Projects

Volunteers Needed: Frank Ryan Park Outdoor Rink

Frank Ryan Park’s community rink can only operate with a cozy warm fieldhouse with the support of generous volunteers. Please sign up HERE to help keep the field house open for our friendly neighbourhood skaters! What does the role entail? Not too much, all you need to do is show up with a cell phone and have proof of vaccination.

Student with a light weekday afternoon of classes? New to the neighbourhood and looking to meet people? Snowbird stuck north of the border? Desk jockey who doesn’t spend an hour a day commuting anymore?  This opportunity is for you.

Sign up here as soon as possible and you will be contacted regarding scheduling, access, and safety protocols.

If you have any questions please contact icerink.qtn@gmail.com to get in touch with the rink coordinator, James.

Cancelled – Christmas tree forest at Frank Ryan Park

UPDATE (2022-01-02): Due to the insufficient quantity of snow at the park to support the trees we sadly have to cancel the Christmas tree forest this year. You can use the yard waste collection on Thursday to dispose of your tree or you can also consider alternative usages in your own backyard. Here are some ideas found online: https://treecanada.ca/blog/five-ways-your-christmas-tree-can-live-on-after-the-holidays/

Are we bringing the Christmas tree forest back to Frank Ryan Park? Yes! Pending enough snow… Mark your calendar for drop-off and “snow planting” on January 8, 2022. Please wait for the confirmation post to come in the new year.

If you are a high school student and would like to volunteer, please email nature.qtn@gmail.com.

Neighbourhood Safety: 30 km/h Speed Limit Coming to QTN

Speed limits in QTN will soon be lowered to 30km/h. This has been done in many neighbourhoods across Ottawa, and now this change is coming to our community. We are posting about this to raise awareness of this change to come, and to explain the benefits of slowing down.

Why 30 km/h?

  • 30 km/h is a neighbourly speed. It narrows the gap between the speed of vehicles and people, so it feels more comfortable to be walking and rolling, especially when there are no sidewalks on so many of our streets.
  • 30 km/h is a speed which gives us all time to react to kids appearing suddenly in front of us, or a pedestrian appearing out of the dark.
  • 30 km/h is a speed at which you can make eye contact and wave hi to people, rather than realizing half a block later that you recognized them!

If the worst does happen, 30 km/h is also a speed at which injuries are greatly reduced compared to 50 km/h, or even 40 km/h.

Although it can feel slow for us when we are driving, it’s a new habit we can all get into. It really only adds a minute to your drive, and makes such a difference to our neighbours and in how we experience our surroundings.

What can you expect from the new limit?

  • new signs will be posted at the entrances to the neighborhood
  • the streets won’t change, so other than the entrance signs, there won’t be new cues to change your habits
  • driving at 30 km/h can take extra focus while you adjust habits
  • it will take time for people to get used to the new speed, please be understanding