If you would like to know what the City of Ottawa has been saying about Byron Avenue as a potential route for light rail, they have a Website.
Western Corridor Light Rail Transit Environmental Assessment
You can see in the "Presentation and Open House Summary" area, that the city is not ruling out having an ABOVE GRADE train in the western corridor. They are also considering two new stations on a Byron/Richmond Road corridor.
Some questions they did not address:
Where would the stations be placed?
Would the homes around the train feel vibrations? Will our foundations be impacted?
What would the sound level be like around our homes?
What would the traffic impact be?
The proposed station locations were identified a long time ago. They are shown on publicly available presentation pages. Start by reading these old posts http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/western-lrt-part-iii-richmond-byron-options/
ReplyDeletewhich show the stations, which segments of the byron right of way would be at grade and which would be underground. Note also that the tracks use the former Richmond Road space, not the linear "park", and that Richmond would be reduced to two lanes from 3 - 4 that parts of it are now. This might mean less noise and less shaken foundations, not more. Other posts in the series show that the track section can be greened with grass, that it need not be fenced off, etc.
Perhaps the Byron option is an opportunity for the neighborhood to radically improve the awful two-roads-in-parallel that is now Byron and Richmond.
Rather than start a lobby against the proposed Byron route, find out more about it, join the PAC on the Western LRT, and examine the pro's (there are some) and the con's (there are some).
The picture of an highway in the background of your blog tells a lot on your priorities.
ReplyDeleteThe worst that could happen is that your property value increases... how bad can that be...
Thanks for your comment Eric. Very useful. I think the main point is that there are several options being explored even for Byron, and residents would like to be involved in these discussions. There is a lot of contradictory information out there. The city councillor assured me the train would be completely underground, but it's clear that is not what has been envisioned.
ReplyDeleteEric's entire series should be required reading for anyone interested in this issue - including politicians (ahem) - as it presents the choices and the trade-offs in clear, readable human language without the spin and bafflegab of City presentations.
ReplyDeleteByron is not a perfect option, but neither is it all that bad from either a city-building or a neighbour-impact standpoint. Once it's in, it will have far less impact on surrounding neighbourhoods than the current transitway trench has on hoods like mine (Champlain Park) and even here, we're a block away and barely hear or smell all those ugly diesel buses that will hopefully disappear very soon.
If I lived near Byron, I would be spending less time fighting AGAINST light rail on that stretch (and the title of your blog makes it seem pretty clear that opposition is what you're all about), and spend more time getting involved in these early planning stages to make sure the city does it right, so that if it comes your way, you can save the park and narrow Richmond at the same time.
I don't think people realize how many people live directly on Richmond and Byron. Having a train right outside your front door is simply not the same as living in Champlain Park and having buses or a train on the Parkway. But I do appreciate the input. We're just looking to spark some discussion.
ReplyDeleteYou know... I would LOVE to have a train that close to my house, but unfortunately, I live in Barrhaven. It could have happened, but alas, the previous LRT plan was killed, and now it will be 2050 or later before I see rail to my area.
ReplyDeleteDiscussion sparked. And thanks for engaging in public. So much better to share thoughts in an open forum.
ReplyDeleteNot to quibble, but Champlain Park is right on the Transitway, with houses directly facing the trench across a side street - considerably closer than any house along Richmond or Byron would be to the proposed LRT alignment. Myself, I'm about 100 metres away, but I'm looking forward to quiet lightweight electric trains.
It's important to distinguish between the old heavy subway technology most people think about when they hear "Light Rail" - as in rattling, roaring monsters that require a heavy, dedicated rail bed - and the newer, smoother, quieter vehicles we're talking about here that can run along a grass median. They're not zero noise, but compared to an articulated number 2 bus going by, they're not that bad.
The worst part will not be the trains themselves it will be the disruption that the construction period will bring, whichever route they choose. That part will be very difficult - more so for you than us who already have the trench. So yes, it's worth considering that impact.
I personally have the pleasure of living across the street from both the Queensway and the O-Train, which of course is diesel trains running on old, heavy rail tracks. What makes more noise? The continuous flow of transport trucks and buses. I can't imagine how much quieter an electric train would be compared to the current O-Train. I would certainly like to have one nearby as a transit option.
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved there, people asked me constantly if the Queensway noise made life impossible, and I responded, no, it doesn't, in fact the undulating roar/whoosh of traffic is almost like the beach or the wind, and aids my falling asleep.
I wonder how the creator of this blog would respond if Ottawa's LRT hinged on the use of Byron Avenue. Would she oppose it and deep-six any hopes of light rail in a city already 20-30 years behind in terms of transit, or take one for the team?
If we had had any sense in the 50s, we would never have lifted the tram tracks anyway. Instead of blowing millions on busways in trenches, creek valleys and freeways in the 80s, we would have upgraded our tram and streetcar system to light rail and today there would be LRT running between Byron and Richmond. Not only would LRT be running in that corridor, but it would be a beloved feature of the community too.
ReplyDeleteIf, perchance, someone from the City had the brilliant idea of removing the tracks and replacing them with a busway or buses on Richmond/Byron, people like Jennifer D. here would be first in line to oppose that.
Anyway, light rail at grade in the Richmond/Byron corridor is the single-best way to ensure that the folks in the City's roads department don't get their way as per current plans to widen Richmond to four or five lanes from Carling to Westboro. Did you know that the City has actually reserved part of the tramway corridor for widening Richmond?
Not one mention among all of these comments on how much the Richmond/Byron and Carling options are going to cost in comparison to the River parkway option. Keep in mind that the aim of this LRT line is to create an attractive option for people living farther west in the city to commute to the downtown. Can a line running along Carling or Richmond above ground safely obtain the speed to make it a quick and comfortable journey that people will actually want to use? And once it goes underground, you can imagine the costs will be going skyward.
ReplyDelete