Letter to Katherine Hobbs - Follow-up on January Meetings

Dear Councillor Hobbs,

We are writing to follow-up on our January 26th meeting, as well as the meeting regarding 125 Hickory Street on January 4th.

Follow-up on January 26th meeting

As you know, we identified a number of issues that we hope to deal with relatively quickly.
1) A signed and enforced 40 kilometre/hour speed limit throughout the area,
2) Signage encouraging the use of the Westgate Queensway ramp,
3) And no entry during rush hour signs for the area near the Carling O-Train stop.
We are wondering what “next steps” you might suggest regarding these issues.

Follow-up on 125 Hickory meeting on January 4th

1) No entry during rush hour signs: As you no doubt know from being copied on the emails between CHNA and city staff, the site plan follow-up on 125 Hickory Street has been slow. We are concerned, in part, because there has been little information provided about the ‘no entry during rush hour’ signs even though the signs are clearly a primary objective of CHNA. We have written emails asking for details about the signs and are waiting to hear back. We would appreciate any advice you may have as to how to move this issue forward.

2) Traffic study: Alain Miguelez’s most recent email reiterates the staff view that “ the choices are either to put that $30,000 toward a broader study and accept that it will take longer to complete this study, or to identify things that can be done right away and do them.”
He also says “At this point there is no clear sense of how the extra funds would be found for a comprehensive study nor when it might be undertaken.”

He did not mention the possibility of getting additional funds from the other developers (Domicile, Arnon) as discussed at our meeting on January 26th.

It would appear that the City wants to intensify our neighbourhood on a scale unknown anywhere else in Ottawa and do very little to support the intensification or deal with the issues stemming from the intensification.

We would like to work with you to ensure that the City does more than drop 1,000 additional people and 1,260 additional vehicles in our neighbourhood and hope that it all works out.

3) Use of heavy vehicles on residential streets: At the meeting on January 4th, staff indicated they would talk to developers about heavy vehicles using Hickory and other residential streets. Heavy construction vehicles are already using our streets. This will only increase as construction begins in earnest. We have followed up with staff but have not yet heard back. We would appreciate your assistance with this matter as well (See email to you dated February 18).

4) Median at Rochester: The CHNA is interested in exploring the possibility of opening the median at Rochester (Item #14 of the PATS study), but needs to discuss this matter with Councillor Diane Holmes and the affected neighbourhood association, the Dalhousie Community Association. As we have discussed, we would appreciate your assistance in setting up a meeting between yourself, Councillor Holmes and CHNA representatives.
The email correspondence on 125 Hickory and the heavy vehicle issue is attached for your convenience.

We would like to suggest a follow-up meeting sometime soon unless you think it is possible to sort out the issues without a meeting. Thanks.

Yours truly,
Katherine Steinhoff
VP, Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association