Cycling in Ottawa

[Mulder]

I have seen comments before, that the MTO still designs interchanges with minimal or no consideration for pedestrians or cyclists.

It's more complicated that this.

MTO will pay for a standard cross section based on roads/pedestrian warrants, anything else that the city/municipality wants, they will have to pay for.

For example, A project I am working on, the city originally wanted sidewalks on both sides of the bridge, existing only has it on one side (North).
Pedestrian warrants say it may need it in both sides by 2045. The other issue is that there is no sidewalks on the approaches on the South side. So the city would also have to undertake that project or else you have a sidewalk on a bridge that just ends.

We went though the process of designing a wider bridge to accommodate the sidewalk only for the city to say they didn't want to pay for that extra. Yet.

The outcome, is that the City is paying for a wider structure to accommodate a future sidewalk on the south side, but not putting the sidewalk in yet.

The same assignment on another bridge has us adding 1.5m Paved "shoulder" to accomindate a future bike route that is not connected yet. City is cost sharing that,

Interchanges are tricky business with lots of movements. Am also currently working on one.

[OTownandDown]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/donald-st-laurent-intersection-cars-bike-lane-path-1.5228748

These protected intersections are great, but this is a perfect example of city employees putting on the blinders, reacting to a design brief from a councellor, and designing something without context.

Why does an intersection have protected bike lanes when said intersection is literally connected to NO bike lanes?

Great layout though, just needs some tweaks. Significantly slimmer bike lanes, for one.

Edit: I take it back, I guess Donald is supposed to be the cycling street, as it's connected to the Adawe crossing.

Edit: Why is McArthur set up as the iron-clad cycling street, when the Adawe Crossing and this new Donald-and-St. Laurent Intersection exists??!!?!?!

OMG.

[PHrenetic]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/donald-st-laurent-intersection-cars-bike-lane-path-1.5228748

These protected intersections are great, but this is a perfect example of city employees putting on the blinders, reacting to a design brief from a councellor, and designing something without context.

Why does an intersection have protected bike lanes when said intersection is literally connected to NO bike lanes?

Great layout though, just needs some tweaks. Significantly slimmer bike lanes, for one.

Edit: I take it back, I guess Donald is supposed to be the cycling street, as it's connected to the Adawe crossing.

Edit: Why is McArthur set up as the iron-clad cycling street, when the Adawe Crossing and this new Donald-and-St. Laurent Intersection exists??!!?!?!

OMG.

Good Day.

OMG indeed. This is one of the results of a purportedly long-term plan that has not been <snort> well-communicated to the public by City.
I have asked about it in some City presentations, and listened and read widely on plans for the area over some time.

The McArthur bike lanes were put in on the justification that it was going to be 'temporary' until other parts of the long view were got around to.
And thus it was cheaper in the short term. and and and.

The Adawe crossing was not yet in the short-term; it was long-term; then it got massively moved up and advanced. Good move, in-and-of itself.

The Donald-St.Laurent intersection was to have been the first step in the whole "plan", and then got delayed.
And then had re-design and re-re-design. and they still did not get it right - the video was quite correct in that the "turn-lane" is both too wide and not at all properly marked, painted, nor signed. And they took -forever- to build the durn thang !

Donald was to have been slated earlier for sewer/watermain replacement and rebuild, including the bike lane in full concept, but has been repeatedly re-scheduled.
And they could not put a temp on there because it was to be rebuilt 'soon' and so would need a re-route/detour. and and and. So the 'temp' went to McArthur.

IE: a classic case of piecemeal budgeting and scheduling that have all combined to create a perfect storm of non-sense,
which we will not see the end of for about another ten years. At best.

And.... this is not about any agenda for pro or con automobiles/bikes/pedestrians. We all loose on this one.
As it is now (and I have traversed it many times through it's construction, in all three modes)
it is a deathtrap for someone soon unless we get lucky, and it needs to be well fixed, fast.

The one winning grace of the Donald-St.Laurent stupid attack is that they can (I pray) see the boos and the necessary fixes for future intersections, to the benefit of all.

NoJoy!

[kwoldtimer]

The McArthur bike lane has been extended by putting flexible bollards along both sides of one of the two non-turning lanes just where the Loblaws exit is, immediately west of the VP. It is an unbelievably hazardous arrangement for both cyclists and motorists.

[acottawa]

The design of the Donald intersection is ridiculous. The bike lanes are way too wide, nothing is clearly marked, and there is a jumble of signs.

[PHrenetic]

The McArthur bike lane has been extended by putting flexible bollards in one of the two non-turning lanes just where the Loblaws exit is, immediately west of the VP. It is an unbelievably hazardous arrangement for both cyclists and motorists.

Good Day.

Yep.... IMO it starts to approach in hazard the Laurier westbound approaching Elgin disaster, by cutting the shuffle area way too short for the inherent confict between bikes, westbound cars, west-turning-southbound cars, and both bikes and cars exiting Loblaws east or west bound.

Along with middle-of-the-road flappers that do not allow cars to safely pass bikes, I am starting to feel like City has no concept of real safety.

Again, NoJoy!

[acottawa]

The design of the Donald intersection is ridiculous. The bike lanes are way too wide, nothing is clearly marked, and there is a jumble of signs.

Just watching the CTV news bit. They basically made the one way bike lane the width of an SUV. Who designs these things?

[kwoldtimer]

Good Day.

Yep.... IMO it starts to approach in hazard the Laurier westbound approaching Elgin disaster, by cutting the shuffle area way too short for the inherent confict between bikes, westbound cars, west-turning-southbound cars, and both bikes and cars exiting Loblaws east or west bound.

Along with middle-of-the-road flappers that do not allow cars to safely pass bikes, I am starting to feel like City has no concept of real safety.

Again, NoJoy!

You would also enjoy the "middle of the road flappers" that pretty much oblige drivers to drive on the wrong side of the road, depending on where cars have been parked.

[roger1818]

Just watching the CTV news bit. They basically made the one way bike lane the width of an SUV. Who designs these things?

How wide are the plows used to clear the bike lanes? With curbs on either side of the bike lane, it can't be any narrower than that.

IMHO, the simple solution is to paint the standard bike lane symbol on the lane.

[OTownandDown]

You would also enjoy the "middle of the road flappers" that pretty much oblige drivers to drive on the wrong side of the road, depending on where cars have been parked.

On Centennial, they've put a 2nd flapper at the side of the road, to leave width for a bike. So basically every single OC transpo bus has to run head-long into the middle flapper, and now they're totally banged up.

[acottawa]

How wide are the plows used to clear the bike lanes? With curbs on either side of the bike lane, it can't be any narrower than that.

