November 26 Newsletter 2021

November 26, 2021 newsletter from Rawlson King, City Councillor for Rideau-Rockcliffe.

This week, the City unveiled its first battery-electric buses! Four buses will enter service in early 2022, this being part of a larger plan to convert the fleet over the next few years. Details on what this means for our city and the climate can be found in the first item in this newsletter. In other City news, residents will be given the chance to share their feedback on the High Performance Development Standard which is aimed to support sustainable and resilient design in new developments. Residents can visit the Engage Ottawa web page and participate in a public information session on December 7 from 7pm to 8:30pm.  

COVID-19 vaccinations recently opened for children ages 5-11. Information on how to book an appointment for your child is included in this newsletter. Additionally, Ottawa Public Health is gathering information on the attitudes of parents about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout for this age group through a survey that is available on their website until December 3. Residents can take note of the ACB Wellness Resource Centre’s food bank which has now opened on Wednesdays from 1pm to 3pm. Finally, I would like to remind residents of the ward 12 and 13 2022 budget survey which is still open for a few more days. Those who have not yet completed the survey and want to do so have until end of day on November 30. 

OC Transpo unveils Ottawa’s first battery-electric buses 

Residents will soon see a new type of bus rolling down Ottawa’s streets. Mayor Jim Watson, Councillor Allan Hubley, Chair of the Transit Commission, and Bryce Conrad, President and CEO of Hydro Ottawa, were on-hand earlier today at OC Transpo’s St-Laurent Garage to showcase OC Transpo’s first battery-electric buses. 

The four new 40-foot battery-electric buses will be ready to enter service in early 2022 and will be housed at OC Transpo’s St-Laurent Garage. The garage has undergone significant retrofits to welcome the new electric buses, with four plug-in style charging stations installed by Envari Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa. 

OC Transpo is in the early stages of a fleet conversion plan that will seek to add an additional 74 battery-electric buses to its fleet in 2023, with 450 zero-emission buses phased into operation by 2027. With the gradual phase-out of diesel buses as they reach their end of life, OC Transpo could achieve a fully zero-emission bus fleet by 2036. OC Transpo will seek to leverage government loans, funding and grants, so that no additional municipal tax funding will be required to convert OC Transpo’s transit fleet to zero-emission buses. 

In addition to offering a quieter ride, battery-electric buses are expected to offer savings through reduced operating costs. Converting from diesel-powered vehicles to electric is also a key component of the Climate Change Master Plan, the City’s overarching framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and respond to the current and future effects of climate change. 

Quick Facts 

• Chargers installed at the St-Laurent Garage can charge a bus from empty to full in five hours. 

• The City’s battery-electric buses will be of similar capacity and design as OC Transpo’s existing 40-foot diesel buses to provide a standardized customer experience, with route planning based on a range of 250 kilometres in typical urban operation without recharging. 
• Battery-electric buses are currently the most widely used zero-emission technology in the transit industry and are on the roads of several Canadian municipalities, including Montréal, Toronto, Edmonton, and Winnipeg. 
• A diesel-powered bus consumes on average 35,000 litres of fuel per year. 
• The Climate Change Master Plan includes the goal of reducing emissions from City operations by 100 per cent by 2040. 

Have your say on the proposed High Performance Development Standard 

The City is developing a High Performance Development Standard that will support sustainable and resilient design in new developments.  

The proposed High Performance Development Standard seeks to apply minimum performance measures to new development through the review and approval of site plan and plan of subdivision applications. It includes metrics that will protect our environment, public health and safety, and respond to climate change.   

The High Performance Development Standard will help the City to meet the sustainable and resilient design objectives in the Official Plan as well as contribute to the greenhouse gas reduction targets. The largest share of Ottawa’s greenhouse gas emissions (46 per cent) come from buildings. New buildings that are designed to be energy efficient will reduce emissions and save on costly retrofits in the future.  

Visit Engage Ottawa to find out more on the measures and phasing and provide your feedback. 

Public information session 
December 7, 2021 
7 pm to 8:30 pm 
Zoom 

Attend the public information session to find out more about the High Performance Development Standard, the proposed requirements and how they contribute to sustainable and resilient design. The session will include a presentation followed by a question and answer period with the project team.   

Register today to reserve your spot and receive the Zoom details. 

Parent Survey - Vaccines for Children 5 to 11  

Ottawa Public Health is gathering information on the attitudes of parents about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout for this age group. Parents or guardians of children five to 11 are asked to complete a survey available on Ottawa Public Health’s website before December 3, 2021.  

The survey is available in Arabic, Simplified Chinese, English and French. To gather the most comprehensive and informative data, we ask that you please promote the survey with your network. The input provided will continue to inform how and where vaccines will be made available to children between the ages of five and 11 years old in Ottawa.  

