Nortel's lobbying attacks quality of life that caused it to expand here

For immediate release: 1997 November 26

Nortel's lobbying in support of its expansion of its Carling Campus is destroying the very quality of life that caused it to choose Ottawa-Carleton as the city to expand its operations, according to Citizens for Safe Cycling.

Starting at 1:30 p.m. today, Regional Council will consider a report that recommends modifications to Moodie Drive and the Queensway overpass near the Nortel expansion. The changes are required to reduce the negative impacts that thousands of Nortel employees commuting to their jobs by car will have on employees and other residents who are using other lower-impact modes of transportation - cycling, walking and public transit - to get to work and other destinations.

"Nortel is literally treating cycling residents with less respect than dirt," said CfSC President Brett Delmage. "Nortel is spending an estimated several million dollars for advanced treatment for contaminated runoff from the 22 hectares of parking lots they are paving in the Greenbelt. At the same time, Nortel is actively opposing roadway modifications that are essential to minimize the danger that their 4500 car-driving employees will cause to cyclists and pedestrians. Yet the roadway safety modifications that Nortel is fighting cost less than one-tenth of what Nortel is paying for their wastewater treatment, parking lots and new intersections to connect their site to Moodie Drive."

The roadway safety modifications that Nortel is fighting include changes to on the on and off- ramps and bike lanes at the Queensway overpass at Moodie Drive, to reduce conflicts when cars turn onto ramps, across the paths of cyclists, pedestrians and OC Transpo passengers, at speeds as high as 90 km/h. After Nortel expands, 1500 of its car commuters per hour - one every 3 seconds - will cut across the path of cyclists to turn onto a Queensway on-ramp.

Delmage, who is an advanced cycling skills instructor, helped prepare an instructional video to show Nortel employees how to cycle to work on the challenging Moodie Drive and Queensway overpass. "The Queensway overpass at Moodie Drive is one of the region's most significant barriers to cyclists. That's why it is marked on the regional cycling map with a yellow dot," said Delmage. "It's shocking that Nortel would actively disclaim responsibility for the safety of its employees who need to cycle or walk on this overpass to get to work."

Nortel has agreed that a significant effort must be made to ensure that all future 8000 employees don't drive to work, because the negative effects of this additional car traffic are too great. Nortel has agreed to a "Transportation Demand Management" (TDM) program to encourage and assist 25% of the employees to cycle, walk or take the bus to work by 2005. The hundreds of residents who attended their expansion plan public reviews this summer, Nepean City Council (who approved the site plan in September) and Regional Transportation Committee who approved the roadway modifications related to the site expansion, have also endorsed this approach. There has been no concrete action on the TDM program, although the roadway safety modifications that Regional Council is considering today would eliminate a major cycling barrier for existing and future Nortel employees.

"A recent study done for the new Regional Official Plan, that directs a walking, cycling, public transit-first, then cars approach to our transportation system, found that eliminating conflicts between cyclists and other users of the road was a top priority for residents," said Delmage. "Residents also place a very high priority on a ^Ñclean, green environment'. Travel by bicycle, foot and OC Transpo supports our quality of life by reducing the need to pave over our Greenbelt for parking lots, and reducing the air pollution and neighbourhood disruption that cars cause. Ironically, Nortel's opposition to road safety improvements on the Moodie Drive Queensway overpass that will allow more residents and Nortel employees to cycle and walk to work defeats the quality of life that they require to attract 8000 skilled employees to our region and to their future business."

Photos of the Moodie Drive Queensway overpass. showing the difficulties it poses for cyclists and pedestrians, are available on the CfSC Web site at http://www.cfsc.ottawa.on.ca/

Contact: Citizens for Safe Cycling 722-4454