IMHO, the simple solution is to paint the standard bike lane symbol on the lane.

They use sidewalk ploughs I think. This bike infrastructure does not connect to anything.

[lrt's friend]

I almost ran a red light on O'Connor Street. The signal for bicycles is clearly visible from the driver's side and turned green first. I understand the logic, but because I could see it so easily at night, I thought the light had turned green, when there was actually a delay. I caught myself but there is becoming increasing visual overload.

[PHrenetic]

On Centennial, they've put a 2nd flapper at the side of the road, to leave width for a bike. So basically every single OC transpo bus has to run head-long into the middle flapper, and now they're totally banged up.

Good Day.

Similarly, on roads with parking one side, no parking other side, but they insist on leaving the 'center' line in the dead center, and double down by putting these flappers on that center 'center' line, rather than sensibly offsetting the 'center' line slightly tothe no-parking side. Sample - Marier northbound, where the buses also have to virtually always drive purposefully over the flappers.... beating them to $#!@. Plenty of other samples around town. Totally DUMB.

Also.... newly rebuilt and narrowed streets, with parking both sides, leaving only one-plus width for two-way traffic, and they plant a flapper dead center. WTF !

NoJoy!

[PHrenetic]

I almost ran a red light on O'Connor Street. The signal for bicycles is clearly visible from the driver's side and turned green first. I understand the logic, but because I could see it so easily at night, I thought the light had turned green, when there was actually a delay. I caught myself but there is becoming increasing visual overload.

Good Day.

Yep... they did that awhile back. It is part of the 'advanced advantage' program to give priority head-starts to the vulnerable - pedestrians and cyclists.
Laudable, but they sure as H did not advertise it, nor post it on the lights so people know.

Another sample of right thing to do, but wrong way to do it.
Safety ? do not make me sneer !

Visual and cognitive overload - BIG time.

NoJoy!

[acottawa]

I almost ran a red light on O'Connor Street. The signal for bicycles is clearly visible from the driver's side and turned green first. I understand the logic, but because I could see it so easily at night, I thought the light had turned green, when there was actually a delay. I caught myself but there is becoming increasing visual overload.

I think I counted close to 20 signs when I was waiting for the light the other day. It would be a good place for the “I am not a robot” test.

[OTownandDown]

I think I counted close to 20 signs when I was waiting for the light the other day. It would be a good place for the “I am not a robot” test.

In other jurisdictions, the red/yellow/green for cyclists is down WAY low, at the cross-walk buttons (just above them). I think this is the case in London England, if I remember correctly. I thought the above, next to regular lights was a terrible design. I see people running the red all the time.

[zzptichka]

I almost ran a red light on O'Connor Street. The signal for bicycles is clearly visible from the driver's side and turned green first. I understand the logic, but because I could see it so easily at night, I thought the light had turned green, when there was actually a delay. I caught myself but there is becoming increasing visual overload.

I see bunch of cars running red lights on advanced green for buses every day on Portage. Some idiots are even honking at those who are doing it right.
People need to learn rules of the road and pay attention when operating 2 ton vehicles.

[Gat-Train]

In other jurisdictions, the red/yellow/green for cyclists is down WAY low, at the cross-walk buttons (just above them). I think this is the case in London England, if I remember correctly. I thought the above, next to regular lights was a terrible design. I see people running the red all the time.

Just like the wayfinding signs for the train stations, placed at a height by people that clearly don't bike or use transit.

[CityTech]

Transit priority lights should use the white bar design and cyclist/pedestrian lights placed off to the side and low on the ground

[Uhuniau]

You would also enjoy the "middle of the road flappers" that pretty much oblige drivers to drive on the wrong side of the road, depending on where cars have been parked.

SO MUCH THIS! And especially on streets with bus service, where the bus ends up having to drive on the left in order to move at all.

[lrt's friend]

Transit priority lights should use the white bar design and cyclist/pedestrian lights placed off to the side and low on the ground

The general public (including visitors from outside the city) doesn't know what a white bar means. It seems like that would require overwhelming re-education after 90+ years of green, red and amber. Don't forget the children as well. To my knowledge, the white bar is only used in situations with professional drivers and special training in segregated lanes.

[Mister F]

The general public (including visitors from outside the city) doesn't know what a white bar means. It seems like that would require overwhelming re-education after 90+ years of green, red and amber. Don't forget the children as well. To my knowledge, the white bar is only used in situations with professional drivers and special training in segregated lanes.

I don't know the intersection that's being discussed, but in general the public doesn't need to know what the white bar means. The whole purpose of the white bar is to make a signal that's completely different from the general signals so that it's effectively meaningless to general users. It can be ignored by everyone except transit drivers, so it decreases confusion and increases safety.

[corynv]

I don't know the intersection that's being discussed, but in general the public doesn't need to know what the white bar means. The whole purpose of the white bar is to make a signal that's completely different from the general signals so that it's effectively meaningless to general users. It can be ignored by everyone except transit drivers, so it decreases confusion and increases safety.

Plus the city does already use the white bar is some places. Coming off the 417 onto St.Laurent for example.

[lrt's friend]

I don't know the intersection that's being discussed, but in general the public doesn't need to know what the white bar means. The whole purpose of the white bar is to make a signal that's completely different from the general signals so that it's effectively meaningless to general users. It can be ignored by everyone except transit drivers, so it decreases confusion and increases safety.

This discussion was about traffic signals on cycle tracks, specifically on O'Connor Street.

[zzptichka]

This particular discussion was about bus+taxi lane signal on Portage. It can't be white bar because taxis supposedly don't know what it means.

As for bike lane signals, I agree they need to be installed at eye level. O'Connor & Chamberlain is one example where drivers mistake it for car signal.
But yeah HTA in general is quite prehistoric when it comes to bike infrastructure.

[Mister F]

This particular discussion was about bus+taxi lane signal on Portage. It can't be white bar because taxis supposedly don't know what it means.

As for bike lane signals, I agree they need to be installed at eye level. O'Connor & Chamberlain is one example where drivers mistake it for car signal.
But yeah HTA in general is quite prehistoric when it comes to bike infrastructure.

Oh okay, thanks for the info. If it's not a dedicated transit lane then regular signals make more sense.

[Acajack]

Not sure if this info is available in English but Gatineau just unveiled its first five free bicycle repair/TLC stations that are scattered throughout the city.

https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=guichet_municipal/velo/biciborne&ref=navigation-secondaire

They have pumps and a bunch of useful tools like screwdrivers, allen keys, pliers, etc.

Stopped by one this morning!

More of these will be progressively installed all across the city in the future.

