City of Ottawa Kanata South (Terry Fox to West Hunt Club Road) Class Environmental Assessment Study – The NCC Role in Protecting the Greenbelt

Submission to The National Capital Commission
Richard W. Woodley
Bridlewood, Kanata, Ontario
June 21, 2013

I am providing this submission to the National Capital Commission (NCC) because I see the NCC as the Guardian of the Greenbelt while I see the City of Ottawa more as the guardian of roads and car drivers.

Information on this proposal and study is available on the City of Ottawa website here:

http://ottawa.ca/en/kanata-south-terry-fox-west-hunt-club-road-class-environmental-assessment-study

This proposal is in response to the perceived needs of Bridlewood residents for more roads to take private automobiles downtown during rush hours, the same time as the public transit system is optimized for. It relates more to a desire to use private automobiles with less inconvenience of time delays than a real need to improve transportation links downtown, which could be better done by improving public transit options.

The original proposal to solve this perceived problem was to, essentially, extend Terry Fox Drive to the 416 by extending Hope Side Road, which it connects directly to (essentially the same road with only the name changing), through the Greenbelt to the 416.

Apparently, according to the City, everybody agrees that that would be environmentally inappropriate, although I suspect the City simply realized that the NCC would not approve that so they decided they might as well jump on the environmental bandwagon.

So now we have a “compromise” proposal to widen and realign Old Richmond Road and West Hunt Club Road between Hope Side Road and the 416. While perhaps not as draconian as the original proposal for a new road through the Greenbelt, this new proposal still compromises the integrity of the Greenbelt by widening the road corridor through it and purposely increasing traffic through it and thus increasing the risk to wildlife and degrading their habitat.

And the reason it is proposed to do this is to reduce the inconvenience to Bridlewood car drivers during rush hour, the majority of whom could very effectively use the public transit system that is optimized for that time period. A much more effective solution would be to improve the public transit service to deal with any projected needs for more transportation capacity to downtown.

But this is really not about need but the desire of people to use private automobiles, many of them with only the driver in them, during rush hour.

I would urge the NCC to not rubber stamp this proposal from the City but to take their responsibility as Guardians of the Greenbelt and protectors of the wildlife and habitat within it very seriously before approving a proposal based on desire rather than need.

The NCC should also only consider the option that has the least impact on wildlife and it's habitat, the three lane, rather than four lane, proposal.

And finally I wish to draw to the attention of the NCC, although I am certain it is already aware of this, that along this route proposed for widening there are two NCC parking lots, P6 and P11 with trail systems on both sides where crossing from one side to the other is already very difficult and dangerous. If any widening of these roads is allowed the NCC must insist that it include a solution that provides safe passage between the trail systems on both sides of the roads at the locations of those parking lots.

Respectfully submitted

Richard W. Woodley

This submission is also being sent to:

Angela Taylor, P Eng. Senior Project Engineer Transportation Planning Branch Planning & Growth Management Department City of Ottawa Angela.Taylor@ottawa.ca

Valerie McGirr, P. Eng. Consultant Project Manager AECOM valerie.mcgirr@aecom.com

Ottawa City Councillor Allan Hubley Ward 23 Kanata South Allan.Hubley@ottawa.ca

This submission is also being published on my blog The Fifth Column
http://the5thc.blogspot.ca

Dumping Shit in The Ottawa River

This blog post contains graphic language because there is no way to pretty up dumping shit in the city's drinking water source.

If I were to walk into the Ottawa River and take a crap I would probably be arrested, and not just for indecent exposure but for polluting the river with human excrement.

However the City Of Ottawa routinely dumps shit in the Ottawa River due to a an inadequate and outdated sewage system. Yes, the City has been fined for some of these occurrences, but the fines are not paid by the decision makers who set the city's spending priorities but by citizens and taxpayers. Indeed the people who drink the water and swim in the Ottawa River, the victims of this environmental crime, are the ones who are punished for it, not the decision makers responsible for it.

Should there not be a law, or at least a policy, that the City spend money on improving the system responsible for this environmental crime before giving it to developers to build a shopping mall, condominiums and professional sports facilities. Should there not be a law that requires the City to spend federal and provincial infrastructure funding on reducing the amount of shit they dump in the Ottawa River before they spend it on building a road that destroys the most bio-diverse and environmentally important area in the city just to serve the desires of developers.

Indeed, should it not be legislated public policy that the City's decision makers must put the interests of taxpayers and citizens before the wishes of developers.

