottawa Citizen, September 15, 2010).


In his letter Hume outlines a number of cycle/pedestrian pathway and sidewalk initiatives that are being installed in his Alta Vista Ward communities this year. Nice as it is for the Alta Vista/Canterbury/Riverview communities to have these new facilities, it should be noted that they have not come about easily, and certainly not for entirely altruistic reasons.

Plans for work on the Riverview community to Hurdman transit station link and the sidewalks on Industrial Avenue were not high on the city’s priority list until Hume faced anger from Riverview Park residents earlier this year over plans to further expand the O.C. Transpo bus garage on Industrial Avenue. Then all of a sudden they became a priority.

At the time the city was unwilling to make significant changes to the bus garage site that would address residents’ concerns. So prioritizing plans for cycling and pedestrian infrastructure presented a way to placate local residents, or so they hoped!

As it turned out, residents were far from satisfied by these offsetting benefits and Hume and the city have now had to take additional measures in order to minimize the negative impact that the “garage mahal” will have on the community. These new measures have not come without significant cost to the taxpayer and will not be in place for some time after the garage/maintenance facility becomes operational this fall.

It can hardly be a coincidence that much of the sidewalk and recreational pathway work is being undertaken during the 2010 municipal election campaign period.


Colin Hine