“Maybe Running O-Train Down Bank Street Is Part Of The Solution” Councillor Riley Brockington
The Ottawa Senators are moving downtown. The traffic congestion, noise pollution, and climate changing emissions could get worse. In an exclusive interview today with Councillor Riley Brockington I was able to ask him questions about the future of the city core.
“What we have now is completely dysfunctional, it’s a traffic disaster, Bank Street is gridlocked, public transit in large quantities can’t get to Lansdowne” says Councillor Riley Brockington from River Ward 16.
Councillor Brockington points out “we (city council) asked staff to review Bank Street options, we can’t get people to and from Lansdowne efficiently, maybe running an LRT down Bank Street is part of a solution, people don’t want to be tied up in traffic.”
“I want to see Lansdowne 2.0 be successful, we need the city staff report, we will see what staff recommendations are. Lansdowne is an ideal venue. People need a positive experience to get there; that is the issue that decides your frequency to go back. Councillor Menard moved to further examine these transit options for Bank Street and I agree with him” says Brockington.
Now that we know the Ottawa Senators will be at LeBreton Flats with a new arena, what does this mean for the spike in traffic congestion, noise pollution, and climate changing emissions on Bank Street? The North/South corridor is already in “gridlock” as Councillor Brockington mentioned.
The Sens Talk Podcast is a staple for Ottawa Senators hockey fans and Redblacks fans. The podcast host Brandon Plant points out “if you are talking about people going to games in the downtown core at LeBreton Flats for the Senators or Redblacks at Lansdowne 2.0, Bank Street LRT would be huge, it’s a major street in the city.”
The Podcast host wants “the teams to work with OC-Transpo if there is a plan to move forward, to get it to work, we want the train network to work, the core can’t handle the congestion on Bank Street, it would be huge because you are making it easy for people to go to games, and people will go. I live in the core, it’s a mess right now with the traffic.”
Former Ottawa Senators executive Brian Crombie says the Bank Street O-Train concept “would be spectacular for Ottawa having a North/South rail transit on the main line of the city” and he points out “almost all major sports venues in North America usually have a form of transit that goes with it.”
See more stories below: