West Side Action takes an in-depth look at the downtown tunnel

West Side Action, a great local blog focusing on the west side of Ottawa's downtown, has been taking a very thorough examination into the impact the Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel (DOTT) will have on residents in the area bounded by downtown's western edge, Bayview, the Ottawa River, and Dow's Lake.

Rather than attempt to paraphrase Eric Darwin's terrific in-depth look--which includes everything from discussions of the effects boring tailings might have on the neighbourhood to the "hidden subsidies" to single-occupancy cars built in to Ottawa's transit tab--so take some time to look at the chapters he's published so far:

• DOTT plans affect west side residents (i): Preston St
  
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (ii): Tunnel entrance
  
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (iii): Albert Street widening planned
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (iv): closing the transitway during construction
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (v): when the transitway ends at Tunney's
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (vi): Bayview Station revised
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (vii): Bayview Rapibus Station?
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (viii): Tunney's station
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (ix): downtown west station
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (x): Campus Station
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (xi): BikeWest
• DOTT plans affect west side residents (xii): Booth Station
  

The series seems to be ongoing, and I'm not sure how long Eric will keep it going. Either way, it makes for some interesting reading while we watch the bureaucratic processes about actualizing the transit plan work their way through.