Public Lecture Program
Thank you for attending the Downtown Moves Mobility Summit on November 2 & 3, 2011
As part of the Downtown Moves study, a Mobility Summit took place on November 2-3, 2011. This event brought together national and international experts, community leaders, municipal staff and stakeholder agencies to listen and share their experiences. The Summit was successful in generating public enthusiasm, stimulating a constructive dialogue about Ottawa’s downtown streets, and gaining political and stakeholder support for the Study.
The Mobility Summit was organized by the City of Ottawa with assistance from their consulting team, including Delcan Corporation and The Planning Partnership. Three public lectures by keynote speakers Gil Peñalosa (8-80 Cities), Andrew Wiley-Schwartz (New York City Department of Transportation, and Ken Greenberg (Greenberg Consultants Inc.) attracted more than 400 people who had the opportunity to interact with the speakers, City staff and the project consulting team, and to learn more about the Downtown Moves Study.
In addition, a day-long workshop was attended by approximately 50 stakeholders from various City branches and government agencies, as well as business/community organizations and special interests. The participants worked collaboratively to discuss the study.
The Downtown Moves workshop was guided by three main questions:
- How will the three downtown LRT stations change walking and cycling needs and priorities in the Study Area?
- What are the opportunities to increase the balance and quality of public space available to pedestrians and cyclists in the Study Area?
- What are the barriers to transforming Ottawa's downtown streets and what is the best way to break through them?
The prevailing theme expressed at the workshop is that there are many opportunities to re-balance the functionality of Ottawa’s downtown streets in favour of walking, cycling, and transit use, having regard for the opportunities that will be created by the planned Ottawa Light Rail Transit (LRT) project. Examples of opportunities suggested included allocating more (and better) space within the street right-of-way for use by pedestrians and cyclists, improving walking and cycling connectivity within the downtown area and to/from the planned LRT stations, and improving walking and cycling connectivity between downtown and adjacent areas such as Centretown and the Dalhousie Ward, the Escarpment District and LeBreton Flats, Rideau Street and the By-Ward Market, and Sandy Hill and the University of Ottawa.
Participants who attended The Mobility Summit also expressed to the Downtown Moves project team their satisfaction with the public lectures as well as with the quality of the comments and observations presented by the various stakeholders during the workshop. The comments recorded during the workshop will be shared with the participants and will inform the vision and strategic directions of the Downtown Moves study.