#ottcity #transit #justice Even after 7 PM today #octranspo was diverting buses from the transit-way east of Lincoln Fields so the wealthy Island Park residents can have 'bike days' on it.

#ottawacity Think of how many hundreds of busses are diverted every weekend, delaying thousands of riders and burning millions in extra fuel.

This is not climate action or resource equity.

#NCC stop #greenwashing #bikedays

When you've been apartment hunting for over a year, you see a lot of the same apartments coming back in the market. Just saw one 2-bedroom I looked at last summer at $1900 now posted at $2200.

New renters are facing around 15% increase in rents compared to last year but #ottcity can't imagine asking homeowners to pay more than 2.5% increase in taxes.

The #Centretown Buzz newspaper is now on Mastodon: @centretown_buzz #OttCity #Ottawa

Please, if you live in the neighbourhood (Somerset & Preston), review this “concept plan” and fill out the survey. The overall intentions are good, but are somewhat poorly executed.

https://engage.ottawa.ca/1010-somerset/survey_tools/concept-plan-questions

Read a good article on the issues here:
https://centretownbuzz.com/2023/08/no-more-parkland-in-new-1010-somerset-plan/

#Ottawa #OttCity #Housing #GreenSpace

More than 300 million litres of sewage water poured into Ottawa River during storm

Last week’s severe thunderstorm overwhelmed Ottawa’s new, purpose-built sewage and stormwater storage tunnel, sending 316 million litres of contaminated water pouring into the Ottawa River. It was the worst overflow since the $232 million Combined Sewage Storage Tunnel (CSST) went into service in 2020.

#Ottawa #OttCity #OttawaWeather #OttawaRiver

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/more-than-300-million-litres-of-sewage-water-poured-into-ottawa-river-during-storm

Today at McDonalds in Britannia there was a woman trying to sleep and the restaurant staff were being kind and patient and professional.

But another patron kept asking the staff to call paramedics.

The woman who was trying to sleep heard it all and said she didn't need a paramedic and to just leave her alone.

I was standing next to the complaining patron, making my order, and I said, "see, she doesn't need a paramedic".

This patron then went out into the parking lot and called the police.

two Paramedics and four Police arrived shortly afterwards.

the woman who was trying to sleep had to flee.

I approached the police & paramedics and advised them of what I had seen. I said that the other restaurant patron had made a bad call and that the woman they were called to assist had explicitly said she didn't need a paramedic.

One of the policemen admitted that she appeared to be walking just fine (as she walked away). One of the paramedics was irritated by the false-alarm saying 'people think they are heroes for calling'.

I am glad the woman got away and I hope she finds rest somewhere.

I think the person who called the police should be charged with mischief.

If someone calls the cops and they show up and the only 'crime' was the appearance of somnolence, then the person who called the cops should be charged with mischief for wasting public resources.

#ottcity #police #mcdonalds #ottawa

#octranspo #ottcity #cdnpoli this is about us too #canada

"Public transit in the U.S. is notorious for being infrequent and unreliable. Americans had to wait 17 minutes on average to get on public transit in 2022, while 45% of Americans have no access to public transportation at all. And while the U.S. spends billions in funding every year, transits across the nation like the MTA, RTA and SEPTA are finding themselves in a fiscal crisis. Ultimately it’s the riders who are paying for the deficit. So just how did public transit in the U.S. get so awful? And can it be improved?"

https://youtu.be/0nsPGMoXqX0

On July 6th I emailed my city council member and the member for another ward about a problematic intersection. July 27th, I received an email from the traffic assessment specialist about the changes that would be made to the intersection.

Email your #OttCity councillor with your #OttWalk #OttBike #OttawaRunner #OttTraffic concerns.

Ask for follow-up!

Be kind! City staff are people too!

You can make #Ottawa a safer, better city!

As the O-train is down (again), and the mayor has released another pro-car op-ed, I took the time to write the mayor and my city councillor about the kinds of transportation infrastructure they are prioritizing. You can too!