Reflections on Mapping the South March Highlands Kanata Lakes Trails

For purposes of simplicity, although both trail systems are within the South March Highlands, I will refer to these trails, across from the Goulbourn Forced Road (GFR) parking lot, as the KL trails and the ones in the Conservation Forest as the SMH trails.

On Wednesday (May 25, 2011) I started my latest mapping project of what mountain bikers refer to as the Kanata Lakes trails, to distinguish them from the trails within the South March Highlands Conservation Forest. I do this either with a sense of history or a sense of optimism because these trails are located in Phase 7 of the KNL/Urbandale Destruction and are planned to be destroyed along with the forest and geology they are part of, to be replaced with yet another ticky tacky suburban subdivision.

Need I say one more time that losing this land and these trails will be a real tragedy, and indeed the Terry Fox Drive extension (routed over the least environmentally friendly route after public consultations indicated environmental factors should be the first priority in route selection) has already had a devastating effect on the natural and trail connectedness in the South March Highlands. Nevertheless as we fight to save what is left we should enjoy it for as long as we can and hopefully this trail map, when completed, will contribute to that.

As with any mapping exercise I start I quickly discover the trail system is more complicated than I thought and includes more trails than on any existing map. So this is going to take a few rides to complete. At the moment I have tracks from this ride (blue) and another from last summer (red) on the very preliminary map below.

click on image to enlarge
As there did not appear to be any visible trail left at the old Kizell Pond signpost, I thought I would go in from the "Race Track Entrance" (that is not the entrance right across from the parking lot, but a bit south of it where you go "through" a couple of rocks) and see if I could work my way out to the signpost.

I never did get there but I did follow the hydro cut all the way to it's southeast end and discovered it ends in the Kizell Pond Subdivision. In the process I discovered a little loop around part of Kizell Pond, that might provide a pleasant route for short nature hikes with easy access. That was the first time I followed the hydro cut all the way to that end.

I also followed the hydro cut all the way to the northwest end where it ends at the Terry Fox Drive extension close to where it used to cross the rail line. As there was construction going on, and operating equipment right in my route to the other side, I was not able to confirm if you can access the other side. Depending on the gulley along the rail line you should be able to cross Terry Fox Drive at the rail line (traffic permitting) and connect to the rest of the trails.

The other interesting thing I discovered was another open section of trail (blue) west of the hydro cut on "The Dark Side", in addition to the section (red) I discovered open last summer. "The Dark Side" was private land that was fenced in and biking was prohibited on. Some of it is now city land but the status of these sections would require a very careful map comparison/overlay to determine. Both of these sections end at the new Terry Fox Drive extension.

The rest of my mapping experience consisted of following the usual KL trails including one offshoot that leads to a big open field where you can see the rail line across on the other side. If you follow the preliminary map above with these descriptions you should be able to see where much of what I am talking about is.

So why is this land and these trails so important. Very briefly, the South March Highlands is the most bio-diverse area in Ottawa and we are very fortunate to have such an area within our city and so close to the urban area. But, being surrounded by urban land puts its ecological integrity under great stress and if we continue to develop important pieces of it not only do we reduce its size but we increase the outside stresses on the land. We are close to the point of it's losing it's ecological integrity.

But this post is about the trail system and the KL trails have their own character distinct from the SMH trails. For mountain biking much of these trails are at an easier level and more open to riding by beginners. The terrain differences also make these trails much better suited to cross-country skiing than the SMH trails, which are better suited to snowshoeing. The two trail systems complement each other very well and are part of one interconnected ecological system, even with Terry Fox Drive running through the heart of them.

There is one distinct difference between the two systems. The KL trails are older and most were built by hikers and cross-country skiers while many of the SMH trails were by built by mountain bikers and are being maintained by them. It is very obvious that the SMH trails are much more sustainable than the KL trails. If we are successful in saving the KL trails there will need to be a review of the trails, which can probably be done as part of the City of Ottawa - OMBA (Ottawa Mountain Bike Association) joint stewardship agreement that is expected to be signed soon. Much work will need to be done to bring them up to OMBA standards. possibly including rerouting or closing some sections of trail.

But for now I hope to just finish mapping the trails so that we know what is there and can all enjoy the wonderful experience of being in this forest that we all hope to enjoy forever.

Now if we could just get the decision makers to spend a day in this wonderful forest.

Submission re: South March Highlands Conservation Forest Management Plan

click on map to enlarge
I am a lifelong environmentalist and outdoorsperson who hikes, mountain bikes, skis and snowshoes in the South March Highlands.