[J.OT13]

Not sure if this info is available in English but Gatineau just unveiled its first five free bicycle repair/TLC stations that are scattered throughout the city.

https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=guichet_municipal/velo/biciborne&ref=navigation-secondaire

They have pumps and a bunch of useful tools like screwdrivers, allen keys, pliers, etc.

Stopped by one this morning!

More of these will be progressively installed all across the city in the future.

Cool!

[zzptichka]

Not sure if this info is available in English but Gatineau just unveiled its first five free bicycle repair/TLC stations that are scattered throughout the city.

https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=guichet_municipal/velo/biciborne&ref=navigation-secondaire

They have pumps and a bunch of useful tools like screwdrivers, allen keys, pliers, etc.

Stopped by one this morning!

More of these will be progressively installed all across the city in the future.

That's great. Can't see the map anywhere though.
There are about 30 of those in Ottawa (https://ottawa.ca/en/residents/transportation-and-parking/cycling/bike-parking-and-repair-stands#locations-bike-repair-stations-city-ottawa) already.
One of those came in very handy and saved me a long walk home once this summer.

[Acajack]

That's great. Can't see the map anywhere though.
There are about 30 of those in Ottawa (https://ottawa.ca/en/residents/transportation-and-parking/cycling/bike-parking-and-repair-stands#locations-bike-repair-stations-city-ottawa) already.
One of those came in very handy and saved me a long walk home once this summer.

If you click on each of the five location descriptions at the bottom of the page, it opens up Google Maps with a locator.

Did not know about those in Ottawa. Cool!

[Multi-modal]

That's great. Can't see the map anywhere though.
There are about 30 of those in Ottawa (https://ottawa.ca/en/residents/transportation-and-parking/cycling/bike-parking-and-repair-stands#locations-bike-repair-stations-city-ottawa) already.
One of those came in very handy and saved me a long walk home once this summer.

Some of them are starting to be missing lots of tools though, I stopped at one at Nanny Goat Hill and it didn't have any hex keys anymore.

[Acajack]

Some of them are starting to be missing lots of tools though, I stopped at one at Nanny Goat Hill and it didn't have any hex keys anymore.

Best toponym in Ottawa!

[TransitZilla]

https://www.ottawa.ca/en/news/interim-safety-improvements-being-made-laurier-avenue


Interim safety improvements being made to Laurier Avenue
August 22, 2019

Announcements and Events

Work will begin this week on Laurier Avenue West between the Laurier Avenue Bridge and Elgin Street to provide interim safety improvements for westbound cyclists.

Improvements include:

a new stop sign where the Queen Elizabeth Drive (QED) ramp meets Laurier Avenue West
a new bike lane on the QED ramp
new flex stakes along the Laurier Avenue westbound bike lane
the installation of pin curbs to prevent vehicles coming off of QED from going directly to the Elgin Street right turn lane. These vehicles will first need to merge onto Laurier.
the installation of a bike signal installed at the crosswalk at City Hall (westbound direction)
adding green thermoplastic pavement markings to identify conflict areas
These changes will result in new traffic patterns in the westbound direction and will reduce the length of the conflict area where vehicle weave manoeuvres occur across the westbound bike lane until a permanent solution is installed. The interim changes will require both motorists and cyclists to work together and to be aware of the new traffic control measures that will be in place.

Road users should expect delays through the corridor and the work is anticipated to be completed by the end of August.

Funding for the detailed design and engineering of a permanent solution will be brought forward as part of the 2020 Draft Budget.

[Acajack]

Some of them are starting to be missing lots of tools though, I stopped at one at Nanny Goat Hill and it didn't have any hex keys anymore.

I assume the tools are fastened in some way?

[TransitZilla]

Graphic of Laurier improvements:

https://i.cbc.ca/1.5256955.1566512108!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_780/laurier-bike-improvements.JPG


Apparently for 2020 the permanent solution being looked at involved a cycle track on the north side of Laurier and a protected intersection at Laurier & Elgin.

[Multi-modal]

I assume the tools are fastened in some way?

Yes, they hang from a light cable, but could easily be removed with a cable cutter if someone really wanted them.

[Acajack]

Yes, they hang from a light cable, but could easily be removed with a cable cutter if someone really wanted them.

Ours are similarly fastened. Nothing is ever asshole-proof.

[Multi-modal]

Graphic of Laurier improvements:

https://i.cbc.ca/1.5256955.1566512108!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_780/laurier-bike-improvements.JPG


Apparently for 2020 the permanent solution being looked at involved a cycle track on the north side of Laurier and a protected intersection at Laurier & Elgin.

I'm not in love with these interim improvement - the stop sign in particular is too far back to help with cycling safety. Cars will end up waiting between the crosswalk and bike lane for gaps, which is fine but defeats the purposed of the stop sign.

Mostly these improvements will just reduce speed, I'm betting there will be an increase in incidents, but a decrease in serious incidents.

[J.OT13]

Ours are similarly fastened. Nothing is ever asshole-proof.

Live electric wire within the cable to ZAP any would-be thieves?

[TheBrain]

Live electric wire within the cable to ZAP any would-be thieves?

:tup:
I've been thinking someone should make a bikelock with a large electrical charge waiting inside for any dirtbags cutting it...
Although that might not be ... allowed... ;)

[roger1818]

Live electric wire within the cable to ZAP any would-be thieves?

Just connect up an electric fence controller to it. They give a nice jolt but are perfectly safe.

Having said that, installing such a thing would probably cost more than replacing the stolen tools.

[rocketphish]

Carlington Bike Park set to open atop former ski hill
Workers putting finishing touches on project 8 years in the making

Stu Mills · CBC News
Posted: Aug 26, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

https://i.cbc.ca/1.5258283.1566590744!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/course.jpg

After eight years of planning, community consultation and fundraising, Ottawa's first outdoor bike park is finally taking shape atop a former ski hill in the city's Carlington neighbourhood.

Sentiers Boréals, the Quebec-based company building the Carlington Bike Park, says work is on track to be finished by the end of September.

Former mountain bike racer and BMX coach Samaël Piché, 29, traded in his sneakers for work boots and started the niche company that now builds pump tracks and technical bike parks throughout North America and beyond.

His unique experience and knowledge of what riders want and need in a compact practice area has taken him on projects from the Maritimes to the Prairies, the U.S. and even Australia.

"Our goal is to be finished at the end of September, so now we are quite confident about this," Piché said.

The track consists of 300 metres of banks, drops and "whoops" — a series of bumps — where riders can have fun and hone their skills.

