By Michelene Ough
Earlier this summer, someone informed me there are only two seasons here in Ottawa: winter and construction.
The image brought a smile to my face.
Since then, several locals have shared with me variations of the one-liner, often with less humorous overtones.
It seems to me when projects of the magnitude of Restore the Core begin in a city like this one, folk are immediately inclined to roll their eyes and sigh, “Not this again.”
It would be foolish for me to suggest that the various, lengthy and costly downtown construction projects of Restore the Core do not adversely affect the daily lives of people living or visiting in the downtown area.
Lately, drivers have waited up to a half-hour to get through the Elgin and Slater intersection at rush hour.
At the same time, several side streets have been ripped up, slowing overall traffic flow in the downtown core.
On the hottest summer days, pedestrians followed creative detours through the Elgin site, only to be assaulted by huge, rising clouds of dust, the deafening roar of jackhammers and the choking stench of tar.
I don’t point out the downfalls of construction to give the impression that I feel these projects are nothing but big, noisy, costly disruptions, and that tax dollars would be better spent elsewhere.
Big, noisy and costly, maybe. I spent my summer surrounded by construction, sucking in dusty air, meandering through a rat-maze of temporary pedestrian routes, head pounding from constant exposure to noisy machinery.
But do I think the end will justify the means? Absolutely.
Restore the Core means change. It means improvement. It means doing things that have to be done anyway.
Shouldn’t a 75 year-old water main be replaced? And shouldn’t the Plaza Bridge get a much-needed facelift?
What are our choices? To let things rot and get uglier until the downtown becomes a festering eyesore, with tourists passing up Parliament in favour of Casino Niagara and the CN Tower?
I don’t like the noise or mess of construction. I do like its end result.
Remember, without the wonders — and the inconveniences — of construction, we’d be sleeping under the stars, refusing to expose ourselves to the annoyances of building anything.
Soothing as that might be, surely we Ottawa-dwellers would choose the beauty of all things constructed over suffering the outdoor discomforts of that cold, cold season that comes after.