My first comments have to do with the public consultation process.

I was very pleased to see the full colour maps of the protected area at the open house presentation and to learn that more lands than I expected are being protected. In reviewing the maps it appears that more of the existing trails than expected may be included in the protected area.

Afterwards, I immediately went to the City of Ottawa website to see if I could review the maps and other documentation. However, as is usual, whenever I go to the City of Website to look for planning or development information I find it to be woefully inadequate.

It would be very useful if the public could access more details and background information on the City of Ottawa website in order to make better informed comments and suggestions.

One of the things that would be most useful to me in assessing the proposal and making suggestions regarding the trail network would be to see a map of the protected area with the existing trails overlaid. There are numerous trail maps available and I am appending a few that I have acquired to this document.

Before dealing with the trail network I want to address some real concerns I have about the impact of Terry Fox Drive on the conservation forest. Terry Fox Drive is an urban road that serves urban development. It should be routed through urban development land, not through land classified as rural conservation forest. To the extent that it has to cross the western portion of the protected land it should do so using as little protected land as possible.

Terry Fox Drive should absolutely not be bisecting the rural conservation forest in the way that it does. If the city is unwilling or unable to stand up to the land developers and put the road through urban development lands, the least it should do is route it along the southeastern edge of the conservation forest and not bisect the rural conservation forest.

The people of Kanata and Ottawa deserve at least an explanation as to why Terry Fox Drive is being routed the way that it is.

The rest of my comments will deal with the trail network.

As an environmentalist and serious hiker and mountain biker my first and primary concern is that the trails be kept in their natural rugged state and be retained as natural surface single track trails.

I understand that as a result of the environmental assessment process some trail rationalization may need to be done - some trails may require work to make them sustainable and some may need to be rerouted. I have no objection to improving the sustainability of the trail network as long as the network as a whole is not degraded. There may even be opportunities to build new trails for environmental reasons or to allow trail users to enjoy natural features in the area.

In particular, one trail known as “Outback”, is very long and can take up to four hours or more to hike. At several points that trail comes very close to adjoining trails. Making a link at one or more of those spots would allow hikers, who otherwise might not hike the whole trail all at once, to hike part of it at a time. Of course this would depend on whether there are environmentally suitable routes to make the links. This would also provide a faster exit for people injured on the trail and would provide faster access for emergency personnel, particularly in the winter when the cold is an added factor

In examining the map of the protected area we can see that it almost forms a circle providing the possibility of a large loop of interconnecting trails. This would require a link from the lands deeded to the City by KNL in the southeast end of the network to Trillium Forest in the northeast end of the network. Including a pathway between those two sections in the subdivision agreement would enhance the trail network in the protected area.

There has also been the possibility of wheelchair access pathways suggested. Despite the potential benefits of this, I do not wish to see the natural ruggedness and wilderness-like nature of the protected area compromised. One possibility is to build such a pathway around the “Beaver Pond”. This would also provide a place for casual walkers to enjoy the forest without ending up on the rugged natural trails in their high heels or sandals.

I understand the management plan will deal with the appropriate location of trailheads and parking facilities. I hope this will be done in such a way that natural features are not compromised. I would also suggest providing outhouses at the parking lots, as is done by the National Capital Commission at many of its parking lots in the greenbelt trail system.

Another issue that has been addressed by many trail users is the lack of signage, particularly due to the complexity of the trail system and the possibility of people getting lost. I trust this issue will be addressed in a way that detracts the least from the naturalness of the trails.

The last issue I want to address is public education. The official recognition of the South March Highlands Conservation Forest as a human-powered recreation area will make possible a more extensive public education program on responsible trail use. This has been something that the organized mountain biking community (OMBA) has been pursuing vigorously among its membership. However their membership does not include all trail users, and does not even include all mountain bikers. I would like to see the City fund an extensive public education program on responsible trail usage in co-operation with all trail user groups.

A good place to start in developing responsible trail use guidelines would be the IMBA Rules of the Trail.

Signage at the trail heads should include large trail maps on the signs along with responsible trail use guidelines. As well pamphlets with a map of the trails and the guidelines should be available.

I would also direct you to my previous comments on the South March Highlands Management Plan, “The South March Highlands - Kanata's Outdoor Wonderland”.

Maps of the South March Highlands and Kanata Lakes Trails
click on maps to enlarge




This has been sent to the South March Highlands Conservation Forest Management Plan project manager and the four councillors representing Kanata on Ottawa City Council.