Dalhousie Community Association

Ottawa's municipal election is fast approaching, and residents of our ward will have an important choice to make on October 27th. To help you in that process, the Dalhousie Community Association, in conjunction with the Preston BIA, Chinatown BIA and CKCU FM will be hosting an all candidates debate on September 23rd at St. Luke's Church. Doors open at 6:30 and the event begins at 7pm. There are 10 people running to represent us at City Hall, and the person that's elected will play an important role in shaping our community for years to come. This is a great opportunity to see what the contenders have to say. What do you want to hear them discuss? The DCA is finalizing the format of this debate, and welcomes input on themes you would like to see raised. Feel free to comment on this post or email president@ottawadalhousie.ca

Planning Committee meets today to consider the Preston-Carling Community Design plan, which will shape our neighbourhood for decades to come. We've issued the press release below to highlight some of our concerns. There are a number of elements that need to be amended to protect the things that matter most in our community. For more information, you can visit www.savelittleitaly.ca .   DCA Preston-Carling CDP Press Release FINAL

The Dalhousie Community Association will be holding its annual general meeting on Tuesday, April 29 th at 7:00PM at the Dalhousie Community Centre. We are very excited to welcome Dr. Mark Kristmanson , CEO of the National Capital Commission, as our keynote speaker. Our neighbourhood is bounded to the north and south by NCC land. The redevelopment of Lebreton Flats is gradually reshaping the northern portion of our neighbourhood, and the parklands along the Ottawa River and Dow’s Lake are important greenspaces to our community. At the meeting, we’ll also provide an overview of the past year in our neighbourhood, what’s coming up in the year ahead, and elect new members of the board. This is your chance to get involved in helping make our neighbourhood a better place.

More from the Albert/Scott bus diversion efforts:  22 April 2014 | Frustrated by four months of waiting for a critical safety report on the proposed diversion of buses through their community during the Confederation Line construction,  community members will undertake their own audit  Thursday  night.  Residents have been asking the City for copies of the Pedestrian and Cycling Safety Audits prepared by Rideau Transit Group in preparation for the diversion of 2500 buses a day onto Scott and Albert streets, but  City officials and RTG say the report is not ready.   "We're frustrated because the report is supposed to be the basis of safety measures that were described in early December. If that's the case, how can it now not be ready? This is critical information for the community," says the Hintonburg Community Association's Cheryl Parrott, one of the safety audit organizers.  The first audit will be with the Women's Initiatives for Safer Environ

Albert St. will begin it's (long!) reconstruction process in early May. This will involve a total replacement of sewers and water mains, construction of a temporary transitway for during the LRT construction (though we are working to minimize this!), and ultimately a final reconstruction in after 2018 for a permanent design. The city will be holding an open house on April 8th from 5-7 PM at the Dalhousie Community Centre to highlight what will be happening during the sewer reconstruction and the post-2018 design. 2018 may seem like a long ways away, but the decisions for what will be built then are being made today. It's important that you make your voice heard. The DCA has been participating in the consultations on this project for sometime. We've put together a handy sheet of our key thoughts that will hopefully help frame yours. Please let us know what you think! Albert St. Re-Design Open House Key Themes, April 8 2014

Ottawa- (January 22 nd , 2014) Today, residents who live near Albert and Scott streets rallied to demand that the city revisit a plan to divert as many as 2500 buses a day onto a widened roadway. They called on the city to find creative solutions that would divert fewer buses through their neighbourhood. “Today’s rally, particularly on such a cold day, reinforces how the community has been frozen out of the decision making process for Confederation Line bus diversions,” said Dalhousie Community Association (DCA) president Michael Powell. “The current plans for diverting all Transitway bus traffic through our neighbourhood will cause a nightmare of safety, health and liveability issues. It is simply not acceptable.” The construction of the Confederation Line will require that the Transitway between Lebreton Flats and Tunney’s Pasture be closed to bus traffic beginning in 2016. The current plan is for Albert and Scott Streets to absorb the entirety of Transitway traffic for the

It is not too late to change the City’s plan to widen Albert Street to 6 and 7 lanes and to run ALL of the Transitway buses down Albert during light rail construction. Your voice is already making a difference - the City is now looking seriously at alternatives such as the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway for some of the buses. However, concerns remain about air and noise pollution, cyclist and pedestrian safety, and traffic management. There are also fears that Albert will remain widened even after light rail opens in 2018 . We need to ensure that we get a liveable street, now and in 2018. Here are 4 ways you can help: 1.    Attend the community rally on Wednesday, January 22, 7am to 8am Let’s show first-hand just how unworkable the City’s plans are. “Stop 2500 Buses” Community Rally 7am to 8 am, Wednesday, January 22, 2014 Albert @ Preston (east side) “Stop 2500 buses” and “HELP US” signs will be available, or bring your own! 2.    Attend