Moffatt: Zombies, fairies and dragons in Ottawa's new transportation plan
Long-range transportation planning always involves some element of fantasy. The future is impossible to predict: Who would have anticipated the upheaval in transportation patterns we've seen since 2020? But even with that caveat, Ottawa's draft new Transportation Master Plan (TMP), released April 1, is an unusually fantastical document.
Article content
Article content
And much like other classics in the fantasy genre, the new TMP is filled with zombies, fairies, and dragons.
Article content
Article content
Let's start with the zombies. These are transportation plans that aren't quite alive, but never seem to die. Take the Alta Vista Transportation Corridor (AVTC), a proposed four-lane arterial extending Conroy Road north to Highway 417 at Nicholas Street. It's been in the city's planning books since the 1950s, but has never been built (save for a small Hospital Link stub). In the new TMP, the AVTC lives again — though Coun. Shawn Menard took a proverbial machete and chopped off one of its arms (the north section through the so-called 'People's Park,' a bare field on Lees Avenue).
Article content
Even in this compromised form, the zombie trudges on, hungry for brains — or, in this case, hungry to pave over the Kilborn Allotment Gardens. Will this undead foe never be vanquished?
Article content
Next, the fairies: transportation projects with magical powers despite their possible non-existence. The 2013 TMP called these part of the 'Ultimate Network'; the 2025 edition places them in the 'Needs-Based' network. In plain English, they are projects without any funding or timeline attached to them.
Article content
Article content
Development without transit
Article content
Article content
Yet even though these might not be real, they still carry real power. For years, the city has been approving highrises on Carling Avenue under the pretence that their residents would be one day served by an LRT line. This was obviously never built and the new TMP has replaced it with bus rapid transit (BRT), expected construction … to be determined. All that's actually planned for Carling by 2046 are regular bus lanes of the non-rapid variety. It's transit-oriented development without the transit: magic! Time will tell if the Stage 3 LRT to Kanata-Stittsville and Barrhaven is a fairy or the real thing.
Article content
Ottawa is set to grow from one to 1.4 million people in the next 25 years. We can handle that many people, but we sure can't fit that many new cars on the roads. That's why Ottawa's Official Plan set the target of shifting the majority of trips to walking, cycling, transit and carpooling by 2046. The new TMP throws cold water on that idea — calling it 'difficult to achieve.' And what's the point of trying something difficult? Instead, the TMP keeps the majority of travel to be done by drivers, which will add an anticipated 542,000 car trips per day to Ottawa's roads. More cars mean more traffic and slower commutes.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
37 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Germany's Merz says he found Trump open to dialogue and committed to NATO
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, a day after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, that he encountered a U.S. administration open to discussion and returned confident that Washington remains committed to NATO. Merz described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Trump as constructive but also candid, noting that the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine. 'Yesterday, in the meeting at the Oval Office, I expressed a distinctly different position on the topic of Ukraine than the one Trump had taken, and not only was there no objection, but we discussed it in detail again over lunch,' Merz said in Berlin after his return. Thursday's White House meeting marked the first time the two sat down in person. Merz, who became chancellor in May, avoided the kind of confrontations in the Oval Office that have tripped up other world leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa. The two leaders opened with pleasantries. Merz presented Trump with a gold-framed birth certificate of the president's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who emigrated from Kallstadt, Germany. Trump called Merz a 'very good man to deal with.' The American administration, he said, is open to discussion, listens, and is willing to accept differing opinions. Add he added that dialogue should go both ways: 'Let's stop talking about Donald Trump with a raised finger and wrinkled nose. You have to talk with him, not about him.' He said he also met with senators on Capitol Hill, urging them to recognize the scale of Russian rearmament. 'Please take a look at how far Russia's armament is going, what they are currently doing there; you obviously have no idea what's happening,' he said he told them. 'In short, you can talk to them, but you must not let yourself be intimidated. I don't have that inclination anyway.' Merz, who speaks English fluently, stressed the need for transatlantic trust and said he reminded Trump that allies matter. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. 'Whether we like it or not, we will remain dependent on the United States of America for a long time,' he said. 'But you also need partners in the world, and the Europeans, especially the Germans, are the best-suited partners. 'This is the difference between authoritarian systems and democracies: authoritarian systems have subordinates. Democracies have partners — and we want to be those partners in Europe and with America.' He reiterated that the U.S. remains committed to NATO, particularly as Germany and others boost their defense spending. Trump has in the past suggested that the U.S. might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don't meet defense spending targets. 'I have absolutely no doubt that the American government is committed to NATO, especially now that we've all said we're doing more. We're ensuring that we can also defend ourselves in Europe, and I believe this expectation was not unjustified,' Merz said. 'We've been the free riders of American security guarantees for years, and we're changing that now.'
