Mainstreeter Staff
In the February issue of The Mainstreeter, we reported that, according to the National Capital Commission (NCC), the City of Ottawa is responsible for fixing the broken streetlights along Colonel By Drive north of Clegg Street. So, The Mainstreeter followed up with the City to find out what’s going on, and it’s not good news, although Councillor Shawn Menard is pressing for resolution of the longstanding problem.
Canal runners are among those left in the dark by the City’s failure to fix the broken lights on Colonel By Drive north of the Queensway. Photo by John Dance
“City staff have reviewed the lighting system along the Rideau Canal corridor and are considering various options for repairing the lights that are currently not working,” Chris Brinkmann, the City’s Manager of Traffic Operations, responded to The Mainstreeter.
That cryptic and not particularly informative response does not sit well with residents who have put up with a dark parkway for more than two years.
“It is very dangerous, and it has been shocking to all of us that we’ve been left in the dark for so many months,” Tanis Browning-Shelp posted on the OOE Grapevine Facebook site. She says runners are choosing to run on the Colonel By roadway and “it is a disaster waiting to happen. They are NOT visible up there either and traffic often moves swiftly at dusk with little to no monitoring.”
“These lights need to be working for safety and security purposes. I find the response, well…unresponsive,” noted Patti Burnett.
“[The City’s] lack of progress to deal with this is ridiculous, but not surprising,” says Sherri Macki. “Looking at ‘various options’ is lip service to appease us. I’m curious to know what ‘options’ they’re looking at – to fix the existing poles or replace them? And to know what timeline that is. It’s time they got a move on them for the safety of our community.”
“It’s a bloody danger when biking or running particularly and they have been out way too long,” commented Elina Hill Schofield.
“At what point does it become a priority? When someone is hurt?” asks Alicia Beazley. “They need to do some serious risk assessment- which we know the city doesn’t seem very capable of.”
Councillor Shawn Menard has been trying to prod the City into action on the lights for more than two years and acknowledges that “It gets very dark along the canal in certain sections, and it’s a concerning safety issue.”
“Our maintenance contractor has made several visits to the street lights to replace lamps, however, there is a design flaw in the NCC Acorn fixtures which allows rainwater to seep into the glass,” Menard explains. “This causes premature lamp failures as well as the failure of the entire fixture. Additionally, there are portions of the underground cable that provides power to the street lights which has failed. The City has been working with the NCC to source replacement fixtures.”
Councillor Menard has requested that NCC and City staff implement a temporary and permanent solution to the problems. “This has been going on for far too long and needs resolution,” says Menard.
