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Mayor Jim Watson says he’s focused on reaching a tentative agreement with the National Capital Commission on the city’s preferred route for extending light rail to the west, despite vocal opposition this week from a church congregation and some Richmond Road businesses who say the plan is unacceptable.
After some public friction last fall over the city’s favoured rail route, Watson and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who also oversees the NCC, agreed to a 100-day truce, in hopes of finding a solution for getting trains between Dominion station and Lincoln Fields.
The city wants to run them along 1.2 kilometres of NCC-owned land on the south side of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, while the NCC — fearing a loss of mature trees and restricted views from the shoreline — has suggested the city explore using Rochester Field instead.
Enter the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa. It owns 2.4 hectares of land adjacent to a proposed station on Cleary Avenue and fears LRT construction will mean months of traffic congestion and lost parking, not to mention constant noise and vibrations once trains are operating. Nearby businesses, meanwhile, fear expropriation, but allege the city has left them in the dark.
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Once the 100 days is over, the mayor said the city will have “hopefully” reached a tentative agreement with the NCC and can go back to the community at that point to explain exactly where the route is going.
“I can understand their angst, but at the same time (there are) going to be some areas where we’ll undoubtedly have to expropriate or have to go underground that will have some impact on some neighbourhoods because we’re building a transit system in a built-up area,” Watson said. “You can’t just have the thing float from air.”
“We wanted to have this 100-day period to roll up our sleeves and get the job done,” Watson said, adding all sides agreed not to discuss the finer details of the negotiations in the media.
Asked if the city might revisit a previously dismissed option that would see a tunnel built below Rochester Field and the Byron Linear Park — which runs parallel to and south of Richmond, Watson said he didn’t want to speculate on potential alternatives until talks with the NCC are complete.
“We’re going to work diligently behind-the-scenes and ultimately come up with a solution, so I’ll reserve judgment on future options until we actually have finished the negotiations with the NCC,” he said.
Construction of the western LRT extension is part of Phase 2, a $3-billion plan to extend rail east, west and south to Algonquin College by 2023.
Watson and Baird’s 100-day truce ends in early March, at which time the results of the discussions will be made known to the public, the mayor said.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
After some public friction last fall over the city’s favoured rail route, Watson and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who also oversees the NCC, agreed to a 100-day truce, in hopes of finding a solution for getting trains between Dominion station and Lincoln Fields.
The city wants to run them along 1.2 kilometres of NCC-owned land on the south side of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, while the NCC — fearing a loss of mature trees and restricted views from the shoreline — has suggested the city explore using Rochester Field instead.
Enter the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa. It owns 2.4 hectares of land adjacent to a proposed station on Cleary Avenue and fears LRT construction will mean months of traffic congestion and lost parking, not to mention constant noise and vibrations once trains are operating. Nearby businesses, meanwhile, fear expropriation, but allege the city has left them in the dark.
Related
- Church opposes city's preferred western LRT route
- Businesses join LRT opposition
- Chianello: We need LRT compromise — not NIMBYism
Once the 100 days is over, the mayor said the city will have “hopefully” reached a tentative agreement with the NCC and can go back to the community at that point to explain exactly where the route is going.
“I can understand their angst, but at the same time (there are) going to be some areas where we’ll undoubtedly have to expropriate or have to go underground that will have some impact on some neighbourhoods because we’re building a transit system in a built-up area,” Watson said. “You can’t just have the thing float from air.”
“We wanted to have this 100-day period to roll up our sleeves and get the job done,” Watson said, adding all sides agreed not to discuss the finer details of the negotiations in the media.
Asked if the city might revisit a previously dismissed option that would see a tunnel built below Rochester Field and the Byron Linear Park — which runs parallel to and south of Richmond, Watson said he didn’t want to speculate on potential alternatives until talks with the NCC are complete.
“We’re going to work diligently behind-the-scenes and ultimately come up with a solution, so I’ll reserve judgment on future options until we actually have finished the negotiations with the NCC,” he said.
Construction of the western LRT extension is part of Phase 2, a $3-billion plan to extend rail east, west and south to Algonquin College by 2023.
Watson and Baird’s 100-day truce ends in early March, at which time the results of the discussions will be made known to the public, the mayor said.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