The Ottawa Mountain Bike Association (OMBA) has guided the $300,000 project, and the funding has come from a variety of sources including the Ottawa Community Foundation, Mountain Equipment Co-op, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the City of Ottawa.

Concerns from nearby residents that the park might impede access to walking trails or damage the local ecology caused a two-year delay, but appear to have blown over.

"We're excited to actually see something happening," said OMBA board member Sandra Beaubien.

The OMBA said it hopes the outdoor bike park — Ottawa's first — will help cut down on the number of unsanctioned trails in forested areas of the city.

The park will be free to use, and Beaubien said she hopes summer camps. school groups and families will take advantage of it.

First though, she'd like to see the many volunteers who shepherded the project along for nearly a decade get a few laps in.

An opening ceremony and community barbecue is scheduled for Sept. 28.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/carlington-bike-park-1.5258208

[zzptichka]

Awesome project for the community. Saw lots of trucks on the hill the other day, wondered if it finally came through.

[J.OT13]

Just connect up an electric fence controller to it. They give a nice jolt but are perfectly safe.

Having said that, installing such a thing would probably cost more than replacing the stolen tools.

Can't put a price on Justice!

[rocketphish]

Confusion reigns as Laurier Avenue safety measures rolled out
New stop sign, flexi-posts, markings added to block where cyclist killed in May

Idil Mussa · CBC News
Posted: Aug 29, 2019 11:43 AM ET | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

https://i.cbc.ca/1.5264066.1567089660!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_780/new-bike-lane.jpg

Safety improvements to a block of Laurier Avenue W. where a cyclist was killed earlier this year caused confusion and a few near-collisions during Thursday's morning commute.

Two officers from the Ottawa Police Service's traffic division were on hand at the Queen Elizabeth Driveway off-ramp, not to issue tickets, but to help educate cyclists and motorists about the changes.

The road was modified to improve safety for westbound cyclists on the busy downtown corridor, where the painted bike lane is sandwiched between traffic lanes.

Westbound motorists coming off the Laurier Avenue Bridge and turning right onto Elgin Street must cross the bike lane, as must some drivers merging onto Laurier from the Queen Elizabeth Driveway ramp.

On Thursday morning, a new stop sign replaced a yield sign at the top of the ramp, and flexi-posts designed to minimize the risk of contact between cars and bikes were in place.

They didn't always work: In one case, a taxi merging onto Laurier from the Queen Elizabeth ramp nearly collided with a westbound cyclist coming off the bridge. The taxi had stopped at the new stop sign a few metres behind the spot where traffic crosses the Laurier bike lane, but the driver didn't appear to look to his left before proceeding.
In several other instances, cyclists merging onto Laurier, apparently unaware of the new bike lane on the Queen Elizabeth ramp, sailed past the line of waiting cars and entered the Laurier bike lane without yielding to pedestrians.

"There is always a period of adjustment when changes are made such as the ones on Laurier Avenue this week," the city said Thursday afternoon in an emailed response attributed to traffic services director Phil Landry.

"Police and traffic staff are on site monitoring and educating cyclists and motorists as they adapt to the changes and if required, will make any necessary adjustments."

Some of the other changes implemented Thursday include:

A new curb to prevent vehicles exiting Queen Elizabeth from directly entering the right turn lane on Laurier.
A new bike signal at the crosswalk between Confederation Park and City Hall.
Green thermoplastic pavement markings to identify "conflict areas."


According to numbers in the city's open data catalogue analyzed by CBC, the area of Laurier Avenue W. and Elgin Street saw 12 reported collisions involving cyclists between 2013 and the end of 2017. Over those five years, there were 1,452 collisions involving cyclists across Ottawa.

With files from Ryan Tumilty

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/new-bike-lane-configuration-on-laurier-avenue-w-launched-1.5263945

[TransitZilla]

Not sure if this is the right thread for it, but FEDCo today passed a motion from Councillor Luloff to direct staff to try to accelerate the re-configuration of the Jeanne d'Arc interchange intersections planned as part of Stage 2 LRT to spring 2020.

I'm not sure if the plans include cycle tracks but I do think they include removing all slip lanes.

[waterloowarrior]

Lots of improvements coming to the Main/Hawthorne/Greenfield area

https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/public-engagement/projects/greenfield-avenue-main-street-hawthorne-avenue-et-al-reconstruction-project#1392179

[eltodesukane]

Luckily this bike was locked!
Photo taken 2019-11-25 in front of The Bay on Rideau Street in Ottawa.
Is there any security camera to catch vandalism just 500m from the Parliament?
https://i.imgur.com/RWSeSMS.jpg

[rocketphish]

New Scott Street bike path could plow through yards, gardens

Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: 1 hour ago • 3 minute read

https://postmediaottawacitizen2.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/ottbikesjune9.jpg?quality=100&strip=all&w=750

They may be losing white-picket fences and big trees, shrubs and sheds and flower gardens, parts of driveways and lawns.

So lies the path of a new “cycle track” on a section of Scott Street, though three bike lanes or paths — one segregated — already exist.

So, yes, there is confusion aplenty along a five-block section of Scott in Ottawa’s near west-end, where $6.4 million is budgeted to rip up the road, replace watermains, repair sewers, redo sidewalks, and add a short stretch of protected bike path.

It is only the latest redo on Scott, the city’s transportation tinker box. It had thousands of buses diverted there in the first stage of LRT, and it will have thousands more dumped for the second stage. So, in stretches, there are bus-only lanes, then none. There are sometimes two lanes, then three lanes, then four, white guide lines (if you can read them) painted every which way.

And on the north side, curiously, there is a wide grassy boulevard, home to acres of dandelions, with a “multi-use” path already used by cyclists.

On the south side, where people live, the city is proposing to get rid of the “painted-line” bike path on the road itself and — for five blocks — create a raised cycle track beside the sidewalk, as it has done on streets like Churchill and Main.

But it also wants to preserve a strip of grass right at the curb.

Brenda MacKenzie, 68, and Don Crockford, 69, have lived on Scott for more than 30 years. Avid gardeners, they’ve turned their little strip of city-owned property at the front into a patch of seasonal greenery: tulips, lilies, chives, lupins, snapdragons, all acts of “guerilla gardening,” alongside a Japanese lilac.

MacKenzie, a retired lawyer, says they’ve tried repeatedly to grow grass near the city curb, without much luck, while the city has done nothing to enhance it.

Initially, they were told at a public meeting in February that the work would not impact their yard. Now it looks as though portions will be ripped up, endangering the tree and paving over the flower bed. “Deceived,” is their reaction.

“What distresses me terribly is that they will destroy our hard work so that they can preserve a weedy, trash-strewn strip of grass next to the curb, which we have tried every year to rehabilitate, but cannot, because it is salt-laden and city equipment is occasionally driven over it,” she writes.