Tell them you want reliable public transportation & safe infrastructure.

Mark.Sutcliffe@ottawa.ca

#Ottawa #OttBike #OttWalk #RoadSafety #TrafficSafety #PublicTransportation #IWalkedHere #IBikedHere #GetOutside #ActiveTransportation #OttCity #OCTranspo #OTrain

I think what would make sense is to update the bylaw. For residential streets with no through traffic (eg. dead ends, crescents, etc) and less than Xm long people should be allowed to seasonally store activity equipment within the shared right of way beside the road. Make the bylaw make sense for people.

#OttCity #Ottawa #PeopleOverCars https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/basketball-net-bylaw-complaints-1.6903598

#Ottawa neighbours, if you see wild parsnip - "The plant sap contains chemicals that may cause skin and eye irritation and make the skin prone to burning and blistering when exposed to the sun" https://ottawa.ca/en/living-ottawa/environment-conservation-and-climate/wildlife-and-plants/invasive-species

Report it here for removal: https://ottawa.ca/en/living-ottawa/environment-conservation-and-climate/wildlife-and-plants/invasive-species/report-wild-parsnip-poison-ivy-or-giant-hogweed

#GetOutside #MyOttawa #OttawaCity #OttBike #OttWalk #OttawaRunners #OttCity #OttHike

The city is very responsive! Let them know where it is!

Does anyone know how in the heck people from the west end are supposed to get downtown tomorrow by #ottbike? Ottawa River pathway, Leb Flats MUP, and even the MUP along Albert St from Bayview Station are all closed. Forcing people to bike on Somerset or Gladstone will really suck. #CanadaDay #ottCity #Ottawa

My first sighting of the new line 2 O-Trains doing practice runs at Bayview Station. #OttLRT #OttCity #Ottawa

“On rights-of-way, the regulations would confine the boxes to local roads, with no allowance for libraries on busier arteries or collectors.”
Not on arteries, sure. But collectors should also be allowed. Many collector streets are just slightly wider residential streets. Bays water is a collector, but I know of no better road to have a little library. There’s one on there now.
#LittleLibrary #Ottawa #OttCity https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/city-of-ottawa-ready-to-turn-the-page-regulate-little-library-boxes-1.6877884

Ottawa's air quality is so bad that it cracked through the top of a risk scale on Tuesday morning, as Environment Canada warns that forest fires may keep the air dangerous to human health through most of the week.

#Ottawa #OttCity

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/air-quality-fire-smoke-ottawa-gatineau-1.6865730

Police officers pulled over a school bus because a kid flipped them the bird and threatened to take the kid in. Public outreach via the #Ottawa police

“Giving the police the middle finger, which they often deserve, is a Charter-protected right. Free speech does not end at a cop’s hurt feelings. And the fact that police are so thin-skinned is another step in the troubling trend of police entitlement and authoritarianism,” Spratt said.

#DefundThePolice #OttCity #Canada
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-police-accused-of-intimidating-schoolboy-who-flipped-them-the-bird

On my way
downtown for #EnoughIsEnough #EnoughIsEnoughON #EnoughIsEnoughOtt #Justice4Workers #OCTranspo #OttCity https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM26dUdXU/

Check out the turnout on a rainy day for Ottawa’s critical mass ride! People of all ages and abilities showed up to demand safe streets and infra to walk, roll and ride. #ottbike #ottwalk
#ottcity #otttraffic

@mbonsma why is it so difficult for #ottawa to do this?? besides, as the capital, shouldn’t it be a role model and lead by example? #ottbike #ottcity #ottpoli

New on my blog: In honour of #JanesWalkOttawa's theme of Building Bridges this weekend, part 11 of my Wellington Street series, on the Portage Bridge! https://centretown.blogspot.com/2023/05/wellington-street-part-11-portage.html #OttCity #longreads