Uploaded on 2016-09-04 by Ottawa resident

Infrastructure has become a critical need and vulnerability in Ottawa. In the recent past, a fuel truck was involved in an accident on the one highway going through the city, and as a result the primary flow of traffic through the city was stopped and backed up for miles with no effective detour option. A sinkhole on the same highway corridor before that had a similar effect, significantly disrupting traffic flows for weeks. The lack of redundancy in the roadway system in the growing city, coupled with the lack of high-quality and flexible public transportation options (no train, no East-West light-rail train, and limited options for buses except along the same corridor) has become exceptionally problematic in recent years. The single point of vulnerability that the East-West highway has arguably become, has put pressure on speeding up the development of light-rail systems in Ottawa. It is believed that the commuting problems due to infrastructure and transportation issues have had a significant effect on lost productivity in the National Capital Region of Ottawa in recent months/years.