Why call it 'Bike Days?'; Lamenting Lansdowne 2.0 | Letters to the Editor

Bikedays will be on Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays. Photo by ASHLEY FRASER /POSTMEDIA

Article content

Better signage for Bike Days?

Article content

I’m curious why the NCC closes several parkways and calls it “Bike Days”. I live near Queen Elizabeth Drive, and notice that even when the roadway is closed to cars, the majority of cyclists still use the pathway. This is uncomfortable, if not downright dangerous, for the many pedestrians who use the pathway. But when I suggested to the NCC that they might put up signs to at least encourage cyclists to use the open road, they did not think that would be appropriate. So why call it “Bike Days”?

Article content

Article content

Article content

John Arbuckle, Ottawa

Article content

Backing the wrong team

Article content

When Ottawa had a population of less than 450,000 back in the 60s, the stands at Lansdowne Park Frank Claire stadium were packed. Now we have trouble filling one side of the stadium with a population of one million. The Ottawa Rough Riders, as the team was known back then, won three Grey Cups with Canadian Russ Jackson as quarterback in 1960, 1968 and 1969. The CFL teams rosters were mostly made up of Canadian players who were part of our community. Russ Jackson was a math teacher at Rideau High School.

Article content

Fan support of CFL teams has dropped dramatically. So the decision to not support the Ottawa Charge PWHL team by building a smaller arena is terrible. Lansdowne 2.0 is a waste of hundreds of millions to taxpayers’ money.

Article content

Nancy Biggs, Orleans

Article content

It’s too late to redesign Lansdowne

Article content

Great column from Bruce Deachman, however, as you noted, the new arena for the Sens will be here within five years. The charge can play at CTC until then and will do just fine. Not convenient in Kanata, but too late to redesign Lansdowne without cratering the project. I too wish the replacement Civic Centre was bigger; not for the Charge but because if you’re going to spend that kind of money you might as well maximize it.

Article content

Article content

Jaime Pitfield, Ottawa

Article content

Article content

Organizations should supply buses if there isn’t parking available

Article content

Re: Parking mess says a lot about DND’s organizational abilities

Article content

It sure does. More than that, it displays a lack of values and even managerial wit to know how to secure optimum work for the federal taxpayer. A few decades ago, I, as a guest, worked at the Chalk River Laboratories of Atomic Energy of Canada for few months. I and most of the workers lived in Deep River, ten miles away. So, AECL, an employer that valued its employees, ran its own buses to take people to work and back home. Not complicated. In relation to the cost of the operations, peanuts.

Article content

Andrew Palmer, in his column in The Economist this week, wrote that “hybrid working is here to stay, and the commute helps to explain why”. A department that moves to the far western end of Ottawa and fails make effective travel arrangements for its employees is not exactly on the ball. Should one trust this department to make a sound selection between an F-35 and a Grippen? Perhaps not.

Article content

John Hollins, Gloucester

Article content

Article content

Article content

Article content

Article content