Stop The Kettle Island Bridge

Public Consultation – Don’t miss it

Please participate in the NCC public consultation session on Tuesday, March 30, at Ottawa City Hall.

Drop by Jean Pigott Hall any time between 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.—find out what the consultants are planning and share your community values.  Only one set of public consultations will take place during Phase 2A, so this may be the only public opportunity to make your views known.  Round up your family, friends and neighbours.  And wear your No Kettle Island Bridge buttons.

KEY MESSAGES TO CONVEY:

Trucks routes don’t belong in established residential neighbourhoods: It doesn’t make sense to take trucks out of one community and dump them into another. KI is the most heavily populated of all the corridors with 100,000 people from one end to the other. The health and safety of its people should be City’s primary concern. Impact of designated truck route with up to 3000 heavy commercial vehicles a day will be: constant noise; direct, continuous exposure to high emissions, risk of toxic spills and serious accidents. Our community includes homes, schools, Montfort Hospital and retirement home, Cité Collegiale, Aviation Museum, RCMP stables and Musical Ride, Terry Fox Centre etc. A truck route will have a negative impact on the cohesion of our community.

Our community values its green space: Green space includes the Aviation parkway, cycling/recreational paths, river front, Montfort Woods, sailing on the Ottawa river, soccer fields etc. A truck route will not only take away from the enjoyment of this space, it will prevent access and connection to it, especially if sound barriers are used to mitigate for noise. Some of the green space will be destroyed by the expansion of the Aviation Parkway.

We need a transportation plan for the 21st century that promotes transit, not cars: Local roads cannot accommodate more cars cutting through downtown neighbourhoods to get to work; KI will not provide a speedier commute for Orleans—cars and trucks will end up on the Queensway no matter which corridor is selected.

Manor Park is situated in a unique cultural landscape: A truck route will degrade national institutions and tourist attractions (Aviation Museum, RCMP Musical Ride) and the unique landscape in which they are set.

There are alternatives to the three corridors that won’t affect established residential communities or the greenbelt: The NCC needs to be open to finding the best possible route for the interprovincial crossing and examine broad variations on the existing corridors.

The Environmental Study needs to be a harmonized process for the protection of the people: If the Ontario legislation does not apply in the next phase of the study, public consultation and community value plans will lack teeth. There will be no guarantee that our concerns will be addressed, weighted or mitigated.

Here are details on the consultation sessions.  I hope to see you there:

Ottawa:
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Ottawa City Hall – Jean Pigott Hall
110 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON

Gatineau:
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Maison du Citoyen – Agora
25, rue Laurier, Gatineau, QC

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Your participation: Phase 2A public consultation, March 30-31

Phase 2A of the Interprovincial Crossing Environmental Assessment is well under way. The main task in this phase is to develop the Study Design to be used in Phase 2B, during which the recommended corridor will be selected and the detailed Environmental Assessment completed.

In order to remove the threat of a Kettle Island Bridge and a heavy truck route through our communities, we need to pay attention to the Study Design and make our views known. For example, the Manor Park Community Association has stressed the following:

• Input from the public, and in particular from those who would be most affected by each corridor, must be given serious consideration
• The impact of a corridor and heavy truck route on established communities, and in particular on health and safety, should be of the utmost importance in the decision
• The goal should be to select the best location within the general confines of the three corridors carried forward, rather than the options being limited to the suggested routes as determined in the deeply flawed Phase 1.

Only one set of public consultations will take place during Phase 2A. Opponents of Kettle Island need to attend in large numbers.

Here are the details:

The communities of Ottawa and Gatineau are invited to review information boards, participate in discussions with Study experts at various ‘consultation kiosks’ that will be set-up on location, and provide comments on the draft Study Design report, anytime between 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the following locations:

Ottawa
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Ottawa City Hall – Jean Piggott Hall
110 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON

Gatineau
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Maison du Citoyen – Agora
25, rue Laurier, Gatineau, QC

Please make your views known. Spread the word to your neighbours and friends.

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