Several months ago, I agreed to wade into the morass that this integrated renewal of residential streets in Manor Park has become. At the time, I didn’t expect this file to be particularly contentious, but it has evolved and grown far beyond anything I ever could have expected. And most of the discussion has little or nothing to do with the central focus of the dispute, which is adding sidewalks to a small handful of streets where there have been none.
As of this morning (April 7), this matter will be brought to City Council tomorrow, on April 8. At that meeting, councillors will vote to decide whether to approve the city’s plan to put in these sidewalks, or to flip the city staff and committee recommendation and block these new sidewalks.
My goal this whole time has been to support the City of Ottawa’s Official Plan which aims to have sidewalks on effectively every street eventually. This supports a number of goals outlined in my presentation, which is cribbed from a presentation prepared by city staff and consultants for an info session in Manor Park last summer.
I’ve written previously (How Orleans’ Sidewalks Shape Our Community (and Our Car Dependency)) about the importance of sidewalks in the absence of any other road safety or traffic calming measures on local streets. I’ve also written about this issue (The Long Road to Nowhere: Why Good Plans Die at City Hall) and how good urbanism plans get chewed up and spat out at city hall.
If you live the east end of Ottawa/Orleans, I would really encourage you to email your councillor and even the mayor today, as this vote is happening on April 8. If Manor Park residents are allowed to block residentials sidewalks on the very shaky case they have made so far, every single community will be lining up to get the same exceptional treatment. This will entirely undermine the evidence-based planning that the city undertakes when putting together high-level documents like the Official Plan.
By the way, in Manor Park they should absolutely have the other sidewalks they are asking for, especially those that will make it easier to walk to local small businesses and schools. I would even go so far as to say other road projects, like those that would make driving easier, should be delayed to accelerate much cheaper planned active transportation improvements across the city.
My comments in the video below start at [38:55]
Good morning, Chair and Committee members.
My name is Rob Attrell. I’m a resident of Orléans and a father of three young children. I am here today to talk about the Manor Park sidewalks debacle on behalf of a consortium of concerned advocacy organizations spanning the city. As a parent who lives on a suburban street without sidewalks, I regularly see the friction THAT causes for my family and our neighbours first-hand.
I’ve spent the last few years as parents have in Manor Park, navigating the car-centric lifestyle that our current street infrastructure enforces. I know exactly what it feels like to watch your kids share the road with vehicles often going way too fast, even around blind corners. I am here today because we need to show up for each other. Debates like this that divide one neighbourhood threaten to set a dangerous precedent for the whole city. When a community group challenges the Official Plan trying to opt out of minimum safety and accessibility standards, it should be based on more than a desire to maintain the status-quo.
Slide 29: The “Why” of the Official Plan
If this slide looks familiar to you, it’s probably because it comes directly from the slide deck for the Public Information session held in Manor Park in 2025. It clearly delineates the importance of sidewalks and the reasons they were included in design plans for the renewal. Actually, the visuals from the rest of this delegation all come from that same presentation prepared by the city and shared on the Engage Ottawa website.
We are here today asking you to do what YOU said the city should be doing on this kind of renewal project. The city’s Official Plan is clear on the question of “Why Have Sidewalks?” The broad goal is to maintain or create safe, accessible pedestrian networks linking homes to schools, local amenities, and transit.
Slide 30: Official Plan and Pedestrian Connectivity
The Official Plan presents abstract goals for pedestrian connectivity. For a parent, this is the difference between letting a child walk to a friend’s house or school independently, or feeling compelled to drive them three blocks because the trip feels like Fury Road.
Slide 33: Maximize opportunities through construction
When the road is being torn up for other work, that is our one cost-effective chance to get this right. If the city skips putting these sidewalks in now, you are voting to lock in a known safety deficiency for decades. In addition to being inequitable, that is fiscally and operationally irresponsible.
Slide 34 Equity and Accessibility
“The Unique Aspects of the Neighbourhood” are rarely examined in the context of who they exclude, people who suffer silently without resources to vocalize the impacts on them. Character doesn’t help a senior with a walker or your neighbour with a visual impairment navigate a street shared with cars. Sidewalks provide an essential safety buffer for these vulnerable residents. They shouldn’t be a luxury dictated by a community’s aesthetic preference.
Slide 36: Community Connectivity
Sidewalks should be the primary way we all navigate our local communities. Prioritizing aesthetic concerns and unsafe car-centric street design shouldn’t impede the goals laid out in the Official Plan. Sidewalks link homes to essential amenities like parks, schools, transit, and shops, fostering community and simplifying access.
Slide 37: The Active Transportation Link
If we want to reduce congestion and meet our climate goals, we have to make walking the most logical choice for trips whenever possible. We do that by providing dedicated space to walk. When we separate pedestrians from car traffic, we are providing the infrastructure for a healthier, less car-dependent lifestyle.
Slide 38: Safety is the Priority
Sidewalks increase pedestrian safety by physically separating them from drivers, reducing injuries and fatalities. Safer streets also encourage walking, which reduces car traffic. Perceived safety by long-time residents often relies not only on their own status quo, but quite literally on survivorship bias. “We’ve always done it this way” logic. But city policies are built on known safety best practices, the statistical reality that physical separation saves lives and livelihoods.
Closing
I am asking this committee to uphold the city’s own policies. Don’t allow communities to opt out of evidence-based plans based on vibes. If the ‘No Sidewalks’ group succeeds in delaying or cancelling these plans, you can be sure other areas will be lining up to be excluded, probably for their own ‘unique’ reasons. It is your duty to ensure that Manor Park, and other neighbourhoods across the city have the safe access to local places that every resident deserves.
On behalf of all the organizations listed here, we are asking you to stay committed to the city’s goals and objectives. This is a diverse coalition of residents and community groups who want to see Ottawa become the city it says it is working towards. You shouldn’t start walking back good policies in an Official Plan that’s still so new the city is really just breaking it in. Infrastructure debt, the Transportation Master Plan, and addressing the housing crisis are all related to this file, and are all more impactful conversations requiring far tougher choices.
I, along with the members of the organizations listed here, support the Official Plan and its requirements for evidence-based road safety measures like sidewalks on residential streets.
Thank you.
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