Members of the Dalhousie Community Association braced themselves for the bitter cold weather on Jan. 22 to rally against the planned bus detour on Albert and Scott streets.
Fifty citizens, from residents to employees to Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes, gathered to voice their opposition to the controversial plan that will see 2,500 buses stream past their houses and businesses every day during LRT construction.
The detour would take place in two phases. Starting in the fall of 2015, the buses that run along the transitway between Bayview and LeBreton will be detoured along Albert Street. In the summer of 2016, the detour will be expanded between Tunney’s Pasture and downtown until the end of the LRT construction in 2018.
Bundled up in coats and scarves, the community members held up pink signs that read, “NO to 2,500 Buses,” “HELP US,” and “Share the Pain,” as passing car drivers honked their horns in support.
Older residents from the seniors’ home at the corner of Albert and Preston streets came out for a few minutes at a time to join the rally in the -27 degree temperatures.
“We are pushing as hard as we can because we want to make sure the city feels the pressure,” said Dalhousie Community Association president Michael Powell. “They came to this decision without really working with the community to see how this would affect us.”
Some of the community’s major concerns were brought up early in 2013 and again in December when the Rideau Transit Group, city council, and the community all met for one of the first times, despite the fact the city started looking at the detour back in 2010.
Holmes and other city councillors looked at alternatives and she is continuing to work with other councillors to find a solution.
“They are so angry,” Holmes said at the rally. “This means that the vibration, the noise, the fumes, the air quality will be terrible.”
Other concerns are more cars will use the road when it is turned into six lanes, and both cyclists and pedestrian safety.
“I’m living right at the corner of this (Albert and Preston streets),” said resident Glen Buchanan. “How am I going to sit out on my deck at the back there and sniff bus fumes?”
The Rideau Transit Group has responded to the concerns by proposing to minimize the detour to tow and a half years on Albert Street and two years on Scott Street, installing traffic signals, traffic cameras, having catch basins by the bus lanes to reduce noise, and creating cycling lanes, according to deputy city manager Nancy Schepers.
However, community members still feel some buses should be diverted to other routes, including buses that are not dropping anyone off and express buses being moved to the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.
City officials met with both the DCA and the Hintonburg Community Association after the Jan. 22 rally to discuss the next steps in detour planning.
Planners are preparing a timeline to summarize all the steps involved in the detour and agree to work to find alternative routes for some of the buses.
“I don’t think they can take many buses off (Albert and Scott streets) based on what they’re saying, which is quite disappointing to us,” said HCA’s Matt Whitehead.
He added: “It’s definitively not set in stone. There’s not going to be any major changes but there’s definitely room for tweaks and there’s still areas of concern we need to finalize.”
The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 18 when city staff and the community associations will give further feedback before the Rideau Transit Group presents the final detour design in May.
“We’re hoping this (the rally) will be a reminder that people live and move along here so we can sharpen the pencils and find a solution that works for everyone,” said Powell.