Streetcars were a common sight on Sparks Street, as elsewhere in Ottawa, until relatively recently.
Following a steady decline in business on Sparks Street, the mall's heritage committee plans to propose the relaunch of a streetcar line, using research currently being completed by Carleton University engineering students.
However, there is some disagreement as to whether the students will hand over the final project to the committee.
Burkan Isgor, the students’ professor and supervisor of the project, says the group is simply working on a class assignment and no formal agreement has been made with the heritage committee.
“[They] will be working on the design procedures including feasibility study, analysis and preliminary design of the enterprise,” said Isgor in an email.
He added that the final proposal will not be presented until April and no further comment on its use could be made at this point.
Still, Sam Elsadi, chairman of the BIA of Sparks Street, said “Carleton students are working on our behalf.”
Elsadi said once the project is determined to be feasible, then the committee would be able to move it to the next level.
The efforts to bring back the old model streetcars are intended to animate the downtown area and increase pedestrian traffic, which could revitalize business.
“We are hoping for a change that will make the Sparks Street visible. Anything new in the area will increase the profit of businesses by 100 per cent,” said Elsadi. “These days, Sparks Street is very quiet at the weekends. In the winter, after 5 p.m. it is dead even on weekdays.”
The committee has several visions as to where the streetcar line would run but its priority is to connect the downtown core with the O-Train. In fact, if such a connection works out, it may turn into a major enterprise for Ottawa.
“Once phase one is successful we can go ahead and try to get approval for phase two which will link Ottawa with the Gatineau,” said Holly Layte, the co-chair of heritage committee and owner of the Marvelous Mustard Shoppe.
Layte said she first brought it up to the Sparks Street Mall Management Board five years ago, and the committee plans to combine the research done by Carleton with previous work.
The environmentally friendly solution has proven successful in European and American cities.
“For instance in San Francisco the city has bought old streetcars from Italy that connect the core of the city with the harbor,” said Hassan Eltaher, the committee's other co-chair.
But any final say still up to the National Capital Commission and the City of Ottawa, who say they won’t comment until a final proposal has been submitted.
At the same time, merchants have also considered temporarily allowing cars onto Sparks Street to see if that would better improve business.