CHP Video: 50 Years since streetcars; Bank Construction

I'm about to head out to the Plant Pool Dessert Party and Bake Sale, organized by the Plant Pool Recreation Association in support of a new kindergarten play structure for Cambridge Street Elementary.

But before I head out, I wanted to share with you some news.

Bank Street between Somerset and Arlington is now closed for construction this summer. And one of the first things they've done is dig up a bunch of old streetcar ties that were still beneath the surface:

This is timely, as April 30, 2009 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the end of regular streetcar service in Ottawa.

Carlington Community Association President and Friends of the O-Train member Michael Kostiuk assembled this commemorative video of amateur streetcar footage by Lucien Dauphinais, a Montreal Tramways streetcar operator who came up to Ottawa on numerous occasions during the 1950's with his 8mm film movie camera:

I have lots of photos of streetcar ties dug up from last year's phase of Bank Street reconstruction between Laurier and Somerset, but the really neat photos are those of the ties still embedded in the roads, as seen in this cross-section:

Back to the present, Bank is closed from Somerset to Gladstone, and South of Gladstone there's some wavy obstacle-course pylons going on:

They've also removed the bulbout at McLeod, to allow traffic to go straight through while Bank is closed:

And streets like Flora have been converted for two-way traffic. They've also removed the little bulbout on the left in this photo. You may also notice the no-left-turn signs in the distance at Kent:

And here's a gratuitous glamour shot of Barrymore's, just for kicks:

Oh, and if you can't make it to the dessert party but would still like to support the Cambridge Street Elementary parents' fundraising efforts, you can buy these delightful little gift cards featuring artwork made by the kindergarten students, $5 for a pack of five:



For other old photos, check out posts labelled CHP for images in the Centretown Heritage Project series.