“I think the city’s plan now shows poor judgment, and a blindness to the importance to our community, to us all, of green and growing things.”

The couple have turned their backyard into an urban oasis, with a babbling stream, winding paths and enough flowering plants to create a hub for “wild pollinators” — a local landmark, they believe.

And they wonder about the wisdom of the cycle track, because it’s so piecemeal: cyclists will be on the road, then on the protected path, then back on the road.

“It’s a bike path to nowhere.”

The north side, meanwhile, sits there with oodles of room for a two-way path, and no issue with cars blindly backing out of driveways.

Ward Coun. Jeff Leiper has heard many of the complaints. (An elderly woman near the corner of Western Avenue went to her grave this spring thinking her white-picket fence would be ripped out on Scott, after 50 years of painting, fussing and tidying.)

Leiper said it is the policy of city council that “cycle tracks” be added in new road projects like this, as these are the “best standard” in street design. He has asked staff to examine the grassy “verge” to see whether there is wiggle room to move the track and sidewalk further away from people’s homes.

“There’s still some geography there to play with.” He’s expecting a final design within a week or two, with a construction season of roughly July to December.

He points out this is a busy cycling corridor and the new track is better than a painted line on the road. As for the north side, Leiper said it will eventually turn into a one-way westbound lane for bikes.

(To make it two-way, like on O’Connor Street, means “signalizing” the intersections, for which there is no budget, Leiper added.)

As buses and traffic roared by Scott one afternoon this week, a passing father and two children went on an insect treasure hunt in the couple’s lovely backyard and Crockford observed:

“This is the third time in 30 years the city has ripped up the street.”

And, great Scott, probably not the last.

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-291-6265 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/egan-new-scott-street-bike-path-could-plow-through-yards-gardens/wcm/b3e3f30c-6310-4a09-a290-c4ae4942c987/

[J.OT13]

No reason to take up space on the south side. The grass strip between the trench and Scott can easily accommodate a pathway for pedestrians and a two lane bike path. Bonus: there are far fewer intersections on the north side, so cyclists could kilometres nearly unimpeded.

[Kitchissippi]

LOL, they're widening the road and the blame is going to the bike track instead of the added lane of traffic.

[TransitZilla]

No reason to take up space on the south side. The grass strip between the trench and Scott can easily accommodate a pathway for pedestrians and a two lane bike path. Bonus: there are far fewer intersections on the north side, so cyclists could kilometres nearly unimpeded.

Sorry, I don't agree. First of all, the article says that traffic signals would be required to make a 2-way cycle track on the north side and there's no money for that.

Second, if the cycling lanes were only on the north side, how would you get to the lanes to/from the side streets off Scott, when as you rightly point out, there are no intersections?

Having a unidirectional cycle track on each side of the road is better.

[J.OT13]

I don't buy the financial restraints for signaling. Each of the intersections on the north side already have traffic signals. The little light signals along O'Connor, if they needed to be added (though why would they be needed for bi-directional, but not uni), can't be that expensive in the grand scheme of things.

Very few of the cyclists using Scott actually live in the neighborhood between Scott and the Richmond/Wellington corridor, so I don't expect many of them, if any, would need to cross anywhere that is not a major intersection.

It seems to me minimizing intersections for cyclists makes for a quicker, safer (cyclists often ignore traffic signals anyway) and more efficient trip.

In any case, bi-directional vs uni-directional, the City can use it's land to the north to widen the street if it needs to.

[hwy418]

I don't buy the financial restraints for signaling. Each of the intersections on the north side already have traffic signals. The little light signals along O'Connor, if they needed to be added (though why would they be needed for bi-directional, but not uni), can't be that expensive in the grand scheme of things.

Per HTA, separate bike signals are not required for unidirectional cycle tracks since bicycles would follow the vehicular signals in each direction. When you have a bidirectional crossing, bike signals are required since you have a contraflow movement on that side of the road.

However, the City has moved to use bike signals whenever there is a crossride marked for either bidirectional or unidirectional cycle tracks. This originated from the inquiry on the death of the cyclist at Laurier/Lyon.

Speaking from experience, changes to signals on bike projects accounts for more than half of the cost of the project - sometimes more!

[TransitZilla]

Note also that the city is planning a protected intersection at Scott & Holland which assumes uni-directional cycle tracks on each side of the road. In front of Tunney's station, there is only room for one direction of cycling travel, so a bi-directional MUP can't easily fit along the entire corridor.

See more here: https://www.westsideaction.ca/west-side-transportation-cornucopia-part-iv-scott-street-holland/

[OTownandDown]

SUPER disappointed in the fail on this one. Riverside Drive is having it's sidewalks replaced from the 417 southwards. Not to mention that the sidewalks are being replaced like-for-like with no try to add any infrastructure to make it friendlier to pedestrians or cyclists.. but

The slip lane for north-bound Riverside to eastbound Industrial is staying exactly as-is, including the small death-trap island on the corner, in front of the Cancer Survivor's Park. The Contractor has already removed and replaced all the sidewalks like-for-like.

This is the busiest pathway from Hurdman Station and the north-south bike path that mirrors the o-train line, to all-points Alta-Vista. At any given light-cycle there are 6-10 cyclists and pedestrians waiting on a 2 square-foot traffic island in the middle of a highway, with oncoming slip-lane speeding cars. There was a perfect opportunity to delete the island and create a protected corner here.

(note I'm not talking about the large three-slip-lane westbound-to-northbound. That one has a good sized, signalized island)

[TransitZilla]

SUPER disappointed in the fail on this one. Riverside Drive is having it's sidewalks replaced from the 417 southwards. Not to mention that the sidewalks are being replaced like-for-like with no try to add any infrastructure to make it friendlier to pedestrians or cyclists.. but

The slip lane for north-bound Riverside to eastbound Industrial is staying exactly as-is, including the small death-trap island on the corner, in front of the Cancer Survivor's Park. The Contractor has already removed and replaced all the sidewalks like-for-like.

This is the busiest pathway from Hurdman Station and the north-south bike path that mirrors the o-train line, to all-points Alta-Vista. At any given light-cycle there are 6-10 cyclists and pedestrians waiting on a 2 square-foot traffic island in the middle of a highway, with oncoming slip-lane speeding cars. There was a perfect opportunity to delete the island and create a protected corner here.

(note I'm not talking about the large three-slip-lane westbound-to-northbound. That one has a good sized, signalized island)

That's disappointing that there are no improvements (like adding a cross-ride) to the Riverside/Industrial intersection itself. It is probably just a re-paving project, and the city is pretty rigid in its thinking that re-paving projects just see things re-instated like-for-like.

