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As a fourth rendition of \u201creturn to office\u201d approaches, the city is bracing for traffic. To support commutes, parking and transit, the city has assembled an action plan. At least one councillor has doubts whether it will work. <\/p>\n
The city is anticipating an increase in traffic this fall as more federal workers return to office four days a week and students return to schools.<\/p>\n
In response, on July 14 council will consider a “targeted transportation plan\u201d proposing 48 enhancements to transportation throughout the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many of these recommendations would be rolled out in phases over the summer and fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Public transit improvements<\/p>\n
The plan suggests various changes to OC Transpo route frequency and routes, including more frequent O-Train service, improvements to para transport systems, new express bus routes and improved connections from Park & Ride locations.<\/p>\n
These changes would aim to enhance service reliability, increase train capacity and shorten wait times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The plan also proposes increased service on certain bus routes, including E1 Shuttle express buses and routes 5, 13, 24, 39, 61, 62, 63, 66, 74, 75, 98 and 256.<\/p>\n
Major employment areas like Carling Campus and Kanata North would see targeted service improvements, as well as new trips on route 13 to Terrasses de la Chaudi\u00e8re in Gatineau.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Traffic improvements<\/p>\n
The plan proposes several ideas to reduce construction disruptions, minimize and manage congestion and limit road closures.<\/p>\n
These include installing additional traffic cameras, increasing traffic enforcement in certain areas including bus lanes and no stopping zones, accelerating or rescheduling construction projects that affect key routes and completing construction in the evenings and off-peak times.<\/p>\n
Other measures aim to improve cycling and walking infrastructure and improve parking. Walkers and cyclists could benefit from better map and trip-planning tools promoting cycle pathways and pedestrian paths.<\/p>\n
Councillor feedback<\/p>\n
Rideau-Vanier ward Coun. St\u00e9phanie Plante said traffic and congestion downtown is always bad but she hopes to see a network of \u201cbus only lanes\u201d during peak hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She is concerned that the document did not mention King Edward Avenue and the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge, saying many people who commute across the Ottawa River use this route.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was already insanely busy before the pandemic, during the pandemic,\u201d she said, adding that she will ask council to focus on this eastern crossing. <\/p>\n
Kitchissipi ward Coun. Jeff Leiper is not confident the city’s plan will work. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe can only do what we can with the resources that we have in preparation for that return to office date that’s coming in September,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan is the right one. But as to whether or not we have the transit service that’s going to be able to deliver on the aspirations of that plan, is an entirely different question.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-794684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}