Recently we asked Mr. Damon Berlin, Stakeholder Relations, Rail Construction Program for an update on what is happening in our neighbourhood. Below are two emails with a number of questions and his answers. Please note that while Mr. Berlin has given us answers to our queries in good faith, the plans and timetables are always subject to change and given weather and other concerns quite possibly will.
Mr. Berlin has said he will ensure that the McKellar Park Community Association is made aware before any work begins in our area.
From: “Berlin, Damon” <Damon.Berlin@ottawa.ca>
Date: October 25, 2019 at 11:24:56 AM EDT
To: Sybil Powell <sybil.powell@rogers.com>
Cc: “Pechloff, Tom” <tom.pechloff@ottawa.ca>, “Leiper, Jeff” <Jeff.Leiper@ottawa.ca>, Stage2 – Etape2 <stage2@ottawa.ca>
Subject: RE: LRT2 Dominion to Woodroffe
Good morning Sybil,
As you know I am happy to help when and where I can. In this instance I feel like we are helping each other as you are sharing information more broadly than I could, so I too thank you. As with my last response, I will address each issue below.
I and others in the MPCA are concerned about the oak tree(s), that are positioned on the south side of Rochester Field at Richmond Rd., that will need to come down to give access to the staging area. Do you know how many? These are not old trees and are and will be truly beautiful when full grown. When the discussion of putting six and seven story buildings on the Richmond Rd. side of Rochester Field took place, one of the few agreements that we were pleased with were that these trees would be saved. They will provide a visual barrier from the buildings. While it is understood that access to Rochester Field must happen, it would be greatly appreciated if any of these trees that have to be removed be relocated to another section of Rochester Field or the Byron Linear Path rather than be chopped down and destroyed. I know you are not the person who makes this kind of decision but would appreciate it if you could alert whoever that is that we have a concern.
Can we expect that these trees will be replaced once the staging area is no longer needed?
- Please image below, the site office footprint was chosen so that the entrance used an existing break in the trees and will not necessitate the removal of any of those oak trees. I did ask the contractor about these trees yesterday and I was told that there will be pruning required but no removals are planned. He did warn that if a root ball was compromised during the operation of the site office which resulted in affecting the integrity of its tree then in that instance a tree would be removed to ensure safety of users of Richmond Road and the sidewalk.
- With respect to transplanting the oaks, unfortunately these trees are not viable options for viable transplant but considering the contractors intent on protecting the trees it is best not to risk them with a transplant.
I shared your email with two board members of MPCA. Given that the NCC plans to move the SJAM closer to the condos at 635 Richmond Rd. and to houses at the corner of Skead and Westminster, I would appreciate it if you could give us information of any more trees scheduled to come down from Westminster to Cleary. The slide you sent me was #3. Perhaps slide #2 would show this area. Is it possible that this won’t be marked because this will happen after the LRT is buried?
- Please see image below which indicates where trees will be removed from Cleary to Mansfield. The yellow zone is where the contractor is ALLOWED to remove whereas the blue zones are where the contractor WILL remove. You will note that many of the trees that delineate the adjacent residents from the future alignment are to be protected.
Once I opened the discussion of noise at night, more views have been voiced. It was noted that there is a low rumble of trucks that seem to be just sitting there doing nothing. Is it possible there are generators for lights and that is causing the noise? If there is a way to mitigate this noise it would be appreciated.
- The trucks referred to are probably waiting to load or unload construction material. In addition, the generators referred to are for lights which are a safety requirement for night work. Unfortunately, neither can be mitigated. If however, the lights were poorly positioned and pointed into adjacent homes, I would certainly instruct the contractor to reposition or redirect the lights.
Given that the SJAM will have the traffic moved to new lanes by next spring, when do you expect work will begin on the tunnel from Cleary to Rochester Field?
- Please see image below that identifies approximate construction zones for the tunnel cut and cover work and the associated legend provides current anticipated start dates.
