Weekly newsletter: April 25, 2023

Tomorrow at Council, we will be voting to approve the policies for the Transportation Master Plan (known internally as TMP Part One).

The TMP is a document that guides the City’s future decisions for its transportation network, from roads to transit priority measures and sidewalks to cycling lanes.

Originally, the TMP was to be presented as one large document to the previous Council, but due to the pandemic, the decision was made to split the document into two parts.

Part one is the policy document, including how roads are designed, active transportation considerations, and prioritising modes of transportation. It also includes a list of active transportation projects that can be targeted for quick and easy implementation.

The documents are available on the Engage Ottawa webpage.

Part two features the bulk of our investments into the transportation network up to 2046, including roads and transit priority measures, new bridges, and other transportation-related infrastructure and has yet to be presented.

The TMP was split into two parts as the origin-destination survey, which is used to guide several capital investments, was delayed by the pandemic.

The origin-destination survey is jointly conducted by the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau, respective provincial governments and transit agencies, and the National Capital Commission. The survey is complete, and staff are in the process of parsing through the data.

I originally voted in favour of the TMP Part One at Transportation Committee, although I’m changing my vote at Council tomorrow. Why the change?

At Committee, I was comfortable with passing the policies and then working within those policies to determine what capital investments we make when the second part of the master plan is presented. I thought the policies were conducive to strengthening our transportation network.

Since the vote, I began to see it more as an aspirations document, because there is no data to ensure those policies are the correct policies or that the policies are not up for interpretation.

We’re still waiting for the results of the origin-destination survey (which might be out of date already, given recent changes in circumstance). Though I believe the policies are good for our city, I am worried the lack of that vital supporting data might compromise our ability to deliver the network elements we need to strengthen our transportation network.

My biggest worry now is staff telling us these are the policies we approved when arguing against an investment we feel is needed for growing communities like Barrhaven or Orléans, thereby blocking needed investments with our own approved policies.

Secondly, I no longer think making decisions on policy and investments separately at this scale is a good idea. We need to see both sides to ensure they work hand-in-hand.

Lastly, I’d argue our transportation needs are still in a state of flux and will be until the federal government makes a good solid decision (and stick with that decision) about work arrangements. This may depend on the outcome of the ongoing public service strike.

I will be voting to refer TMP Part One back to Transportation Committee so it can be discussed together with TMP Part Two when it’s released in 2025. I understand it further delays an already-delayed policy item, but the delay is for the better.

Enjoy the last week of April!

-Wilson