Article content continued

But Dewar told the crowd, of at least 150 people, the National Capital Commission should have been approached about taking more buses on the parkway as they go through their routes. “That never happened,” he said. “So what we’re seeing is not all of the options. What we’re seeing is a failure to engage.”

Deputy city manager Nancy Schepers said she personally met with NCC staff but “it makes no sense” to put more buses on the parkway.

“We asked (the NCC) to accommodate what we feel is the right solution, so in terms of minimizing disruption to the passengers, maintaining transit ridership and being reliable,” said Schepers, adding the city did a “very thorough analysis.”

OC Transpo has taken all feasible steps to reduce bus traffic on the detour, said general manager John Manconi. He said the suggestion to run express trips on the parkway between Tunney’s Pasture and downtown was too expensive. “It would be literally millions of dollars to implement it, you’d have to acquire more buses, more operators and more operating costs,” Manconi said.

But Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes, who represents residents on Albert Street, said the city should dip into a contingency fund within the LRT budget. “It’s a cheap solution. You are the victims and the city doesn’t care,” Holmes said, adding that east of Preston Street, the recent changes only lessen the number of buses by 133, or seven per cent.

As well as reducing buses, some changes came from a review by Rideau Transit Group, the company handling the $2.1-billion LRT contract. The city and RTG now plan to add illuminated pathways, extra pathways, widened pathways, flexible posts protecting cyclists, pedestrian barriers, fences and signalized intersections to the detour area.

Some residents at the meeting said they were concerned that any cycling improvements, at least during two years of heavy bus traffic, would be overshadowed by initially sharing the road with a high volume of OC Transpo vehicles. “With the number of buses, you just wouldn’t want to be riding,” said Alayne McGregor, who bikes on Scott Street most days now.

cmills@ottawacitizen.com

twitter.com/CarysMills