- NOTE: These dates are very preliminary and may very well change, I would caution sharing this information without also providing this caveat.
Thanks Damon. I know that the information you provide now will likely change and things will be delayed or modified but it helps to have an idea of what is planned.
- This is absolutely the case, thank you for acknowledging and stating this fact. It is the greatest challenge with design builds, the contractor is focused on delivering works now while residents seek (and rightly so) information on design, schedules, methodologies for activities years away.
Thank you
Damon
Damon Berlin | Stakeholder Relations | Relation avec les intervenants
Rail Construction Program | Programme de construction du rail
Transportation Services Department | Direction générale des transports
City of Ottawa | Ville d’Ottawa
http://www.stage2lrt.ca | http://www.etape2tlr.ca
P Please consider the impact on the environment before printing.
On Oct 22, 2019, at 2:55 PM, Berlin, Damon <Damon.Berlin@ottawa.ca> wrote:
Good afternoon Sybil
Thank you for your email. I’ve taken the liberty of responding to your questions in order below, should you have any further questions please do not hesitate in contacting me.
***Please note that for all schedule/dates/timelines listed below is the most current information that we have received from the contractor. It is entirely likely that some dates change and others stay the same. It is the commitment of the Stage 2 Stakeholder Relation team to ensure that all adjacent residents and community associations receive updates in advance of construction.
Is this close to completion? Will they be paving soon? When will traffic be moved, and then what happens?
- Westbound SJAMP lane work nearing completion
- Week of November 1st is planned for the flip to the new westbound roadway
- Once traffic is flipped, work will begin on the eastbound roadway
- The eastbound flip is loosely projected to occur in spring 2020
- Once the traffic has been flipped on both eastbound and westbound lanes work on the tunnel can begin
FWIW, this work ,on occasion , has gone on nearly all night. Both on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and this past Saturday they worked well into the early morning. It has been really noisy. People haven’t complained, likely because it hasn’t been everyday, but I wanted you to know.
- Thank you for flagging this. Please note that the contractor has sought and received a noise exemption to allow them to work beyond the allowable hours. The weekend exemptions are in place for 2 more weekends.
A while ago you told me that the trees along the Byron Path, Cleary to New Orchard will be taken down after Nov. 4th. Is that still the plan?
- The week of November 4th continues to be their schedule. This is to allow for no impacts to the Farmer’s Market.
Are there plans to take down any more trees around Skead from Westminster to Fraser?
- Please see image below:
- Yellow indicates area contractor ALLOWED t remove
- White dots indicate trees that they will attempt to protect
- Blue/Green indicates trees that WILL be removed
- Red indicates access area, NOT ALL trees will be removed, only to allow for access
When will work on the trench begin?
- Cut and Cover work for the tunnel is scheduled to begin March 2020 approximately between New Orchard and Harcourt.
When can we expect work on the station at Sherbourne to start?
- Cut and Cover work for the tunnel in that area is scheduled to begin August 2020
- Cleary Station construction is scheduled to begin in 2022
When will Rochester Field become the staging area complete with site office, washrooms, equipment and employees’ cars?
- By the end of the year (2019) the city’s section of Rochester Field will be mobilized including 2 trailers (1 office and 1 washroom trailer)
- 2020 will see the rest of the area to be used by the contractor as their laydown area
If people have noise complaints should they be phoning 911?
- If people have noise complaints they should always call 311 and email me
If they have other concerns who should they be calling?
- All concerns related to the west extension should be sent to me, berlin@ottawa.ca
Is there anything else you can think of that I missed?
- The Stage 2 stakeholder relations team will be updating the McKellar Park Community Association as information becomes available.
Thank you
Damon Berlin | Stakeholder Relations | Relation avec les intervenants
Rail Construction Program | Programme de construction du rail
Transportation Services Department | Direction générale des transports
City of Ottawa | Ville d’Ottawa
http://www.stage2lrt.ca | http://www.etape2tlr.ca
P Please consider the impact on the environment before printing.
