Special Update: Solid Waste Master Plan Open House - Feb. 15
Have your say on the city’s draft Solid Waste Master Plan--Open House Feb. 15
One of the most important discussions we will have as a city during this Term of Council is happening right now. We need to decide how we will manage our solid waste over the next 30 years. There are serious decisions to be made and the city is interested in hearing your thoughts. From now until Thursday, March 7, you will have several opportunities to get directly involved in the conversation.
The focus of the discussion will be the city’s Solid Waste Master Plan. The plan will determine how we, as a community, will manage our waste over the next 30 years. Ottawa’s vision is to be a zero-waste city. But, as of now, more than half of what we throw in the garbage could be recycled or composted, instead. We need a plan that helps us realize that vision while also recognizing the realities of climate change and that our existing city landfill is nearly out of room.
This is the third round of public input on the plan. Resident input has been essential throughout the development process. In the first phase of public engagement, the city heard that residents want progressive, collective, and innovative action. In the second public engagement phase, residents were asked to provide feedback on a short list of options for the plan. This latest phase of engagement gives residents an opportunity to review the draft plan and provide their comments. And the first opportunity for Ward 9 residents to do that is fast-approaching.
Next week, city staff will host an engagement open house at the Nepean Sportsplex. It will be held on February 15th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm in the Richmond Ballroom. You can drop by, learn about the plan, and city staff will be on hand to answer any questions you might have.
If you can’t attend the open house at the Sportsplex, there are many other ways you can get involved:
- Residents can visit Engage Ottawa, learn about the plan there and take a survey and find information about the other in-person open houses in another part of the city; or,
- Register to participate in one of two virtual information sessions:
All of the sessions will include:
- Opportunities for residents to ask questions to City staff about the draft Waste Plan;
- A review of how earlier feedback from residents helped to shape the Waste Plan;
- Discussions on the Waste Plan’s five areas of focus:
- Reduction and reuse of waste;
- Recycling;
- Waste recovery, energy and how to manage the waste that remains after recyclable materials have been separated;
- Operational advancements in the industry; and,
- Fostering a zero-waste culture across Ottawa.
Waste Plan summary documents are available on Engage Ottawa in English and French as well as other languages commonly spoken in Ottawa.
If you or someone you know cannot complete the survey online, they can contact the Waste Plan team by phone at extension 25550.
Next steps
The finalized Solid Waste Master Plan will come to City Council for approval in June of this year.
The plan is, however, a living document. It will be updated every five years. As part of the regular review process, and as new strategies and programs are designed over the next five years, there will be additional opportunities for public engagement. You can stay up to date by signing up for the Solid Waste Master Plan eNewsletter and keep visiting Engage Ottawa.
If you’d like to know more about the city’s garbage and recycling programs, here is a series of helpful videos:
- Ottawa’s Green Bin Program & Composting Process Explained (3:39)
- What Happens to My Garbage? (5:05)
- What Happens to My Recycling? (4:58)
If you want to know more about city programs and services, in general, you can visit ottawa.ca, call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-2401) or 613-580-2400 to contact the city using Canada Video Relay Service. You can also connect with the city through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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New Ways to Bus: Ward 9 Information Page
Thanks for visiting the Ward 9 information page on OC Transpo's New Ways to Bus (NWTB). This page is designed to provide you with some essential details on how the service changes may impact transit riders in Ward 9, including route adjustments, the rationale behind the changes, and how we have advocated for our residents.
We fully understand that many residents are legitimately frustrated with these changes. Many riders see these adjustments as another cost-cutting measure from OC Transpo, as they continue to face significant financial challenges.
OC Transpo's New Ways to Bus revised route network will focus on frequency, local service in your neighbourhood, and connections to key destinations. Through these many adjustments, OC Transpo's aim is to increase the reliability of our bus route system. Riders will see a shift in the number of downtown-focused bus routes, to routes that improve connections to community hubs and key destinations. Some customers may have to go further to the bus stop, or require additional transfers to buses or trains, or will have longer overall travel times. In addition to fewer Connexion routes, some routes will be retired due to low ridership and to improve connections to new routes and the O-Train. Retired routes will be replaced with alternative service nearby.
For now, the position that Councillor Devine and his team are taking is that we are very sympathetic to those concerns, but that we need to help residents prepare, because these changes are coming soon. New Ways to Bus comes into effect April 27th. What our office is focused on is trying to ensure that our residents are prepared for the change, and monitoring how the new system performs in its initial weeks and months.
New Ways to Bus website
For the most comprehensive information available, OC Transpo has created a dedicated New Ways to Bus website, complete with many useful items, including:
- a New Ways to Bus network map
- information on new signage
- a detailed list of routes that will not change, and routes that will change
New Ways to Bus - Travel Planner
The OC Transpo Travel Planner has now been updated to include the New Ways to Bus routes that take effect April 27th. Try it out! Enter your trip information for a trip that you might take now and then enter the same trip information for a date after April 27th and see what kind of changes there will be.
New Ways to Bus - Ward 9 Bus Routes
You can find specific information on each route in the entire New Ways to Bus network on their new website. Our office has also compiled a series of PDF route maps for all of the Ward 9 bus routes.
Public Information Sessions
OC Transpo has organized a series of community events for residents to meet with OC Transpo staff to ask questions about changes in the New Ways to Bus system. The event that was held on April 4th at the Nepean Sportsplex was poorly attended because OC Transpo did no provide clear information about where the event was taking place. Residents are encouraged to attend other sessions.
Councillor Devine's advocacy for Ward 9
Ever since the first draft of the New Ways to Bus network was rolled out well over a year ago, our office has been engaged with OC Transpo in trying to stop some of proposed changes. It wasn't altogether easy to get concessions, since Council has no authority over OC Transpo's operations. But we managed be successful in some of our attempts, though we were less successful in others. For the sake of transparency, we wanted to provide residents with a summary of our efforts over the last year.
Routes 282/82
- What we won: It's shocking to believe, but in the original draft of the New Ways to Bus network, Route 82 would have seen its service frequency cut down to peak hours only. This would've been devasting to the western part of Ward 9, who are already seeing other decreases in service. After strong advocacy from our office, Route 82 will maintain full-day, seven-days-a-week service. During peak hours, it will connect to Tunney’s Pasture, offering a viable replacement for the discontinued 282 express route.
- What we lost: Unfortunately, Route 282 was removed. While we fought to maintain express service, this decision reflects several lost express routes, due city-wide budget constraints. However, once the LRT Line 1 West extension is complete, riders will be able to take the 82 to Pinecrest Station, for a quicker ride downtown.
Route 173
- What we lost: Route 173 will no longer service Manordale, becoming a local route serving Barrhaven instead. We continue to object to the questionable rational for this decision, as Barrhaven has more than enough routes serving it. We are committed to monitoring the impact of his lost service, in the hopes of restoring something.
Routes 111/112/189
- What we won: When the first draft of the New Ways to Bus network was rolled out, we quickly noticed that the proposed changes to the 111/112 routes meant that there was no longer any bus service on Chesterton Drive, meaning that two schools, an apartment tower, and a large lower-income housing complex would see no service at all. Even worse, Chesterton Drive is on an incline! We pushed hard against this change, which resulted in Route 189 being re-directed to run along the entire length of Chesterton Drive. While this means riders will need to make an additional transfer, it would have been much worse if there was no route there at all.
Routes 89/86
- What we lost: Despite our advocacy, Routes 89 and 86 will see reductions and decreased frequency. We will continue to push for adjustments if transit reliability issues arise.
There are several other changes to service routes in Ward 9, some of which will result in an increased level of service. We'll try to post more information on these changes shortly.
