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© Clive Doucet 2007
Planting the Tree.
Clive Watering the tree.
Serving coffee and treats and discussing the need to understand
the smog growth problems.
Getting the message out.
Food was great. Thanks to the Wild Oat on Bank Street and Bridgehead Coffee on Third Avenue.
July11, 2005
Parks
over Pavement
Trees and Smog Coffee Break
On Monday July 11th Councillor Doucet sponsored a coffee break and tree planting ceremony at the edge of the Queensway just west of the Rideau Canal near the Pretoria Bridge. This is near where Queensway-417 widening and the proposed Alta Vista Expressway will funnel thousands more cars into the downtown. The event promoted the need for smog growth to be halted in this city.
This year Ottawa is experiencing the worst smog ever. New expressway construction proposals will only aggravate matters. Despite overwhelming evidence that cities cannot pave their way out of automobile congestion, Ottawa and the Province are proposing to attempt just that by widening the Queensway and building a new expressway in the current green spaces of the Alta Vista corridor.
These projects are a one-way ticket to even greater declining air quality and uglier communities. Studies in American cities show that new road projects create greater congestion because traffic demands do not decrease with road supply, they increase. Congestion is a supply driven equation.
The number one reason children are admitted to Ottawa hospitals is asthma - triggered by poor air quality. The poorer air quality is a direct result of tailpipe pollution. Yet Ottawa planners, in the Alta Vista Environmental Assessment, rated the transit-only solution lower on air quality than all other road alternatives.
The City of Ottawa is known for its quality of life. Widening the Queensway and building another expressway will not improve the quality of life in Ottawa. It will not solve road congestion problems. It will not make Alta Vista more beautiful.
The event was co-sponsored with the Ottawa Coalition Against Queensway Expansion and the local chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada.