Comments on: King Edward is the best option…not

By: Rolf

Rolf — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:16:46 +0000

As I follow the debate and the commentaries, it becomes clear that the bridge is not only about the truck traffic downtown: the commuter traffic between Gatineau and east Ottawa on the (twice daily) clogged Rockcliffe Parkway has a lot to do with it; understandably so!
No one has as yet said anything about why the Duck Island area was’nt chosen.
On the Gatineau side of the Mac/Car Bridge two Autoroutes take up the traffic and disperse it.
On the Ottawa side by all reasoning, King Edward should be a Decarie Type 6 lane Highway leading to the Queensway!
A Bridge in the east would still be required for those poor commuters of course (DUCK ISKAND!!!)

By: ccredico

ccredico — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:14:58 +0000

Please see our sample letter to the decision makers posted here: http://www.stopthebridge.org/?page_id=274

By: ccredico

ccredico — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:52:05 +0000

Thanks for your support. I understand the difficulty in trying to make sense of this highly technical study. The consultants are doing a good job of confusing the general public with lots of numbers.

I’ve tried to highlight some of the key points in an earlier posting:
* This study puts trucks before people
* Community interests were not represented on the weightings committee
* The weightings exercise was not transparent
* Traffic and cost factors were weighted disproportionally high, while community and people factors were weighted disproportionally low
* The recommendation does not solve the problem of trucks on King Edward
* There are no factors that directly consider the negative impact of increased traffic on residential roads
* Health and safety issues associated with the transportation of hazardous goods and diesel fuel exhaust are not adequately addressed

But I hear your concern that this is still just too technical and perhaps difficult to understand for those not intimately familiar with the study. I’ll work on creating a letter that can be used as a guideline for others to follow as they write their own letters. Thanks for your feedback.

By: Manor Park resident

Manor Park resident — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:18:04 +0000

Thanks so much for compiling all this information for us – you are doing a great service to your community. I’d be only too happy to contact my elected representatives but lack in-depth knowledge on this issue and would not want to be immediately sorted into the ‘NIMBY’ file. Is there any sample wording that you could provide for fellow community members to use in a letter/email campaign to our elected representatives?