STO gets the boot from King Edward

In a move that is necessary, if possibly not a great way to encourage cooperation with the STO, Ottawa city council decided to give the Gatineau transit company one year to find alternate arrangements than their current use of King Edward Avenue to lay-up their buses. From an Ottawa Citizen article:

After years of inaction, city council voted yesterday to give Gatineau a year to come up with a plan to stop using King Edward Avenue and other Lowertown streets as a parking lot for their public buses.

Residents of Lowertown have lobbied the city for years to do something about Gatineau buses idling while clogging up busy streets. As the years have dragged on, the situation has gotten worse with more buses using the area, but little has been done.

The article went on to say that Somerset Councillor Diane Holmes was open to helping Gatineau come up with an alternate arrangement, which was a solid move in the interests of cooperation. Once the buses stop using King Edward, it should greatly improve traffic flow and maybe air quality in the area. It will definitely make the neighbourhood a little more pleasant for residents.