Parkway Closure Complaint
To Renee Amilcar, General Manager of OC Transpo
Jonathan Gibson Davis
Kanata, ON
davi1068@algonquinlive.com
May 18, 2025
Renée Amilcar
General Manager, OC Transpo
Ottawa, ON
renee.amilcar@ottawa.ca
Subject: Demand to End SJAM Parkway Closures
Dear Ms. Amilcar,
I am writing to formally condemn OC Transpo’s ongoing compliance with the NCC’s weekend shutdowns of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway Transitway. Today’s delayed and overcrowded Route #61 to Tunney’s Pasture—just like every weekend for years—proves this policy is a failure. I complained about this when Twitter still existed, yet here we are: still detouring hundreds of buses, still wasting millions in extra fuel every summer weekend, and still prioritizing the whims of Island Park Drive’s affluent residents over the needs of thousands of transit riders.
Let’s be clear:
This is not climate action. Idling buses on detours burn thousands of extra litres per weekend—a staggering waste.
This is not equity. The NCC sacrifices reliable transit for west-end residents to gift yet another bike lane to the wealthy Island Park neighbourhood, which already has a waterfront cycling path.
This is not incompetence; it is complicity. OC Transpo’s silence normalizes this abuse of public resources.
I demand you:
Publicly reject these closures and disclose the per-weekend cost (fuel, labour, emissions) of these detours.
Restore full Transitway access immediately. If the NCC wants a bike path, let them pay for it—not OC Transpo riders.
Compensate riders for added travel time (e.g., weekend fare suspensions) until this ends.
Enough greenwashing. Enough excuses. I expect confirmation of your plan to resolve this by June 1, 2025. If not, I will escalate this to Council, the media, and every rider stuck in your detours.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Gibson Davis
I support cycling too and I oppose the Ford government’s plans to reduce bike lanes.
Please sign this petition:
Stop the removal of Ontario’s bike lanes: https://act.greenpeace.ca/en-ca/protect-ontario-bike-lanes
I would like to see permanent protected bike lanes on all streets, instead of wasting the space for parking.
This closure of the transitway is not that, all four lanes of the parkway are being closed every weekend, detouring and delaying public transit to and from the west end for thousands of people and wasting millions in fuel.
I favour making the northernmost lanes of the divided parkway into a permanent bike corridor and the remaining lanes into an exclusive Transitway, like the other portions of the network.
https://act.greenpeace.ca/en-ca/protect-ontario-bike-lanes
https://www.change.org/p/immediate-action-needed-to-improve-bus-service-for-kanata