LRT & Traffic

Going places in the Lincoln Fields area

City Planning is starting to pay more attention to the Lincoln Fields area. Work is finally beginning on a Secondary Plan to guide future development. The first meeting with stakeholders focused on transportation issues, because that links to the draft Transportation Master Plan, also in process now.

City planners shared recommendations for improving connectivity. These came from a consultant study. They focused on how residents might get to the new Lincoln Fields Transit station and desired destinations in and around a redeveloped mall. Many of the proposals would make it easier to walk or use a bike to go places. They include changes in the access from Carling to the Parkway, more pedestrian paths, bike lanes, and safer pedestrian crossings of Carling Avenue.

None of these proposals are currently in the Transportation Master Plan and there is no funding for them. QTNca representatives are advocating for early attention to the Connaught-Carling intersection, to link improvements to the upcoming new sidewalks on Connaught. More places to cross Carling safely is another focus of our advocacy, along with early funding so improvements can be in place at the same time the new LRT station opens.

You can review the proposal on our website (PDF) or you can find it by scrolling through the Engage Ottawa page on the Lincoln Fields Secondary Plan. If you have feedback or suggestions, let us know through a message to qtncommunity@gmail.com. A public meeting on proposals for the Lincoln Fields Secondary Plan will be held later this year.

Neighbourhood Safety: 30 km/h Speed Limit Coming to QTN

Speed limits in QTN will soon be lowered to 30km/h. This has been done in many neighbourhoods across Ottawa, and now this change is coming to our community. We are posting about this to raise awareness of this change to come, and to explain the benefits of slowing down.

Why 30 km/h?

  • 30 km/h is a neighbourly speed. It narrows the gap between the speed of vehicles and people, so it feels more comfortable to be walking and rolling, especially when there are no sidewalks on so many of our streets.
  • 30 km/h is a speed which gives us all time to react to kids appearing suddenly in front of us, or a pedestrian appearing out of the dark.
  • 30 km/h is a speed at which you can make eye contact and wave hi to people, rather than realizing half a block later that you recognized them!

If the worst does happen, 30 km/h is also a speed at which injuries are greatly reduced compared to 50 km/h, or even 40 km/h.

Although it can feel slow for us when we are driving, it’s a new habit we can all get into. It really only adds a minute to your drive, and makes such a difference to our neighbours and in how we experience our surroundings.

What can you expect from the new limit?

  • new signs will be posted at the entrances to the neighborhood
  • the streets won’t change, so other than the entrance signs, there won’t be new cues to change your habits
  • driving at 30 km/h can take extra focus while you adjust habits
  • it will take time for people to get used to the new speed, please be understanding

Connaught Park: Survey feedback on Noise Wall and Landscape Plan

Thank you to all our neighbours who provided feedback on the noise mitigation and landscape plan through our survey (now closed) and/or by sending feedback directly to qtncommunity@gmail.com.

Two thirds of respondents supported a stone-like noise barrier wall (Figure 1, Option C) that is covered in vines (Figure 2). We also received many great suggestions on tree varieties such as ensuring an adequate number of evergreens, providing a mix of species, and groupings of various fruit trees. Your feedback will be brought forward to the City and the Stage 2 LRT team.

Additionally, we continue to pursue other questions about the noise study, especially for areas close to the fly-over, the curve going to Baseline, and the area between Carling and the fly-over. We will report back again after the next meeting of the Public Advisory Committee. There will also be a full public meeting before the noise mitigation and landscape plans are finally approved.

Figure 1 – 65% opted for a stone-textured wall

 

Figure 2 – 67% want as many vines as possible