Councillor foresees RTO traffic 'hell' despite city transporation plan

City council has passed a $29 million transportation plan it hopes will get public servants to and from the office an extra day a week, some east-end city councillors says the new measures aren't enough to keep up with the pressure.

Councillor foresees RTO traffic 'hell' despite city transporation plan $29 million plan passes unanimously at council, but one councillor says it isn't enough for east-end commuters City council has unanimously passed a $29 million transportation plan it hopes will get public servants to and from the office an extra day a week, but one city councillor says traffic is going to be "hell" anyway and the new measures aren't going to fix it. The transportation plan aims to respond to an expected surge of traffic this fall as most federal public servants spend four days in the office and students head back to class.

The city expects that will mean 65,000 additional weekly trips into Ottawa's downtown core. The plan includes 48 measures, like more frequent LRT service, more express buses, a steep hike to no-stopping fines downtown and $20 million to expand a south-end park-and-ride facility. Orléans West-Innes Coun.

Laura Dudas called it a "proactive approach" to get ahead of the pressures and prevent gridlock. "My deep hope is that this comes off without a hitch and we have so many people going, 'Wow, we can take transit. This is fun.

This is easy. It's convenient, and maybe we can just stay on transit for the long term,'" Dudas said. But other east-end councillors weren't so sure.

Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matt Luloff said infrastructure isn't up to the task — especially as commuters are still waiting for an LRT expansion to Trim with no opening date in sight. "We need to recognize what this plan can and can't do," he said.

"We can optimize traffic signals. We can coordinate construction. We can communicate better with commuters, but we cannot manage our way out of years of insufficient transportation capacity in the east end."

Orléans South-Navan Coun. Catherine Kitts put it even more bluntly. "I believe September is going to be hell for commutes, particularly in the east end," she said.

"I don't want anyone to leave this meeting believing that we have solved the problem, because I don't think these initiatives are sufficient to address the scale of the challenge that we're facing," Kitts added. "I still do not think our transportation network can handle what is coming." Most expensive measures will take time Some of the measures in the plan are simple.

The city is looking to ease traffic flow through better enforcement and tweaks to traffic signals. It's also looking to delay some construction work, while expanding night work where possible. But the most expensive item in the plan, by far, is a $20-million expansion to the Bowesville LRT park-and-ride.

City staff say it sometimes comes close to filling up — and the area is only growing. The city plans to pay the bill largely through fees developers pay on new homes, or through a federal-provincial infrastructure fund. Currently, the lot has 800 spaces, but room to expand to 2,000.

While most measures in the plan will come in phases over the summer and fall, the Bowesville expansion is likely wait until next year for construction. Even so, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said the plan remains proactive. "The Bowesville thing is one out of many," Sutcliffe said.

"We're talking about a robust plan with 48 initiatives to help people get around the city better." But the Bowesville park-and-ride isn't the only measure that will take time. The plan includes a sidewalk connection from the planned Moodie LRT station to the nearby Department of National Defence campus, which will also see better express bus service.

That will cost a combined $3.9 million, though much of that is contingent on federal funding. Debbie Stewart, the city's general manager of strategic initiatives, said that the application process will take time. Bay ward Coun.

Theresa Kavanagh said the parking situation around the campus is challenging, with cars spilling into the surrounding neighbourhood. She said the plan will make a difference — if only in the long term once the LRT runs further west. "It's definitely going to be helpful," she said.

"We're planning for the future." No-stopping fines will rise to $195 downtown Sutcliffe said one other important measure responds to his personal "pet peeve": seeing people block traffic in no-stopping zones. No stopping violations have been a major problem in Ottawa, with bylaw officers issuing 22,409 tickets on key downtown routes during peak periods since June of last year.

As a result, the city is planning to extend times at no-parking and no-stopping zones on some downtown streets and increase fines for violations there by 50 per cent, including on Rideau, Elgin, Albert, Slater, Metcalfe and O'Connor streets. No stopping fines would rise from $130 to $195 in those areas, while no parking fines would go up from $90 to $135. The city is also looking to open up more parking spaces by temporarily allowing churches and some city recreation facilities near major transit stations to offer parking to the general public, essentially functioning as park-and-rides.

Transit measures include more funding to cover overtime for bus maintenance workers and to continue E1 service between Blair Station and downtown, plus $1.1 million for more express routes to and from key locations like Barrhaven Centre, Place d’Orléans and South Keys. The plan will also increase service on certain bus routes, including the 61, 62, 63, 74 and 75. Finally, OC Transpo is planning to run more frequent LRT service, with Line 1 frequency set to change from every five minutes to every four minutes.

Line 2 service will begin earlier, at 6 a.m. OC Transpo general manager Rick Leary said he's "thrilled" that council passed the plan. "We think that this is the right thing to do for public transit in this city and we think it's going to be very supportive of the needs of those in the federal government that are coming back to work," he said.