Getting it right

As someone who relies on public transit in Ottawa, I've been watching the downtown tunnel discussion closely.

This disturbed me:

"Rogers said the problem with veering northward at Kent Street [from Albert Street to Queen Street - ed.] is that it will reduce the rail line's future potential ridership because there will be new development on streets like Slater and Laurier Avenue, rather than farther north on Queen and Sparks. Rogers said that by staying farther south, the city would be able to include buildings such as the Bell Canada tower within reasonable walking distance of the subway."

The distance between Albert Street and Queen Street? Two blocks. Not wide city blocks. Just normal-sized streets. That take all of 30 seconds each to walk down. Having to walk from Laurier Avenue to Queen Street might dissuade someone from taking light rail if they're only going a few blocks to begin with. But no rational person would choose to drive into downtown, find and pay for parking and deal with all of the related problems just because it means they have to walk two minutes less to get to their office tower. Unless they're looking for a reason to keep using their car, but at that point it's not the two block walk that's going to change their mind.

Let's have a rational discussion on light rail. There are plenty of wrinkles to iron out. This isn't something that should slow down the debate.