I live south of Walkley and I use the Alta Vista pathway to Hurdman faily often. Lately I've changed my route, however- with the completion of the MUP along the Hospital Link, I find it easier to take that MUP past the hopitals, all the way to the Transitway. There's a connection to Lycée Place (what used to be Old Riverside Dr) and then the pathway over the Transitway bridge to Hurdman. I find it much more pleasant than navigating Riverside/Industrial and Alta Vista/Industrial.

[OTownandDown]

That's disappointing that there are no improvements (like adding a cross-ride) to the Riverside/Industrial intersection itself. It is probably just a re-paving project, and the city is pretty rigid in its thinking that re-paving projects just see things re-instated like-for-like.

I live south of Walkley and I use the Alta Vista pathway to Hurdman faily often. Lately I've changed my route, however- with the completion of the MUP along the Hospital Link, I find it easier to take that MUP past the hopitals, all the way to the Transitway. There's a connection to Lycée Place (what used to be Old Riverside Dr) and then the pathway over the Transitway bridge to Hurdman. I find it much more pleasant than navigating Riverside/Industrial and Alta Vista/Industrial.

I used to have to bike from downtown to near the trainyards pretty often, and it was horrible. I'd go through uOttawa, then down to Strathcona, and then across the old train bridge at the 417, and then down the riverside sidewalk, or around and thru hurdman station.

With the addition of the bike path along the Confederation Line, its about a 5 minute bike ride from uOttawa. A lovely path, really, through Hurdman station and then you've got to duck and weave through Riverside and Alta Vista, competing with cars who speed and don't stop for pedestrians/cyclists in two back-to-back slip-lanes.

Otherwise you're home free again, going up Station Boulevard and directly to the Hospital on a quiet street and more bike paths.

Just like in the rest of the City, there's a big problem with small portions of the route. All that money invested in the infrastructure, only to drop the ball on the most important part.

[rocketphish]

NCC to install bollards along Champlain Bridge bike lanes

Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: 8 hours ago • 1 minute read

The NCC is installing “flexipost” bollards along the Champlain Bridge’s bike lanes next month.

The bollards will be installed “as we work to continually improve the safety of our infrastructure for all users,” said the NCC in a tweet on Monday.

The announcement comes after a male pedestrian was killed and a female cyclist suffered critical injuries in crash near the Champlain Bridge on the evening of June 10.

RCMP say around 7 p.m. that night, a vehicle travelling west on Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway left the roadway and struck the pedestrian an and cyclist near the intersection of Island Park Drive.

The driver entered a pedestrian and cycling path before hitting the two people, said RCMP. According to Ottawa paramedics, they treated three patients at the scene, including a man in his 50s who was in cardiac arrest.

The NCC’s announcement was greeted with approval by some cyclists, although others suggested that while the flexiposts were a good start, concrete bollards or a bike lane would be safer.

“Finally! Holy heck, that bridge is terrifying to bike over, thanks to speeding drivers! It’s treated as a highway. Not fun,” tweeted one cyclist.

“How about alternating the reflective flexiposts with some actual concrete bollards?” tweeted former councillor David Chernushenko.

“Gives some more meaningful protection while still allowing faster riders to pass slower ones when traffic conditions allow for it.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ncc-to-install-bollards-along-champlain-bridge-bike-lanes/wcm/56dae1a6-9932-4e07-8d2e-bc947f1bae70/

[rocketphish]

Making 29 intersections safer for Ottawa cyclists would cost $32 million, report says
Bike Ottawa president Heather Shearer said awareness of safety problems is a good first step, but at some point the city needs to direct money to fix the problems.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Sep 29, 2020 • Last Updated 39 minutes ago • 2 minute read

City staff aren’t making a recommendation to council’s transportation committee about spending money on safety improvements to more than two dozen intersections after a cyclist’s death prompted a review of high-volume locations.

It’s because the city doesn’t have $32 million for modifications at the 29 locations.

Mayor Jim Watson and former councillor Stephen Blais on May 22, 2019, asked city staff to review high-volume intersections with interactions between heavy traffic and cyclists days after a 60-year-old man riding a bicycle was struck and killed by a man driving a minivan on Laurier Avenue outside Ottawa City Hall. Last November, the minivan driver pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death.

Watson and Blais, who was transportation chair at the time, wanted the report back by the end of March 2020.

The report, published this week, is on the agenda of the Oct. 7 transportation committee meeting.

Bike Ottawa president Heather Shearer said awareness of safety problems is a good first step, but at some point the city needs to direct money to fix the problems.

“We’ve reached the point that Ottawa is asking for accountability and what we’re seeing is accounting,” Shearer said Tuesday.

“What now? Without a recommendation for action it seems like a hollow effort.”

The staff report says the city initially identified 74 intersections but dropped 44 of the locations because they were either already parts of existing projects that have undergone safety reviews or outside of municipal jurisdiction.

The 30 remaining intersections were sent to a consultant, Alta Planning + Design, which removed the intersection of Bank Street and Riverside Drive North because bridge modifications would be required, falling outside of the study’s scope.

According to the city, the reviews of the intersections were considered from the perspective of cyclists and pedestrians. For that reason, the city warns council that “designs should not be considered as final recommended designs” because they still need to go through the functional design process with consultations.

The design costs are considered Class D, which is a highly preliminary cost estimate, and they don’t include expenses related to property acquisitions, hydro line burials and traffic signals.

The proposed modifications include cycle tracks and protected intersections.

The city believes is can muster up $810,000 to improve one of the intersections at Smyth Road and Riverside Drive, even though the consultant’s Class-D estimate for the work is $1.5 million.

As for the rest of the projects, they could be considered as part of the next update to the city’s long-range financial plan, staff say. That update isn’t scheduled until 2022.

In the meantime, the intersection improvements might be eligible for “low-cost cycling enhancements” as part of an annual $105,000 program that targets 10 locations.

Shearer acknowledged change won’t happen overnight, but she wishes there was more momentum on cycling safety from city hall.

“On the whole, I’m not seeing a shift toward making cycling an attractive option in the city,” Shearer said.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/making-29-intersections-safer-for-ottawa-cyclists-would-cost-32-million-report-says

[silvergate]

It really shouldn't be hard to make it safe for cyclists, but here's some ideas the city should really be considering by now.

-No right turns on reds.
-Get rid of right-turn slip-lanes, those cars can turn at the light like everyone else.
-Increase the size of the plastic bollards along bike lanes, and stop using blue. Use a violent colour like red to increase their visibility.
-At signalized intersections, give every group their own turn, rather than letting everyone go at once.

