Scenario One

Creates a public space adjacent to the east façade of the Government Conference Centre. The underpass and MacKenzie Avenue ramp extension is removed and all pedestrian circulation is at grade.

A small island at the intersection of Colonel By and Rideau serves as a refuge for pedestrians crossing the street. It is the most minimal intervention.

- About 900 square metres of commemoration space

- All existing pedestrian crossings are maintained

- Existing traffic patterns are maintained

Scenario Two

Creates a central, triangular-shaped space for public gathering and commemoration.

The space is defined and contained by a ceremonial streetscape with wide promenades.

A centre median divides Colonel By. A new pedestrian crossing of Rideau is located at MacKenzie. The underpass and MacKenzie ramp are removed. Bike lanes provided.

- About 1,700 square metres of commemoration space

- Pedestrian landing areas at Rideau intersections are enlarged

- Sussex is one-way northbound to St. Patrick

- Traffic lane widths are adjusted to accommodate wider sidewalks

Scenario Three

The entire area east of the Government Conference Centre to the intersection of Colonel By and Rideau is dedicated to public space.

The space is contiguous across the south side of Rideau strengthening relationship to Rideau Canal, Confederation Square and Confederation Boulevard.

A grand boulevard is developed along Colonel By. It is envisioned with wide sidewalks and centre medians. New pedestrian crossings of Rideau at Mackenzie link directly to the space.

The underpass and MacKenzie ramp are removed. Bike lanes provided.

- About 2,100 square metres of commemoration space

- Pedestrian landing areas at Rideau intersection are enlarged

- Sussex is one-way northbound to St. Patrick

The Ottawa Cycling Plan was approved by the city Transportation Committee earlier in the week, and is now off to full Council for approval. The Citizen has a story, and you can read the full plan online.  Be warned: it’s a couple of hundred pages long, but the executive summary is pretty thorough. I’ll try to say some more on the weekend (which, admittedly, I’ve promised before), but it is really good news that committee has opted to accelerate the plan first phase of the plan to be completed in 5 years. The city might be short on cash, but these are the sorts of projects that pay off in the long run. The real test will come at budget time, when cyclists will have to fight not to get squeezed out in the annual budget blood letting.

Reevely, in light of the plan, is looking for comments as to where the early-priority improvements are. My biggest pet peeve is the terrible state of some road’s curbside – Queen St. and Lyon can be especially brutal; I inadvertantly ended up in a 2 foot square, 3 inch deep pothole on Bronson last week (I was fine).

Secondly, PEI Liberal Shawn Murphy has introduced a Private Members Bill to remove the GST from Bicycles. I’m pretty sure that Joyce Murray (another Liberal, from Vancouver) had a similar bill on the notice paper yesterday, but it must have been withdrawn. Or I’m nuts. In any case, PMB’s almost always go nowhere: you can introduce as many as you want, more or less, but a lottery determines which bill’s get considered further. In most cases, even if considered, the legislation (often rightfully) won’t go anywhere, and an election would kill all legislation waiting on the order paper.

However, this is still probably worth a letter or call to your MP: the idea is simple enough that it could easily be incorporated into a future budget or integrated into a larger part of an election campaign. By making it clear that people care, that’s more likely to happen. Removing the GST won’t make a giant difference in anyone’s pocket and smacks a bit of tokenism (as Ben pointed out last year), but saving money is saving money and anything that helps people afford bicycles is a good step.