This letter says it all

REVIEW OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT NORTH-SOUTH CORRIDOR LRT PROJECT
(thanks to David Gladstone for this.)

Dear Mr. O’ Meara,

Further to your letter of December 29, 2005, replying to my letter of October 26,2005, (attached), I am writing to describe substantial concerns that I and others in Ottawa continue to have with the subject proposed light rail transit project in general, with the City of Ottawa’s Environmental Assessment of it, and with the draft MOE review of the EA.

The bald reality is that key project decisions have been taken – such as planning to replace the diesel trains used by the current O-Train with electric trains, placing the proposed train maintenance facility in what is currently greenspace when a brownfield site is available, having trains use already congested downtown streets instead of having an underground railway line, and simply ignoring the need for rapid transit service between Ottawa and Gatineau – with no documented engineering rationale, and without effective community consultation.

I’m sure you will agree – in fact that is the reason EAs are required – that decisions on municipal infrastructure projects must be based on documented technical analyses. Conspicuously absent from the City of Ottawa’s EA report are names of authors and/or Professional Engineers prepared to take responsibility for the work, as well as references to the professional literature and web-sites. Instead many assertions are made anonymously without any traceable references. While this may be ‘legal’ under the Professional Engineers Act, the EA Act, and the Municipalities Act, surely citizen-taxpayers have a right to see the bases for major investments of public funds being based on sound analyses by qualified professionals. From this perspective, I cannot accept that the MOE staff, also anonymously, can simply accept anonymous assertions by City of Ottawa staff, whose sources aren’t traceable.

That my concerns with the current process are generally shared was confirmed this week in an informal poll conducted by Radio Station CFRA. As described in the attached report of the poll results over 90% of those who responded agree with the statement: “No, there is too much secrecy about cost, and the route is questionable.”

A core objective of the EA process is ensuring community involvement and support for infrastructure projects. This has simply not occurred to-date in the subject project: Carleton University staff and students, and other users, have not been consulted on the currently-planned over- one-year shutdown of the successful O-Train service, heritage advocates have not been consulted on the proposed demolition of heritage buildings to build a surface train station, downtown businesses continue to have major concerns, and just about every transit advocate that I know, who doesn’t have a contractual link with the City of Ottawa, has major concerns with what City staff are proposing..

With respect to closing down the O-Train service, it should be noted that City Council has specifically directed that such interruptions be kept to an absolute minimum, that such an interruption is not necessary if the project is planned and implemented as an expansion of the O-Train, and that replacing the current service involves placing buses on already congested roads. And, as noted in my letter of October 26, staff have not proposed to-date a strategy to City Council.

Also, I suggest that it is most important to note that City staff have not to-date demonstrated how interrupting the current East-West buses that transit downtown by an electric street-car line from the south – one that doesn't extend into Gatineau - will increase transit usage in Ottawa.

While perhaps outside the purview of an EA, it should be noted that there are increasing doubts in the community, the media, and City Council with the value-for-money and affordability of what is being developed by City staff. Also worth noting is that City staff haven’t made applications under the Planning Act for any of the structures they are proposing outside the current railway corridor, such the proposed train maintenance facility and the downtown stations.

I could go on, but I would like to end with what I see as a well-founded and reasonable request: please do not have the EA signed-off by your Minister until you see it demonstrated that the City of Ottawa – Council, staff, and residents – have reached a solid consensus on an affordable investment in light rail transit, one that will lead to a system that will be cost-effective, transparently-planned, minimally impact the human and natural environment, and truly does what everyone wants – substantially grow transit ridership in Ottawa.

Yours sincerely,
David Gladstone
Cc:
Mr. Michael Harrison, EA Approvals Branch
The Honorable John Gerretsen, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
The Honorable Harinder Takhar, Minister of Transportation
Kim Allen, CEO and Registrar, Professional Engineers Ontario
Bob Chiarelli, Mayor of Ottawa
Richard Patten, MPP Otttawa-Centre
Councillor Diane Holmes
Councillor Clve Doucer