Ward 9 - Knoxdale-Merivale


Candidates


 

Keith Egli

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Website: http://keithegli.com
Phone: 613-230-5787

I am certainly in favour of improving cycling in Ottawa by making the existing network of paths more cohesive and continuous. A rider should be able to get from point A to point B without coming up alongside a transport truck. Cycling safety is also an issue that can be addressed through better education and enforcement of traffic laws.

We also need to look at ways to make cycling a year round activity in Ottawa. At the doors people have told me that is an issue for them  and with better snow removal and maintenance of the bike paths and routes they would embrace year round cycling.

Thanks for seeking my input.

 
 
 

Mike Kennedy

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Website: http://ilikemikek.ca/
Phone: 613-618-8599

"I visited your site and found the "top ten easy fixes" link informative. Most of the suggested fixes seem affordable and make sense. I have added your logo and a link to your site on my website.
Thanks, Mike Kennedy"

 
 

James O’Grady

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Website: http://jamesogrady.ca
Phone: 613-883-7386

We are lucky to live in a city that is known for its wonderful cycling paths that run along waterways and through parks, but sharing the road remains a problem.

In recent years cycling programs have been cancelled and cycling budgets were often cut to almost zero.

Lately the situation has improved; this election provides an opportunity for further progress, if cycling-friendly candidates are elected.

Many Knoxdale-Merivale residents are both motorists and cyclists. We need to make conditions even safer to encourage more local residents to try out cycling and give them the option of becoming less dependent upon their cars.

More cyclists means fewer vehicles, reducing congestion and delaying the necessity to pay for massively expensive road construction projects.

Cycling complements public transit services and reduces the need for costly investments in transit infrastructure.

Biking for moderate distances on a regular basis has positive health and economic effects.

Cycling infrastructure enables more customers to access local businesses more efficiently.

Major arterial roads like Merivale, Baseline and Greenbank in Knoxdale-Merivale are NOT cycling-friendly.

Cycling options in our ward are too often limited to existing disjointed sections of pathways, linked by roads that often do not accommodate safe cycling.

As a result, residents are discouraged from riding a bike, which in turn hinders the City’s effort to meet its transportation and environmental objectives, at great cost to the taxpayer.

I support the creation of segregated pathways, especially the completion of the Nepean Trail.

This long-standing project of both the City of Nepean and the City of Ottawa was first planned in 1982 as a way of connecting Nepean’s communities and recreational areas using pathways for cyclists and pedestrians.

The Nepean Trail is an important project that has been left incomplete for too long. Completing the trail will provide safer cycling alternatives and will strengthen our communities by tying them together. It will help increase physical activity among children and adults, important components of a sustainable and livable city.

Traffic on Merivale is very slow. From a business perspective, developing the Nepean Trail can help alleviate some of the traffic woes currently being experienced on Merivale and help ensure residents can reach local destinations in a timely manner.

Right now, residents living on either side must drive to reach their destinations on Merivale, getting in and out of their cars to go short distances.

Completing the Nepean Trail will provide a safe alternative to driving - customers can walk or cycle arrive safely while reducing the amount of local traffic on Merivale. With the addition of Walmart on the corner of Clyde and Baseline, traffic on Merivale is destined to increase significantly in the immediate future. The enhancement of  carbon-free transportation options will boost Merivale commercial and retail renewal.

For more information on my proposals for completing the Nepean Trail, please visit http://jamesogrady.ca/index.php/component/content/article/3-blog/108-the-nepean-trail-lets-make-the-connection

Knoxdale-Merivale was not included in City Council’s recent expansion of Ottawa cycling routes. I intend to fight for funding for the Nepean Trail during draft budget deliberations in December. I will not allow Nepean to be overlooked. Knoxdale-Merivale deserves its share of the cycling plan budget.

Like the Citizens for Safe Cycling I support accelerated implementation of the Ottawa Cycling Plan.

Fixing the CfSC's top 10 simple and large cycling problem areas is long overdue - let's get it done!

I recognize the importance of integrating cycling with transit - the Rack & Roll program should be expanded and made more reliable.

I fully support CfSC's suggestions for improving cycling education and promotion.

It's quite obvious that cycling will be discouraged unless there are enough safe and convenient places to park our bikes - I will support cost-effective investments to improve the situation.

It is time to change the way Ottawa is run so that it better reflects the character, values and needs of its residents.

Let's work together to build a city we can all take pride in!

 
 
 

Rod Vanier

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Website: www.ElectRod.ca
Phone: 613-858-8683

First of all, please know that I used to commute to College (in Montreal) and it was dangerous then (1970/71) as my route on Gouin Blvd. was very bike unfriendly. So I am well aware of the challenges and the need to overcome them.

I have read your list and can confirm that I support your goals and aims.

There are specific items on your list that I would champion. Let me take your program one item at a time:

1. Major Cycling Projects:
As capital comes available, improvements to the bicycle infrastructure in the City must be improved. Not sure about new bike-only bridges over the Canal, but certainly concluding the downtown bike way is a priority. I hear this at the door from my constituents all the time, even in Nepean! 

2. Completing the Ottawa Cycling Plan:
This is a must over the life of this next Council. We saw what happened earlier this summer when construction detours are not well thought out with the death of a cyclist while taking a detour off the NCC path in the west end. Better planning can reduce these tragedies. 

3. Integrating Cycling with Transit:
Perhaps there should be a way for your organization to identify which bus routes should have bike friendly capability as an interim measure towards total system capability. Coupled with this, I have suggested that the City's plan to phase out bus bays should be reversed. Part of this has to do with bicycle racks and the need for safety when bikes are being loaded. Bus bays would take the bus and the bicyclist away from the road traffic and lessen the urgency to load the bike due to impatient drivers that are blocked by the bus. This was not a consideration when the phase out policy was introduced.

I am also concerned about bike toting passengers exiting the proposed LRT in the proposed tunnel. There are plans for stations 10 stories below the surface. That is a long way to carry a bike up while competing with all the pedestrians who are also in a hurry on the escalators. I have been advocating for a surface LRT which will not have such problems. The new LRT cars will have to have bike storage spaces.

4. Police Pro-cycling Campaigns:
This is just so much common sense and I support this. It is very low cost and effective.

5. More Bike Parking:
This is an essential and integral part of the whole plan. If there is no secure lock up place, then who will ride their bikes? 

6. Keeping Bike Lanes Snow Free:
Bike lanes should be made accessible as soon as possible in the late winter/early spring, depending on the circumstances. There is no point in making substantial investments to bike infrastructure and then sabotaging it by poor upkeep. In addition, I would call for a regular sweeping program JUST FOR BIKE LANES during the biking season. This is not expensive and is a safety requirement to ensure that debris is removed from bike lanes.

7. Reinstate Cycling Safety and Promotion Programs:
I completely agree! In addition, these programs would be run in conjunction with Policing campaigns identified in Item 4 above. 

8. Cyclist Representation to the City:
I believe that a Sub-committee of the RCAC be established with a bike only agenda. That way bike issues would not be lost in the other agenda items. Recommendations concluded there could then go to the whole committee. I do not believe the entire Committee needs to meet more frequently to achieve your goal on this point. 

9. Let's Measure Up:
I am all in favour of anything that measures this City against its comparative peers, first in Ontario, then in Canada, finally in North America. This is needed to measure effectiveness vs. cost. Such efforts will allow us to target weaknesses in our overall plan without recourse to expensive consultants.

I hope I can be a powerful voice for your group for safe and effective cycling in our City.

 

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