Bypass for downtown

Ray Drouin from Orleans and I, Tim Lane, had
the following exchange on how existing rail lines,
connecting to buses, could provide a fast bypass
for people whose bus currently goes through
downtown, but who are not headed for downtown.

This would be very useful for when Albert and
Slater are torn up for electric light rail, and sewer
and water construction.

------------------------
raydrouin wrote:

Tim, first let me say that I believe your organization
is a breath of fresh air, compared to what is going
on at City Hall (by both the staff and the councillors).

Living in the east end (Orleans) I can speak for the
unbelievable traffic involved between Orleans and
downtown. For those in Ottawa who have not
witness the growth of this area, they cannot imagine
the problem.

Bus 95 which services Orleans during the work week,
is pack to capacity, most time like the subways in Japan.
Sometime OCT has to put two to three 95 in a row in
order to handle the traffic. This unsatisfactory
transportation problem forces many to drive their car,
which then backs up for several kms from Trim Road
West to downtown.

I have no problem with a transfer to electric light rail
at Hurdman, if we can proceed with another fast run from
Orleans to Hurdman. There is already a designated bus
lane from Trim Road to Hurdman. Having buses
run every three minutes on that lane would take care
of most commuters from the east, and likely
reduce the car level to a manageable level.

I fully support your efforts on these projects.

Ray Drouin
--------------
From: Timothy Lane
To: raydrouin
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 11:14 AM
Subject: Re: East end link to OTrain

Ray:

Thank you for your kind words.

I drive my car (SHAME!) out to Rockland
about three mornings per week, and I see how
overloaded the buses are, and the traffic
is, on 174 coming into town.

I also tried out the Double Decker bus on
the #96 run to Kanata this morning, and was
shocked to see how backed up the #417 is in the
OUTBOUND direction in the morning!

We have added some extensions to our plan
to our website:
http://www.friendsoftheotrain.org/

One idea is to put a Park & Ride at the former
Gloucester City works yard at the south end of
Cyrville Road, one block south of Innes Road.

There is a VIA rail track there that they use to turn
passenger trains around.

This track goes right to Ottawa VIA station,
and connects to tracks going to Barrhaven & Kanata.

People coming from Blackburn Hamlet or Orleans,
could turn left off Innes Rd. at Cyrville road,
to get to an O-Train station that would
be built at the Park & Ride.

People driving in from the east on 417 could zip
off at the Innes off ramp, go two blocks to Cyrville, and
turn right to the P&R.

The O-Train could then whisk them quickly to
Confederation Heights, the business parks around
Auriga & Colonnade, Woodroffe Ave. (for a 2 minute
bus ride to Algonquin College), Bells Corners, and the
Kanata North high tech park.

For people living in the East, and working in Kanata,
it would be faster than driving your car.

Having a train start from Cyrville would ease the
congestion on 417/174 at the "Split".

Please tell Councillor Rainer Bloess not to allow City
staff to sell off that works yard at the end of Cyrville
Road, which is in his ward!

Thanks,
Tim Lane
p.s. Can we put your comments on our web site?
-------------
raydrouin wrote:

Tim, yes of course you may put my comments on the web site.

The idea of P&R at south end of Cyrville Rd is
really great. It could handle all of the traffic coming from
the south end of Orleans, thru the blackburn hamlet
bypass. That area of Orleans is really growing and need
an outlet to town, beside driving down Trim Rd to highway 174.

However, Innes Rd at Blackburn bypass going west
is already getting too crowded with cars. A designated
bus route from Orleans could handle all of that traffic to
the P&R or to Hurdman for transfer downtown. For
Councillors indeed this is no time to sell the work yard at
the end of the Cyrville Road. Let us wait for the final plan
on this transportation mess and hope that you councillors
can overcome the brick wall at city hall (both by staff and
councillors) and get the right thing done.

Ray Drouin

---------------
Date: Mon., 12 Feb. 2007 18:35:07 -0500

Ray:

Thanks for letting us use your comments on our web site.

OC Transpo recently started a new bus route #94,
which begins at Innes & Trim, stays on Innes road all the
way through Blackburn Hamlet, then turns north at Blair
to get to the Transitway for downtown, terminating at
Tunney's Pasture.

It would be a minor detour for this bus to continue on
Innes to Cyrville, then one block south to the proposed
Cyrville O-Train station.

The bus could then go back to Blair to get to the
Transitway, or the route could be split, with some 94's
going only as far as the Cyrville Station, and others
coming from Blackburn Hamlet going up Blair
to the Transitway.

Regards,
Tim Lane