Driving out cars
Re “Unblocking the secret to urban bliss” (Editorial, Aug. 21): I’m perplexed by the mayor of Ottawa’s opposition to closing Queen Elizabeth Driveway to automobiles.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe worries the policy harms drivers, but the more we put private vehicles on a leash and prioritize public transit, walking and cycling, the easier it is to leave the car at home – busting the very congestion that motorists abhor.
The closing is also minuscule: 2.4 kilometres in a city whose roadway network runs some 6,000 kilometres.
Gideon Forman Climate change and transportation policy analyst, The David Suzuki Foundation; Toronto
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s campaign to return Ottawa’s winding and beautiful Queen Elizabeth Driveway to motorists is driven by his view that Lansdowne Park must have the Driveway as one of the ways to access this central location, which will not be part of the new light-rail transit network.
Rather than relocating Lansdowne’s aged entertainment centre to a location served by LRT, city council is considering a plan that would spend $332.6-million of taxpayer funds for a new entertainment centre at Lansdowne and for even more commercialization of our central park, resulting in more cars on the Driveway.
Get rid of the blister of an entertainment centre not served by LRT and then there can be some bliss on the Driveway.
John Dance Ottawa
Let me add one big reason for turning Ottawa’s Queen Elizabeth Driveway into a car-free park.
The Driveway is a noisy eyesore – right alongside a UNESCO world heritage site, the Rideau Canal.
Indeed, inside Ottawa, there are arterial roads right up against the Rideau Canal on both sides. That’s a throwback to the 1950s, an era of cars, cars, cars. Today, it is just sad.
The historic canal, still operated by hand for boaters in summer, is the pride of Ottawa and a national treasure.
Of course there should be a magnificent park, rather than asphalt and cars, right alongside this world-recognized heritage jewel.
Jack Hanna Ottawa
Shutting down an essential urban artery while much of the core is congested by construction traffic is madness. It’s all the more galling that the National Capital Commission, the institution responsible for the decision, is an unelected body of political appointees.
A nice place to start in the quest for urban bliss would be to hold the people that make these decisions subject to democratic accountability. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe gets my vote for daring to take on this unelected body.
Brian Pagan Ottawa
A Canadian compromise seems appropriate in the nation’s capital. Perhaps designating the Queen Elizabeth Driveway to “active use” on weekends and to drivers during the week might give everyone what they need (if not what they want).
Wendy Myers Ottawa
Toronto could take a cue from Ottawa, Montreal and several modernized European cities. It desperately needs to upgrade itself with new pedestrian spaces.
I agree that cars, cars, cars has been the focus in most North American cities for the past 100 years, with little thought given to creating open pedestrian spaces such as the Queen Elizabeth Driveway in Ottawa and Mont-Royal Avenue in Montreal.
With more people travelling around the city by foot, it makes sense to open spaces to pedestrians – spaces where they can meet, stroll, shop and relax in parks along the way. Such spaces become vibrant “people places” very quickly, creating positive feelings of connection so badly needed by us weary humans living in our personal bubbles (cars and homes) of isolation.
Marie Dorey Toronto
Dundas decision
Re ”Past mayors ask Chow to reconsider Dundas Street renaming” (Aug. 23): It would be great if Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow would accept the proposal by three former mayors to not rename Dundas Street. This would be a rare, magnificent and hopefully much-copied example of a politician listening and taking advice after being elected.
John P.A. Budreski Whistler, B.C.
The estimated cost for the renaming project is $8.6-million. With an estimated budget shortfall for Toronto already at $1.5-billion, the money would be more wisely spent on more pressing issues. I do not think that our citizens who are struggling to find a warm place to sleep and a hot meal in the cold of winter will care whether Dundas Street has a new name.
Michael Gilman Toronto
Dundas Street is also known as Highway 5. Even when it leaves Toronto, it is still widely known as Dundas Street as is passes through Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington and Waterdown until it gets to, you know, Dundas, Ont. Maybe it is worth keeping the name Dundas Street simply in recognition of where it goes.
Brian Swinney Burlington, Ont.
Regarding the renaming of Dundas Street, regardless of the cost, as Winston Churchill once said: “If the present tries to sit in judgment of the past, it will lose the future.” Enough said.
Steven H. Brown Toronto
In praise of trailer parks
Re “Housing action now” (Letters, Aug. 22): What a very good idea. Trailer parks for 10 years – especially near universities, the edges of municipal golf courses. Yes, break the hold of developers. This is the kind of creative thinking on housing that is required.
Barbara Klunder Toronto
It can happen here
Re “For Democrats, Trump’s charges are the gift of a lifetime” (Aug. 17): “But electing someone who could well be on his way to jail? No, Americans are not that unhinged.”
In 1946, James Michael Curley, a notorious Massachusetts politician, was elected to a fourth term as mayor of Boston while well on his way to federal prison, where he spent several months of his term until then-U.S. president Harry Truman commuted his sentence. Parallels between Mr. Curley and Donald Trump abound.
Another source for perspective is the 1935 Sinclair Lewis novel It Can’t Happen Here. Yes, it can.
Karl Raab Vancouver
Long-distance dentisting
A letter-writer rightly highlights the business nature of dentistry in Canada (“Once bitten” – Letters, Aug. 21). I wonder if Canadians are aware of how relatively high dental costs are in this country.
I have my dental work done on trips to Europe. My excellent Swedish dentist in Spain recently gave me a complete checkup, full-mouth X-ray, one filling and a cleaning and scaling – all for the equivalent of $240. It makes you think, doesn’t it?
J. David Murphy Barrie Ont.
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