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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"><A
href="http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2006/03/02/1468951.html">http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2006/03/02/1468951.html</A></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">What do you guys think? A few of us have
discussed this at meetups before.... </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">I hate breathing in full exhaust when I'm
walking.... </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">By DEREK PUDDICOMBE, SUN</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Capital coun. Clive Doucet wants the city to
implement a monthly congestion fee for drivers heading downtown over
high-traffic bridges like the Billings Bridge. (Geoff Robins, SUN)
<BR>Travelling into downtown Ottawa could get costly if a city councillor has
his way. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">If rising gas prices aren’t enough to make you
take the bus, maybe a congestion charge will. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Capital Coun. Clive Doucet wants the city to
charge a user fee for every car heading into the downtown core to help pay for
road and sewer repairs in older Ottawa neighbourhoods. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">He wants the city to experiment with a two-year
pilot project to test its effectiveness and gauge the public’s reaction to the
charge. The idea is similar to one instituted by London, England, which began
charging drivers a toll in an effort to discourage cars in the capital’s core.
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Charge is ‘sensible’ <BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">“A congestion charge is a sensible way of raising
taxes,” Doucet said. “People have to realize we have to do something.”
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Under Doucet’s plan, drivers heading downtown and
who cross the McIlraith, Billings, Dunbar and Hog’s Back bridges between 6 a.m.
and 10 a.m. would pay a fee when they register their vehicle licence.
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Doucet says the charge could be anywhere from 25˘
a trip to 50˘. Drivers would only be charged from Monday to Friday, and only if
travelling into downtown. It would also apply to drivers who travel to downtown
via the Queen Elizabeth Driveway at Preston St. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Bay Coun. Alex Cullen says his colleague’s idea
about a cure for vehicles cutting through Capital Ward to get to downtown might
not be as farfetched as it first seems. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">“He’s trying to generate some discussion because
cars are destroying the quality of life for his residents,” said Cullen. “It’s
the shape of things to come.” </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Doucet argues cities don’t have enough money to
maintain hundreds of kilometres of roads and alternatives must be considered.
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">In Doucet’s motion to be introduced at the next
transportation committee meeting in two weeks, he suggests council will spend
about $145 million on new roads over the next three years and taxes it currently
collects are not enough to pay for it. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">The city isn’t on board yet, but hasn’t dismissed
the idea outright. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Deputy City Manager Ned Lathrop said vehicular
congestion is beginning to inhibit the movement of people downtown.
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">“It’s one of those things that have to be
considered,” he said, but added Ottawa’s traffic congestion is nowhere near
London’s level. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>