Significant Changes to Route 18

***  The text below was originally sent as an e-mail to Peter Clark, Ottawa City Councillor for Ward 13 Rideau-Rockcliffe   ***


Mr. Clark,

OC Transpo is proposing significant changes to Route 18 as it passes through Overbrook.  The route would no longer cover almost 1/2 of Donald Street, no longer run on Frances Street at all, as well as not running on any of the streets where there is a high concentration of low-income housing (i.e., Prince Albert & Queen Mary).

 What this means on a general level is:

-  areas of high concentration of seniors (like our end of Frances Street/Newman/Lawson) will no longer have reasonably close access to public transit.

-  those who use the Day Care facilities (i.e., "Garderie Providence Day Care Centre" at 998 Frances Street & "Counterpoint Day Care" at 149 King George Street) will no longer have reasonably close access to public transit.

 -  those who frequent the St-Sébastien Church at 1000 Frances Street will no longer have reasonably close access to public transit.

-  three public schools will no longer have reasonably close access to public transit: the Ottawa Technical Learning Centre (at 485 Donald close to existing Frances & Donald bus stop); St. Michael Catholic School (at 437 Donald Street close to existing Donald/Paul-Emile Lamarche Ave stop); and Queen Mary Public School (at 557 Queen Mary Street, close to existing Queen Mary/Bernard Streets stop).

-  those who use the Overbrook Recreation Centre at 33 Quill Street will no longer have reasonably close access to public transit.

-  there are probably various businesses who will be adversely affected by this proposal as well  (e.g., Librairie du Centre).

What this means on a personal level is:

-  We will no longer have reasonably close access to bus service for commuting to and from work.  The closest access point would be Donald & Lola.
-   My 80 year-old mother-in-law will no longer have reasonably close access to public transit.  This is her only means of travelling anywhere in the city (e.g., shopping, medical appointments, social events. etc.) when leaving home.  This is especially a major consideration for her in the winter.

I understand that the City of Ottawa is attempting to reduce the public transit walking access from 400 m to 800 m (an average for Canada & US public transit).  However, Ottawa has a severe winter compared to most of the US - and even some parts of Canada.  As well, seniors, low-income groups and school children should not be made to suffer unnecessarily for such an essential service.  Personally, I firmly believe there are far too many redundant bus routes running during the rush hour peak periods every day from the outlying areas of the region (which also clog the downtown as well).  These should be targetted first before any other routes are considered for "optimization".

Respectfully, given all of these considerations, I advocate that Route 18 remain as it now is.  The proposed changes must not be applied.

Regards,

Len Grady
975 Frances Street
Ottawa, ON
K1K 3L2
Tel.: (613) 745-7698



N.B.:  If you (on the CC line of this e-mail) are submitting a similar note, please be sure to include the following persons on your distribution:

Rosemary Theriault
Transportation Committee Coordinator
Tel.: (613) 580-2424 ext. 21624 or by
e-mail at rosemary.theriault@ottawa.ca

Councillor Diane Deans
Chair, Transit Commission
Phone: 613-580-2480
E-mail: Diane.Deans@ottawa.ca