By Michelle Normandeau
The O-Train may provide access to areas of Ottawa once seen as difficult to get to, but according to one Centretown resident, the new train has created new barriers in reaching certain areas of the city.
Graham Haig, a Booth Street resident, says fences that were installed at the Bayview station block pedestrian access to a frequently used foot path that crosses the O-Train tracks on land formerly known as Wellington Street.
“One of the uses of the crossing for me is to walk my dog over to Hintonburg to visit a disabled friend and her dog. I have to go well out of my way to do that now,” he says. Haig has complained to various city officials.
Haig, who used to use the footpath six to seven times a week, claims that the fences have been installed illegally and without warning.
But the City of Ottawa claims otherwise.
Vivi Chi, manager of transportation and infrastructure for the city, says lawyers have been consulted and all the proper legal steps were taken in building the fence.
Chi added that the property where the fences have been installed has been owned by Canadian Pacific Railway since the early 1980s and the former pathway was never legally recognized.
“When we close a legally recognized pathway we post notice. This was never a legally recognized crossing,” says Chi of the old path.
According to the city, there are alternative routes that people can take.
But Haig believes that these alternative routes are not the solution.
“The bridges (on Somerset and Scott streets) are too long and too steep,” says Haig, who claims that these suggested alternatives are not cyclist- or dog-friendly.
Haig also says he’s not clear about who owns the land. “I phoned CPR and asked them and they said, no, they don’t own the land ”
Furthermore, Haig claims that regardless of who owns the land and whether people were illegally crossing private property, the fence is still illegal because of “adverse prescriptive easement.” This easement is created when “a property owner allows someone to use their property for 21 continuous years and never stops them,” says Haig. After 21 years, the only way that use of the land can be stopped is by legally severing the easement.
However, Helen Gault, the planning and development manager for OC Transpo, says that pedestrian use of the pathway has not been continuous.
“Wellington Street was closed years ago, properly and legally,” says Gault.
The fence is also required by Transport Canada for safety and security reasons.
“This is a public safety issue. The fact is we have 140 train movements a day through there, and there is no way people can be wandering across the tracks,” says Gault.