The vice president of Healthy Transportation Coalition Ottawa says since the LRT is going to miss Vanier, residents in the neighbourhood need better bus services.

Vanier residents, frustrated with transit service along Montreal Road, are working to get their issues with OC Transpo addressed in the upcoming revitalization of the major east-end corridor.

On 1310 NEWS' The Rick Gibbons Show, Vice President of Healthy Transportation Coalition Ottawa Trevor Haché said about 60 people gathered at their Monday night meeting to talk about the issues affecting Vanier residents.

"Buses that don't show up when they're supposed to, or buses that are showing up right after one another," he explained. "I was there [on Monday] and witnesses two number 12 buses lining up right behind each other, meaning that someone was probably waiting a really long time because one of those buses was either very late or very early."

Haché said that with the Montreal Road re-design project hitting the "open house" phase this year, ahead of an anticipated start of full construction next spring, now is the time to get requests in front of project leaders about cycling infrastructure, improvements for bus stops and shelters, and more.

"Many people [at Monday's meeting] were talking about the need for dedicated bus lanes on Montreal Road," added Haché. "Unfortunately the light rail system is bypassing Vanier entirely, so people aren't going to really benefit from that being in close proximity to them, so we do still need to have a really high-functioning bus service in Vanier."

Preliminary designs for the city's Montreal Road revitalization project is expected to be completed with a public open house held this summer. Detailed design should be finished by the winter, when another public open house will be scheduled. Full construction is slated to start next spring, with full construction wrapping up in the fall of 2021.

In the meantime, the city said it's holding monthly meetings with the Vanier Community Association and Quartier Vanier BIA to provide project updates, receive feedback and answer questions.