This might slow down drivers a little bit, but driving is already ridiculously faster for 99% of trips in this city than any other mode of transport.

[J.OT13]

It really shouldn't be hard to make it safe for cyclists, but here's some ideas the city should really be considering by now.

-No right turns on reds.
-At signalized intersections, give every group their own turn, rather than letting everyone go at once.


These two!!! It would make driving, cycling and walking so much easier, safer and less stressful!!!

:cheers:

[DarthVader_1961]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/high-volume-intersections-traffic-cycling-budget-1.5753592

[Lightspotting]

Funny how easy it is to find $113 million for 3.3km of strandherd widening but not a dime for cyclists

[DarthVader_1961]

Funny how easy it is to find $113 million for 3.3km of strandherd widening but not a dime for cyclists

My thoughts exactly

[J.OT13]

Fleury's proposing using revenues from the speed cameras. The City didn't reveal how much money they made with them, but over 10,000 tickets were issued in the first 18 days.

[OTownandDown]

Does anyone know how much was paid for the Riverside repaving from Lycee Claudel to the 417?

ALL the sidewalks, traffic islands and paving was removed and replaced, like-for-like, with no provisions for upgrades to the bike and walking path from Hurdman Station to Industrial (let alone Riverside, which is the only walking path to groceries for those poor suckers who live along Riverside in those apartment buildings).

There's a slip-lane from Riverside-North to Industrial-East that contains a blind corner thanks to the Cancer Park, and the island at the slip-lane is big enough for about 1.5 people to stand on, unprotected, inches from traffic flowing at 70km/hr. Every time I go through, there's at least four of five people waiting for the light, standing both on the island, on the road, and amongst the Cancer survivor family. I've come close to getting hit by a speeding slip-lane vehicle at least twice.

Did I mention this is the only bike path from the General Hospital to the Confederation Line, or even the direct bike path from uOttawa to the General Hospital? Or the catchment area of Altavista/Smyth to bike to Confederation Hurdman Station. At least you're on the way to the hospital already, when you get hit by a car.

Meanwhile this intersection and the one adjacent at AltaVista/Industrial (just as bad, but slightly less vehicle traffic) are listed in this g-damn report, even though Riverside was literally JUST rebuilt, and Industrial was rebuilt about a year or two ago, with no upgrades even attempted, except to flatten the median at Altavista/Industrial so you no longer have to bike face-first into oncoming traffic to traverse the intersection.

All that had to be done at Riverside/Industrial south-east corner was remove the tiny island, give people a safe place to wait on an enlarged corner as per the typical safe street design, and reinstate the single traffic light standard onto the sidewalk. Its not rocket science, and yet the intersection calls for $1.3 MILLION dollars to provide that upgrade.

What the hell is going on down at City Hall???

Does this look like fun?
https://goo.gl/maps/LAUiqRtzrKfXPkTG7

[TransitZilla]

Does anyone know how much was paid for the Riverside repaving from Lycee Claudel to the 417?

ALL the sidewalks, traffic islands and paving was removed and replaced, like-for-like, with no provisions for upgrades to the bike and walking path from Hurdman Station to Industrial (let alone Riverside, which is the only walking path to groceries for those poor suckers who live along Riverside in those apartment buildings).

There's a slip-lane from Riverside-North to Industrial-East that contains a blind corner thanks to the Cancer Park, and the island at the slip-lane is big enough for about 1.5 people to stand on, unprotected, inches from traffic flowing at 70km/hr. Every time I go through, there's at least four of five people waiting for the light, standing both on the island, one the road, and amongst the Caner survivor family. I've come close to getting hit by a speeding slip-lane vehicle at least twice.

Did I mention this is the only bike path from the General Hospital to the Confederation Line, or even the direct bike path from uOttawa to the General Hospital? Or the catchment area of Altavista/Smyth to bike to Confederation Hurdman Station. At least you're on the way to the hospital already, when you get hit by a car.

Meanwhile this intersection and the one adjacent at AltaVista/Industrial (just as bad, but slightly less vehicle traffic) are listed in this g-damn report, even though Riverside was literally JUST rebuilt, and Industrial was rebuilt about a year or two ago, with no upgrades even attempted, except to flatten the median at Altavista/Industrial so you no longer have to bike face-first into oncoming traffic to traverse the intersection.

All that had to be done at Riverside/Industrial south-east corner was remove the tiny island, give people a safe place to wait on an enlarged corner as per the typical safe street design, and reinstate the single traffic light standard onto the sidewalk. Its not rocket science, and yet the intersection calls for $1.3 MILLION dollars to provide that upgrade.

What the hell is going on down at City Hall???

Yep, this is pretty typical. Same with Riverside between Hunt Club and Walkley, which already had paved boulevards at sidewalk level that could have easily been turned into official cycle tracks as part of the paving and curb and sidewalk work.

Nope.

Knowing this paving project was coming up I reached out to the city over a year ago to ask about the possibility of improving cycling. The response came back- no, this is a resurfacing project only, anything else was out of scope. :hell:

(There is an alternative route from the hopsital to Hurdman though: Head west on the Hospital Link MUP. Keep going past Alta Vista all the way to the Transitway. Turn north and take the connecting path to Lycee Place. Go north past Lycee Claudel and then up and over Riverside on the Transitway bridge).

[Multi-modal]

Yep, this is pretty typical. Same with Riverside between Hunt Club and Walkley, which already had paved boulevards at sidewalk level that could have easily been turned into official cycle tracks as part of the paving and curb and sidewalk work.

Nope.

Knowing this paving project was coming up I reached out to the city over a year ago to ask about the possibility of improving cycling. The response came back- no, this is a resurfacing project only, anything else was out of scope. :hell:

Man, that recent re-paving on Riverside south of Walkley kills me - they even widened the asphalt "kill strips" to a bike lane width (do they really need to be that wide if they are just kill strips? you could at least TRY to grow grass/trees). All they would have needed to do was depress the curbs at the intersections, add some pavement markings for bicycle crossings, and add some signage. Almost no additional money compared to the total project cost. Infuriating.

[TransitZilla]

Man, that recent re-paving on Riverside south of Walkley kills me - they even widened the asphalt "kill strips" to a bike lane width (do they really need to be that wide if they are just kill strips? you could at least TRY to grow grass/trees). All they would have needed to do was depress the curbs at the intersections, add some pavement markings for bicycle crossings, and add some signage. Almost no additional money compared to the total project cost. Infuriating.

