Dalhousie Community Association

17 January 2011 Erin O’Connell, Planning and Growth Management Department City of Ottawa Re: Cathedral Hill proposed development At its January meeting, the Association discussed the proposed developments around Christ Church Cathedral. Our comments are based on a presentation in the fall by Mr Demark, and the public presentation last month. We have several concerns. • The entire Queen-Bronson-Sparks-Bay block is a heritage zone. It will become completely fragmented with this development. Roper House will be adjacent a tall condo, the Cathedral and its hall will be separated from other historic houses by an office tower, St Peters is squished off into a corner, and eventually there will be a modern high rise south of St Peters too. The heights of the buildings and their dominance totally change the character of the block. The underlying principle for this block should be to enhance the appreciation of the existing historical fabric. • The proposed condo tower was present...

The DCA agreed to send the following statement of position regarding the inconsistent and frustrating installation of ped traffic signals in Ottawa. We invite other community associations to consider similar appeals to the City. Diane Holmes, Councilor                         17 January, 2011 Somerset Ward Re: pedestrian activation of traffic signals At the January meeting of the Dalhousie Community Association we discussed the current unfortunate state of pedestrian traffic signals in our ward. We do understand that it is sometimes desirable to have pedestrian activated signals, for example, at Primrose/Booth half-light, where pedestrian traffic exceeds vehicular traffic and vehicular traffic will not change the light. However, we are distressed at the number of signal installations that have pedestrian push buttons for no apparent purpose. For exam...

DALHOUSIE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION 755 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 6R1 Robin Bennett                         11 Jan 2011 Diane Holmes Cc Hans Moor At the January 5th meeting of the Dalhousie Community Association the Association passed a motion with regards to Percy Street. Bronson Avenue is to be reconstructed in the coming years. It is very busy and has no cycling lanes. Many feel it is very dangerous to cycle on Bronson. Fortunately, there is a quiet parallel street immediately to the east: Percy Street. Currently, Percy has a cycling lane southbound; Bay has a cycling lane northbound. Percy goes under the Queensway, Bay does not. This results in a confusing jog in the northbound route, and Bay lacks signals at Somerset. We would like the city to examine Percy Street with the aim of making it a more cycling friendly alternative to Bron...

DALHOUSIE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION 755 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 6R1 Robin Bennett                                    11 Jan 2011 David Barclay Diane Holmes Cc Hans Moor, CfSC At the January 5th meeting of the Dalhousie Community Association the Association passed a motion with regards to Arlington Avenue. We would like the City to seriously consider making Arlington a designated East - West bike route. This will help connect the various north south routes from the downtown. It will also tie in nicely with our proposal for a pedestrian-cyclist traffic light at Arlington-Bronson to be installed as part of the Bronson reconstruction project. Arlington will fill a gap in the downtown cycling plan, and provide a less-busy alternative to Catherine. Sincerely, Eric Darwin President, Da...

The Dalhousie Community Assoc. met on Wednesday, Jan 5th. In addition to the board, there were a number of residents attending which made the room pleasantly crowded. We are confident this signifies an increased interest in what is going on in our ‘hood. Somerset reconstruction Between Preston and Bayswater : work in 2011 (which was supposed to be done in 2010) will commence at Preston and work westwards, there will be three weeks of digging for pipes and laterals, should be done by end of May. Curbs, a first layer of asphalt, and then gravel sidewalks should be installed by June. Sidewalk pavers will be installed and final coat of asphalt by November. The Preston BIA plans to install tree lighting on the O-train to Preston segment of Somerset, which is part of the Preston Street BIA; and on the east side of Plant Pool; and on the NE and SE corners of Somerset, to continue the successful and popular tree-lighting theme throughout the commercial part of Preston. No tree lighting...

DCA Agenda, Jan 5, 2011 The next meeting of the Dalhousie Community Assoc. will be on Wedn. 5 January 2011 at the Dalhousie Community Centre, corner of Empress and Somerset, at 7.30pm. The agenda includes … Somerset update: Between Preston and Bayswater: work in 2011 (which was supposed to be done in 2010) will commence at Preston and work westwards, there will be three weeks of digging for pipes and laterals, should be done by end of May. The contractor will do test pits first to find any contamination – this caused major delays last fall in the Bayswater area. Curbs, first asphalt, and then gravel sidewalks should be installed by June. Sidewalk pavers will be installed and final coat of asphalt by November. The Preston BIA plans to install tree lighting on the City Centre Dr to Preston segment, and on the east side of Plant Pool, and in front of the Vietnam building site, to continue the lighting theme throughout the commercial zone. This will necessitate some trenching, distu...