Time to Say No to a Bridge to Nowhere
The 2014-2018 Council (including the former Ward 2 Councillor), set aside $5 million to potentially fund the “Ribbon of the Thames” portion of the “Back to the River” project.
What has become known as the “bridge to nowhere”, a suspended lookout bridge and river facing amphitheater space, has already ballooned in cost from $2 million to $7 million, with additional costs for shoreline work, excavation, and flood mitigation measures coming in at another $3-4 million.
Staff pegs the cost of the “Ribbon of the Thames” at a minimum of $12.8 million dollars, with only $2 million in private donations from the London Community Foundation, leaving the project with at least a $5 million funding gap even if we spend all $5 million of the public dollars set aside.
And that’s without spending a penny on the removal of the decommissioned Springbank Bank that has gates and hydraulic systems currently sitting at the bottom of the river. Continue Reading
The BRT Vote and Better Transit, What Does It All Mean?
After almost 4 years of the Matt Brown led council insisting that their BRT plan absolutely had to be an all or nothing decision, staff clearly indicated to the new council that not only could the BRT plan be broken up into pieces and still be viable, but that other options besides the old BRT plan were available which could qualify for provincial and federal funding.
A list of 19 projects came to council to decide which ones to submit for federal and provincial funding approval. These included; 5 component pieces of the old BRT plan, an intelligent traffic signal management system, bus stop amenities including 60 new bus shelters, the purchase of more buses, a portion of the Adelaide St. underpass design, an intersection improvement project for Wharncliffe & Oxford, Thames Valley Parkway connections, pedestrian connections to the transit network, new sidewalks, and three different cycling proposals along with a couple of others.
What changed from the old BRT plan? Continue Reading
Shawn Lewis Campaign Flyer on the Issues
Play Your Way! Parks, Arenas, & Recreation Centres Matter
Whether we are talking about big parks with lots of amenities or small ones, like Vimy Ridge Park at the Hale and Trafalgar roundabout, the evidence is in: Park spaces are good for our bodies and our minds, green space matters. And good recreation facilities are key to encouraging an active, healthy lifestyle.
Last week I attended the “Stakeholder Input Session” for the City of London’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Continue Reading
Campaign BBQ with MP Mathyssen, Cheryl Miller, & Ward 7’s Josh Morgan
Launching the Shawn Lewis for Ward 2 City Councillor Campaign with an east London backyard BBQ Meet & Greet, Shawn was joined by local Member of Parliament Irene Mathyssen, former City Councillor and past Conservative candidate Cheryl Miller and Ward 7’s Josh Morgan.
Time for Someone New to Represent Ward 2
I’m literally on the wrong side of the tracks to be able to say I live in Ward 2. But arbitrary lines on a map don’t define community. I’ve called east London’s Argyle neighbourhood home for more than 20 years.
Argyle—or Ward 2—is where I work, shop, and play. It’s where my heart is. Home. Continue Reading
Better Transit, a To-Do List that isn’t all about BRT
Let’s be honest eliminating poverty in a generation. Not something a City Council can do by itself. Bringing more jobs? Well, a city council can create a good environment for that to happen in again not something a city council can do on it’s own.
But fixing transit…that folks is something that with leadership at City Council and through it at the London Transit Commission, that is something that can be done! Transit is something wholly under the city’s control. Continue Reading
Bus Rapid Transit, an Argyle Neighbourhood Viewpoint
As chair of the Argyle Community Association, I have been pressing the City of London to hold public information sessions on the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan outside of the Central Library and in neighbourhoods where people live. This week, BRT information FINALLY came east of Highbury, when the Argyle Community Association hosted city staff at an information session at Clarke Road Secondary School.
What I learned in trying to get people to attend was that people feel that this is a done deal, that there is nothing they can do to stop, change, or improve it. They feel nothing they have to say is genuinely going to be listened to. Continue Reading
The Friday Roundtable: Former City Councillor Cheryl Miller, local Broadcast legend Steve Garrison, & Shawn Lewis
Talking about local school boards pulling funding from high school theatre production of “Prom Queen”, (true story of an LGBT student’s fight to take his boyfriend to prom), the first poll on issues in the 2018 municipal election and the mayor race, and more.
Apology to London’s LGBT Community Must Come From Council
When I first arrived in London (much younger) the Mayor of the day was defending herself and her council at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal for refusing to declare Gay Pride Weekend in the city. As a gay person who was still in the closet at the time, it certainly made it feel like the city really didn’t want me or–anyone like me–to make London home. Continue Reading