Crystal Beach Lakeview Community Association

Summer is now officially here, school is out and naturally, massive construction projects are well underway across the city. While we enjoy the relative tranquility of our little oasis between Highway 417 and the Ottawa River, Tranquility Base it isn’t. With the many concerns in the community about LRT construction since its start, the Crystal Beach Lakeview Community Association thought this was a good time to get the answers to current concerns and questions directly from the people responsible for them.

Back in late winter, the Transportation, Transit and Infrastructure Committee (TTIC) sent a “master list” of issues where we believed we had not received sufficient response to questions or where we believed things were not right. The list was sent to Councilor Kavanagh, the City’s Stage 2 LRT team, and KEV construction, the consortium responsible for construction of the Confederation Line of the LRT system. Our goal was to better share with them the 24 areas of concern our committee was following, after which we could share them with you, the community. That Master List, their responses, and some additional comments from TTIC are attached in the accompanying document.

As the master list was sent several months ago, some of the issues have already been resolved. You will see that the document is sizeable; there is indeed a lot going on here. For some items issues are resolved, for some we await further information, for others we have fundamental disagreements with what is happening and we will continue to work on the community’s behalf to seek better outcomes.

A couple of examples of concerns we have heard from the community:

• Construction truck traffic along Corkstown Road east of the station in contravention of city rules
• Residents with blown tires from construction debris in the roadway on Corkstown Road
• Quality of access for pedestrians and cyclists on the multi-use pathways on Holly Acres with frequent closures and again, debris on the pathway

The committee has worked hard to get answers when problems arise. By and large, we have found that KEV, LRT2 and Councilor Kavanagh’s office have responded pretty well. They all do want to hear from you when there is a problem. You will see in the responses from the City in the attached document, when you have a concern, please send an e-mail to the LRT office (Stage2@ottawa.ca), and where appropriate, Councilor Kavanagh’s office (bayward@ottawa.ca). Please also copy the CBLCA at GeneralCBLCA@gmail.com . We will continue to add all concerns from the community onto our master spreadsheet and track responses. We will also continue to update the community regularly going forward. We need to be in this for the long haul. At a minimum, this construction project in our community will continue for another 3.5-4 years!

We must also give a huge shout out to Paul Clarke from Bike Ottawa. He is incredibly knowledgeable about cycling in the city and about what should be happening to make it work. This is especially true with these large city infrastructure projects. We are very fortunate to have him working on our behalf.

You will judge for yourselves how the city is doing on LRT in our community. But, what the heck, it is the end of the school year; its time to give “Larty” and her parents her Report Card.

Academic Skills:

Larty is a bright young lady. We are confident she will grow up to be a wonderful asset to the community. She also shows a broad range of skills and is pretty eager to learn new things

Attention to Tasks:

Larty had a pretty good year. As with many students, her focus wavered somewhat during the year especially during the online education sessions. We understand that she has a lot on her plate right now and is trying to do her best. We are happy to see that you, her parents are also monitoring her educational growth. We look forward to her returning in September refreshed from summer and recharged for a big year

Communication:

Larty has some difficulty expressing herself as well as at times not paying attention in class. This limits her learning and is a skill she will need to work on next year. You might wish to gently discuss this with her over vacation. Her teachers will also have to pay particular attention to this next year

Social Skills:

Larty has a strong group of friends in the community. While she plays well and engages in activities with the group, she is strong-willed and sometimes tries to take control. She needs to work on getting along with others.

We must also share with you that there has been an incident in a relationship with another school, the National Capital Commission School, where she has exhibited bullying behavior that concerns us. That school is very proud of its special environmental project. Larty has not appreciated this project and even has defaced the project with some rather unattractive “light gray” artwork. We will want to work with you, her parents, to correct this regrettable mistake and will be in touch to discuss this further.

We wish you all a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you in the fall.

From your Transportation, Transit and Infrastructure Committee

CBLCA