Our Community

Browning Avenue Bus Rapid Transit Project

Update

http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/hospital_cumberland/index_en.html

During the last Transportation Master Plan exercise, members of the public who opposed a transportation link from Riverside Drive to the hospital ring road had a new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor inserted into the Transportation Master Plan and the City of Ottawa Official Plan. This corridor is known as the Browning Avenue Bus Rapid Transit Corridor.

The potential Browning Avenue Bus Rapid Transit Corridor would run next to the Alta Vista Transportation Corridor (AVTC). However, unlike the Alta Vista Transportation Corridor this BRT corridor would cut across the General Hospital woods from west to east and run in the Ontario Hydro right-of-way immediately next to the homes on Browning Avenue.

The Ontario Hydro Corridor acts as a buffer for Riverview Park from the impacts of the AVTC. Unfortunately, the Browning Avenue Bus Rapid Transit Corridor would be located directly in the Ontario Hydro right-of-way, with no buffer, only metres from the homes in Poets Corner.

I have always opposed the use of the Ontario Hydro right-of-way as a rapid transit corridor and I will continue to oppose it. I believe it will have a serious and negative impact on the community of Riverview Park and a particularly devastating impact on the homes along Browning Avenue and in Poets Corner.

In 2006, I joined Paul Bourque, Past President of the Riverview Park Community Association and local residents in appealing the inclusion of the Browning Avenue Bus Rapid Transit Corridor in the Transportation Master Plan and the Official Plan to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). The OMB ruled in favour of the community and ordered that the City of Ottawa conduct a full Environmental Assessment to prove that the Ontario Hydro right-of-way is capable of handling a 70 km per hour Bus Rapid Transit immediately next to this residential community.

As the City of Ottawa has not yet conducted the OMB ordered Environmental Assessment, the corridor remains in the Official Plan and continues to be factored into transit planning. City Council has directed that the OMB ordered Environmental Assessment take place over the next 12 months so it is important that we unite in our opposition to this ill-conceived Bus Rapid Transit corridor.

In order to develop a co-ordinated opposition to this proposed corridor, we must share information. I will be developing a specific section on my web site - www.peterhume.ca that will be a one-stop source of information relating to this development.

Your active participation is important as well - use my web page or send an email to andrew.lomas@ottawa.ca to register for future updates and action.

I will be asking the Riverview Park Community Association to continue to play an active role in this opposition. I am confident the RPCA recognizes the clear and present danger that this transit corridor poses to the residents of Riverview Park, specifically the residents of Browning Avenue and Poets Corner.

Stay tuned for future updates and check my website - www.peterhume.ca for breaking news on the fight to stop the Browning Avenue Bus Rapid Transit corridor.

Thank you for all your help and support on this important issue.

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