COVID-19 Vaccines for Children 5 to 11  

Ottawa residents are able to book vaccine appointments for five to 11-year-olds (born 2016 or earlier) through the provincial booking system. Residents who are able to book at community clinics are strongly encouraged to do so to receive a specific time for their appointment. If you cannot access a community clinic, there are additional options available.  

Other COVID-19 vaccination options are also available for all eligible ages: 

• After-hours school pop-up vaccination clinics – On December 2, Ottawa Public Health will begin a rotating schedule of 73 after-hours school pop-up vaccination clinics and will post details and clinic schedules on the website when available, more details will be available on the website.  
• Neighbourhood vaccination hubs – Ottawa Public Health operates 10 neighbourhood vaccination hubs across the city  

• Pharmacies – over 100 locations across the city are starting to offer vaccines to this age group; find the nearest participating pharmacyfor appointment hours and locations  
• CHEO – the hospital offers vaccinations to children with medically complex needs  
• First Nations, Inuit and Métis community members - Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health will host a clinic at the Richelieu-Vanier Community Centre in partnership with Ottawa Public Health  
• Inuit community members – Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team is providing vaccinations for Inuit youth; call 613-740-0999 for more information or to book an appointment  
• Mobile teams – Ottawa Public Health will be working with operators of congregate care facilities to administer vaccines on site  

• Primary care – primary care physicians will be reaching out directly to their patients if they are offering COVID-19 pediatric vaccines in their offices 

LAST CALL! Budget 2022 Survey 

Proceeding our Budget 2022 Ward 12 and 13 Consultation, Councillor Mathieu Fleury and I would like to extend a survey to all our constituents on the City’s 2022 Budget. You can access our Budget 2022 survey here. We encourage everyone to fill it out so that we can capture your priorities. It will be available until end of day Tuesday, November 30 and we will share the results with our communities leading up to City’s Council’s 2022 Budget meeting on December 8. 

ACB Wellness Resource Centre Food Cupboard 

The ACB Wellness Resource Centre has now opened their food cupboard for community members on Wednesdays from 1-3pm. To register call 613-801-7426 or email [email protected] 

Where: #9-1021 Cyrville Road, Gloucester, ON, K1J 7S3 

*ID required 

Montreal Road Revitalization 

Please find below a two-week update (Monday, November 22 to Friday, December 03) for the Montreal Road Revitalization project. The work activities planned for the next two weeks will include: 

• Vanier Parkway/Montreal Road intersection – Construction of the concrete curb and sidewalk in the southwest quadrant of the intersection is now complete and the southside cross-walk is now open.   

• North River Road to Vanier Parkway – The hydro poles are now removed between North River Road and Palace Street and reinstatements at the pole locations are almost complete. 

• Vanier Parkway to Marier Avenue – The north side concrete curb, base asphalt, sidewalk, and asphalt cycle track are complete for this section. The curb, sidewalk, cycle track and tree cell installation on the south side is now complete. Paving of the second lift of asphalt between Vanier Parkway and Olmstead South is complete. The paver stone work is completed at Emond Street and Bradley Avenue. Landscaping will follow next year. Temporary streetlight pole removal has been completed.    

• Marier Avenue to Lafontaine Avenue – This section of road will be the primary focus for the next several weeks, specifically on the south side of the road. Weather permitting, crews are continuing to place concrete sidewalk.  Sidewalk areas that will not be finished with concrete over the next two weeks will be filled with temporary asphalt for the winter.  Paving of the section of base asphalt between Marier Avenue and Altha Avenue is scheduled to be completed within the next two weeks.     

• Lafontaine Avenue to de l’Église Street – Concrete curb, sidewalk and base lift asphalt is now complete between Cantin Street and Granville Street. The south side of Montreal Road from Ducharme Boulevard to de L’Église Street has been paved. All watermain work is now complete for the year.  

• De l’Église Street to St. Laurent Boulevard – Outstanding work for this section includes temporary road paving for winter conditions which will continue until the end of November. The north side of the road will be occupied by both Enbridge and Hydro Ottawa early next year.  

• Continued traffic impacts and road closures – Montreal Road is reduced to one westbound lane from Vanier Parkway to St. Laurent Boulevard. All streets are closed between Vanier Parkway and St. Laurent Boulevard, except for Olmstead Street, Marier Avenue, Granville Street/Lafontaine Avenue and Cantin Street. Beginning December 19, 2021 until late April 2022, Montreal Road, between the Vanier Parkway and St. Laurent Boulevard, will reopen to two-way vehicle and transit traffic. In addition, all side streets with the exception of Savard Avenue will also reopen, providing full access to Montreal Road.  

• Month-long construction outlook – Construction for the year is winding down. Over the next several weeks, the focus will be on preparing the site for winter conditions, including the temporary paving of granular surfaces, installation of temporary pinned curbs, line painting and site cleanup.