Wellington Street Part 4: As the City grows, so does Wellington (1880-1912)

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• 1880 Renaming of George Street, Victoria Terrace, and Richmond Road
• Railway Crossings
• Great big fires
• 1908 Renaming of Richmond Road through Hintonburg
• Wellington Street Vidauct
• Wellington widening and paving through Hintonburg
• Clearing up the 'middle section' of Wellington
• 1912 Re-renaming of George Street and Victoria Terrace
• References

Before our foray into the east end of Wellington Street in the previous post, we were talking in Part 2 about the first roads in Ottawa and how the fledgling town's road network began to develop in the new neighbourhood that would one day be called LeBreton Flats.

In this post we'll look at the period from about 1880 to 1912, during which time rail lines cross over Wellington at grade, fires ravage the western part of the street, Ottawa absorbs various suburbs, and an excessive number of bylaws authorize the renaming, widening, and paving of Wellington Street. To set the scene, here's what it looked like to walk in the middle of Wellington Street in 1898:¹

Hull in Lebreton Flats

This retaining wall on Albert Street near City Centre Avenue is comprised of 6x6 wooden beams that haven't done a perfect job of holding back the weight of the infill behind them. Some metal posts anchored into the ground are now holding them back.

The resulting look from the angle of the stacked beams gives the appearance of the hull of a ship in dry dock.

[Look for more one-photo posts under the label Singles]

Somerset Street Reconstruction Part 14: Bridge railings

Just as the work is underway to put the finishing touches on the reconstruction of Somerset Street west from Booth to Preston to the O-Train bridge, this 15-part series documenting that reconstruction is nearing an end. After going over the roadway and sidewalk reconstruction and the O-Train pathway, we finished off Part 13 with a look at the temporary boardwalk cantilevered over the side of the Somerset bridge while the O-Train pathway was being built (covered in Part 12).

In this second-to-last post in the series, I'll tell you all about the railings on this bridge/viaduct, as shown here at Takaki Automotive, 47 Breezehill:

While I wouldn't go so far as to claim they deserve official heritage status, the railings do have some history to them. They formed the backdrop of a couple scenes in the Rolling Stone's music video for Streets of Love, filmed in Ottawa. The bridge is around 1:15 to 1:40. Interspersed in the video with scenes shot live at Zaphod's are other Centretown landmarks such as the former Stinson & Son at 435 Gladstone (1:45 and 2:11) and Domestic Foods, the corner store just down the block from me, at Gladstone and Percy (1:50 to 1:57):

Somerset Street Reconstruction Part 12: Buliding the O-Train Pathway Tunnel

This is part 12 in the 15-part series on last year's reconstruction of Somerset Street West. In the previous post I described the planning behind the pathway that will go along the O-Train corridor (to be called the Champagne Pathway, I've just learned). Today I'll show the construction of the tunnel that had to be installed under Somerset to make this pathway happen. Eric Darwin of West Side Action blogged frequently during this construction process and I've included links to his relevant posts at the appropriate points.

Somerset Street Reconstruction Part 11: Planning the O-Train Pathway

In the previous part of the 15-part series on the reconstruction of Somerset Street West, we looked at the City Centre complex, shown here with one of the many piles of garbage scattered behind the building.

The City Centre's connection to the Somerset Street reconstruction has to do with the tunnel built under Somerset last year, which will connect a new pathway in an existing corridor between the City Centre building and the O-Train tracks. Here's that corridor from the Somerset Street bridge, looking North to Albert and Bayview station.

Somerset Street Reconstruction Part 10: City Centre

In the previous part of the 15-part series on the 2011 reconstruction of Somerset Street West, I rounded out the reconstruction of the roads and sidewalks. But there is another project tied into it, the north-south pathway along the O-Train corridor. Much of this corridor goes along the City Centre complex and it's worthwhile to take a minute to make a brief tour around the complex before talking about the pathway in the next post.

The complex, officially 250 City Centre Avenue, is comprised of an office tower and industrial bays that span from Albert Street to Somerset Street West along the O-Train line. For many years its dingy white sides and illuminated red lettering were a familiar eyesore to residents of Ottawa, as seen here in a photo from September 2008:

Somerset Street Reconstruction Part 8: Bridge sidewalks A

This 15-part series on the reconstruction of Somerset Street West finished with the section east of Preston with Part 7, which talked about trees and bike racks. We now turn our attention to the sidewalks on the section between Preston and Breezehill, over the O-Train tracks. Since sidewalks are pedestrian-related, this'll count as my Peds on Weds post for this week.

The drawing shown below was from the very first meeting where this project was introduced to the community. In stark contrast to the Bronson avenue consultation, the project team for Somerset West came to us with a drawing of what it looks like now, and some markers. Since then, they have worked with the community design team to make Somerset into a much improved street.

The sidewalks on the bridge weren't re-done simultaneously, so this photo of the sidewalks on the south side being broken up was taken at the same time that the forms were being laid for the sidewalks on the north side, which had been broken up quite some time before.

Unlike most sidewalks in Ottawa, the ones going over the O-Train tracks are built with reinforced concrete. This meant that they couldn't simply be pulled up by a big digger, but had to be chipped away by jackhammers. Here a few spent jackhammer tips sit amid the rebar.