11 hours ago
Carney and Trump are holding private talks to drop tariffs
Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump are having discussions out of the spotlight to reach a trade deal and lift tariffs. Sources with knowledge of the conversations first confirmed the calls with CBC/Radio-Canada and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly later told reporters that Carney and Trump are talking to each other. A source, who spoke on the condition they not be named, said the two leaders have had a few phone calls in the evenings and exchanged text messages about trade since Carney's visit to the White House last month (new window) . There have been no public readouts of the talks between Carney and Trump. Sources said the conversations are aimed at reaching an agreement on the trade war launched by the U.S. against Canada. Carney and Trump have talked openly about a desire to chart a new economic and security deal, but the Canada-U.S. relationship appeared to hit a snag earlier this week when Trump doubled tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. The tariffs, now at 50 per cent, are a further blow to the Canadian industries that are the U.S.'s biggest supplier of the metals. WATCH | Canadian exports to U.S. are dropping: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? Canadian exports to U.S. fell more than 15% in April as Trump tariffs hit Canada posted a $7.1 billion merchandise trade deficit in April — the largest on record — as exports fell sharply in the face of U.S. tariffs. As well, exports to the U.S. fell 15.7 per cent, and imports from the U.S. dropped 10.8 per cent. On Wednesday, Carney only said intensive discussions were ongoing and that his government was readying reprisals if negotiations with the United States failed. Sources told CBC/Radio-Canada they are hoping for some sort of Canada-U.S. trade deal by the time Trump and Carney meet at the G7 summit — just 10 days from now in Alberta. Asked Thursday how close the two sides are to a deal, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he's not talking about it publicly. Speaking in French, Joly confirmed there have been talks and said it's normal during a trade war to have diplomatic discussions. We won't negotiate in public, she added in English. We'll let the prime minister do his work. An official with the U.S. embassy said both the president and prime minister, or members of their teams, have publicly acknowledged that there are ongoing conversations. But this is not something that will be negotiated in public. WATCH | Joly confirms Carney and Trump are talking: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? 'We won't negotiate in public,' Joly says of tariff talks When asked if the federal government is close to reaching a trade deal with the United States, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said: 'We'll let the prime minister do his work.' Earlier this week, Trump's envoy to Canada, Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, told a crowd in Toronto the deal is being settled at the highest levels of the U.S. government with the involvement of the highest elected officials. The direct conversations between Carney and Trump were first reported by the Globe and Mail. Carney, who campaigned on the promise he'd take on Trump, has been under pressure to respond to the president's latest tariff salvo. The Canadian Steel Producers Association called the doubled tariffs a crushing blow to the industry and said the move effectively blocks Canadian steel from entering the U.S. market. The association wants to see immediate counter-tariffs on U.S. metals. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who said he's in daily talks with the prime minister, called for retaliation if an agreement can't be reached in the next few days. Let's hope they get a deal. But if they don't, let's come out guns ablazing, he told reporters Thursday at Queen's Park. Catharine Tunney (new window) · CBC News
Winnipeg Free Press
21 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Man United wants striker Mbeumo Amorim looks to add to Cunha transfer
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United has made a move for Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo, a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press on Thursday. The person spoke on the condition of confidentiality because United has not publicly declared its interest. The 20-time English league champion is planning to overhaul a team that has just come off its worst season in the Premier League era and missed out on qualification for any European competition. United coach Ruben Amorim has identified his forward line as an area in need of major improvement. A deal has already been agreed for Brazil forward Matheus Cunha and Mbeumo would add further strength to an attack that had the fifth worst scoring record in the Premier League. English media said a bid of 55 million pounds ($74.8 million) was made for Mbeumo. The 25-year-old Cameroon international had 20 goals last season. By comparison, United strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee scored just 18 between them in all competitions. Amorim is trying to turn United's fortunes around after 12 years without winning the league. He has made a fast start to his rebuilding plans, with a deal for Cunha and a move for Mbeumo within weeks of the season ending. He has previously described his team as perhaps the worst in United's history and last month he apologized to fans for a 'disastrous' season. United ended the campaign in 15th — its lowest finish in the modern era and just three places above the relegation zone. United also set unwanted club records for the most losses in a Premier League season and the lowest points total. ___ James Robson is at ___ AP soccer:
