Now that Nortel has moved into 1550 Carling, commuter traffic to and from the former J.L. Richards building has begun to affect residents of Laperrière and Kirkwood, said some Carlington Community Association members at their October 15 executive meeting. CCA president, Jim Maclean, who commutes by car from another office on Laperrière to his home on the eastern side of Carlington, added that he has trouble getting out into traffic on Laperrière.
The association wants to hear from residents on Laperrière, Kirkwood and Coldrey: have your streets been affected by Nortel traffic? Do you think that the CCA should round up volunteers to conduct traffic counts to measure the problem? Can you suggest solutions?
The City of Ottawa, when it upgraded the zoning for the whole Laperrière-Woodward corridor to encourage more office space, left open the possibility – an expensive one – of extending a road out to Carling between the Nortel building and Campbell Motors. Should the CCA lobby for this? Should the CCA work with Nortel's green transportation coordinator whose job it is to encourage employees to get out of their cars and use buses or car-pool? Or is the problem not big enough yet?
Your input is welcome. Call CCA president Jim Maclean at 728-0104 or come to the next CCA executive meeting on Tuesday, December 12 at 7 p.m. at Carlington Community and Health Services, 900 Merivale.