The Carlington Summit

I've noticed many manholes and catch basins have dropped a few inches (many inches for a few). This makes me wonder, is Ottawa rising or is subterranean Ottawa washing away? I look back some years ago when I used to cycle to work that I came upon some barriers on the roadway and a hole the size of a cannon ball in the asphalt. I stopped to take a look. In that hole was a chamber big enough to swallow a Volkswagen and two refrigerators under that thin layer of asphalt. I've been told that there are roads in Europe that withstood traffic for thousands years. Why do ours have to be redone every 10-20 years? I wonder if the Romans had greater foresight in their planning or hadn't discovered planned obsolescence.

I also notice that the speed hill next to Westgate Shopping Centre is still there. I guess the residents of the area are putting up a fierce defence to keep it.

I'm also not happy with the changes to the intersection just north of the speed hill under the Queensway underpass. They took a very smooth access from Island Park Dr. onto Merivale and turned it into a very, very sharp turn and added a traffic light replacing the stop sign. I used that section of the road for over 25 years and never had any problems. I guess the old adage is out of style, ‘if it ain't broken, don't throw a ton of money at it just for the sake of change.'


In my column last month I mentioned the passing of Claire Dunn-Nelson. It should have been ‘Claire Dunn-Murphy'. I still stand by my statement that Johnny and Claire were the best neighbours we ever had or will have.