Dear Editor,
If you are walking on the northwest side of Kirkwood Avenue from Hampton Park plaza it is very important you keep an eye out for vehicles leaving 634 Kirkwood Ave. You have a high chance of losing your legs or your life by being squished between a vehicle and a hydro pole.
In their infinite wisdom, Hydro Ottawa installed a hydro pole two feet into the driveway at 634 Kirkwood Ave. rather than installing it two feet in the opposite direction. An already dangerous hidden driveway has now become a gauntlet of death for all pedestrians that walk by.
I contacted and met with Hydro Ottawa twice and they will not relocate the pole out of this driveway. I contacted Jeff Leiper’s office five times over 20 days with e-mails and phone calls starting March 22. On April 10 I left work to track down Jeff Leiper at a meet and greet in Westboro.
At the meeting with the Kitchissippi councillor, Mr. Leiper said they know about the incident and just hadn’t got around to it yet. Hours later the councillor’s office called me to politely say they would not moving the pole. I then asked if the city would at least reconstruct the sidewalk curb to allow a large widening of the laneway. The councillor’s office said they would be willing to look into that as a compromise as Hydro Ottawa are unwilling to relocate the new hydro pole out of my driveway but didn’t say who would be responsible for the cost and it is a cost I don’t believe I should be responsible for as my house was fully fenced and gated for privacy, and now thanks to Ottawa Hydro I’ll be left with no choice but to lose that privacy at my own expense.
John Dozois
Westboro