Sparks Street Square Parking
The real reason the NCC wants to build a square on Sparks Street is so they can build a parking garage under it. The following is a response to a request for information about the proposed garage. As usual, the NCC puts the cart before the horse, identifying their own tourist information kiosk as the principle source of parking demand. In effect, they want to demolish Ottawa's built heritage to accommodate tourists seeking information about Ottawa.
Thank you for your patience regarding your request for information on the proposed underground parking garage. The Project Manager responsible for this file conducted the necessary research in order to provide you with the information you have requested. The following are responses to your questions: 1. The demand for parking is thought to be principally from two sources (which need to be confirmed by further study). The first demand derives from visitors to the Capital Infocentre at 90 Wellington Street. The closest parking lot to which visitors are directed is the public parking within the World Exchange Plaza (WEP) however, City Council has allowed the WEP to significantly reduce the required public in order to accommodate those who will work in the new office building which is scheduled to open in January 2002. The second demand source, which is still subject to confirmation, is the parking that is currently on Parliament Hill as it may be displaced due to the planned renovation and new construction, landscaping changes and revised security measures. 2. The underground parking under the plaza is intended to accommodate tour buses, cars, small trucks, some RV units, motorcycles and bicycles. 3. The entrance and exit is proposed for Queen Street, about 40 metres west of Metcalfe. It may be an overhead door(s) in the base of a building next to the Bank of Nova Scotia. 4. It is not yet known what impact the garage will have on transportation demand and the modal split. We have not yet initiated studies, however, if we move forward, we certainly will. 5. It is not likely this will impact any proposed underground transit alignment. The proposed alignment was in Albert and Slater Streets, however, we understand this proposal is no longer part of the City's infrastructure planning. 6. It is not known as yet how much the garage will cost. 7. The federal government will pay for it. 8. The federal government will collect the revenues. Given the demand sources mentioned above, it is not anticipated that this will affect the revenue from other lots as the proposed parking garage captures (a) parking displaced from the WEP, whose owners have effectively rejected the revenue from public parking in favour of revenue from tenants of the new office tower and, (b) parking possibly displaced from Parliament Hill, the revenues from which are already being collected by the federal government. I hope the information provided is helpful. If you have further questions or require clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us again, either by e-mail at info@ncc-ccn.ca or by phone at (613)239-5555; our office hours are from Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m.to 5:00 p.m. Information Services National Capital Commission