Yes, that is exactly what I was arguing for with the project manager a year ago. They were insistent that curb work was out of scope. *headdesk*

[eltodesukane]

Will there ever be some bike/pedestrian bridges on Rideau River between Bank Street and the 417 highway?
That would be very useful to many, including me.
https://i.imgur.com/0wkMsU2.png

[Baybreeze12]

Will there ever be some bike/pedestrian bridges on Rideau River between Bank Street and the 417 highway?
That would be very useful to many, including me.


I know that there are plans to redevelop the lands around Hurdman station which would include a couple pedestrian/cycle bridges. The timeline is quite far out into the future though, so who knows what it'll look like by then.

[OTownandDown]

I know that there are plans to redevelop the lands around Hurdman station which would include a couple pedestrian/cycle bridges. The timeline is quite far out into the future though, so who knows what it'll look like by then.

Is the question relating specifically to bike/pedestrian bridges?

Smyth/Main bridge has full bike lanes with flexi-posts, the rail line bridge at Hurdman station is only sidewalk width but connects bike paths on either end of the bridge, and either side of the bridge, AND the old iron train bridge next to the 417 is a bike path connection. So I think the answer to your question is probably no, no new bridges, maybe upgrades to existing? The only limited bridge is at Hurdman, as these are just wide sidewalks meant for mixing pedestrians and bikes.

Although you could draw a straight line down Clegg and across the river, you end up right in the swampy bit at the wrong end of the hospital link road, leaving you equidistant from Smyth-to-Hospital Link. In all its a 2km gap between bridges from Smyth to Hurdman.

[TransitZilla]

Will there ever be some bike/pedestrian bridges on Rideau River between Bank Street and the 417 highway?
That would be very useful to many, including me.


I know there's been talk of a pedestrian/cycling bridge between Clegg and Hurdman, but it's always struck me as something that would have limited utility, at least until the area around Hurdman is more developed.

At present, there is a path along the Rideau shoreline from Clegg, along Scholastic, through Springhurst Park, where you can cross at the LRT bridge near Hurdman. For someone cycling, a Clegg/Hurdman bridge wouldn't save more than a minute or so. It would be more if you're walking I suppose.

[TransitZilla]

I think this was posted a while ago, but I just found it: details on the planned MUP along the LRT alignment from Blair to Montreal Rd. The green circles show where they are proposing accesses to the pathway.

https://ottawa.ca/sites/default/files/styles/ott_full_size/public/inline-media/blair_to_montreal_mup_1_0.jpg?itok=vjqWZCS4

https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/public-engagement/projects/stage-2-lrt-station-connectivity-enhancement-study

[rocketphish]

Ottawa chooses scooters over bikes, opting not to revive a bike-sharing program
As the city pointed out in a report, there has been a trend in North America of decreasing bike-share programs with the growth of e-scooter programs.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 25, 2021 • 1 day ago • 2 minute read

https://smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ottncceditboardjune8.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=750

Ottawa’s e-scooter program has deflated any potential for the return of a bike-share program, at least one run by city hall.

The City of Ottawa’s public works and environmental services department is recommending not proceeding further with an assessment of a bike-share program because it would be too expensive to manage.

Plus, its focus has turned to shared e-scooters as a “microtransit” option.

Coun. Shawn Menard won support last year to have staff investigate the potential for returning a bike-share program to Ottawa, and run by the municipal government, as part of a new bike-parking strategy.

But the results of the strategy, which were released Thursday ahead of a transportation committee meeting on April 7, conclude it would be too expensive for the city to operate a bike-share program.

The city’s consultant, Stantec, considered four options for the return of a bike-share program in Ottawa, but the best model identified, one which the city owns but contracts the management, would require a one-time $4-million expense to buy 700 bikes and infrastructure for parking stations and $3 million annually for a company to manage the program. Rental revenues wouldn’t cover the costs.

Ottawa has seen bike-share programs come and go.

There was the Capital Bixi Bike program overseen by the National Capital Commission between 2009 and 2013. Then Bixi filed for bankruptcy.

The not-for-profit Right Bike service lasted between 2012 and 2017.

VeloGo was launched in 2015 after CycleHop’s acquisition of Bixi, but the company decided not to deploy in Ottawa in 2019.

The city has been willing to entertain pitches from bike-share providers since then but there has been no interest.

As the city pointed out in its report, there has been a trend in North America of decreasing bike-share programs with the growth of e-scooter programs. There’s more money to be made with e-scooter rentals, the report suggests.

The city is currently accepting proposals from companies interested in operating shared e-scooter programs. The city will select three companies to operate in Ottawa in 2021. Shared e-scooter programs were first permitted in Ottawa in 2020.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-chooses-scooters-over-bikes-opting-not-to-revive-a-bike-sharing-program

[J.OT13]

Today's Transportation Committee includes a presentation on a bike parking strategy. First presentation.

0AQAWzXaYqE

[rocketphish]

Councillors show interest in city bike-share program, but staff warn resources aren't available

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Apr 07, 2021 • 54 minutes ago • 2 minute read

Councillors want city staff to get a better handle on the potential for municipal taxpayers to pay for a bike-share program.

Bureaucrats told the transportation committee on Wednesday they don’t oppose the notion of a bike-share program in Ottawa, but some councillors wondered why staff are already running the idea into a ditch.

Coun. Jeff Leiper didn’t understand why staff were recommending against a city-owned bike-share program after the committee last year simply asked for them to investigate the idea as part of a larger strategy on bike parking.

The decision should ultimately be council’s, Leiper said.

Staff concluded that a city-owned bike-share program, with the program management contracted out, would be the best option if the city pursued an in-house rental service.

One major problem is the potential cost, estimated at $4 million for 700 bikes and related infrastructure, plus $3 million annually to have a company run the program. Even with rental revenue, there could still be at least $500,000 covered by property tax money each year.

The other problem, as public works general manager Kevin Wylie explained, is having enough resources to manage a bike-share program.

Bike-share services in amalgamated Ottawa have come and gone over the years, but none have been operated by the municipal government.

Any idea of reintroducing a bike-share program has been left in the dust of a new e-scooter program.

The city has shifted its resources to supporting a pilot project allowing e-scooter rental companies in Ottawa. Wednesday was the last day the city was accepting proposals from e-scooter companies to operate in central-area communities during the second year of the pilot.

But councillors like Catherine McKenney and Diane Deans saw a big difference between e-scooter and bikes when it comes getting around the city.

McKenney said e-scooter rentals aren’t replacements for bikes and they believe e-scooters could be competing with the transit system, even though allowing the program is meant to complement the LRT and bus network by providing a travel option to the transit stops.

Deans said she considers e-scooters a “novelty” that has a downtown focus. She told staff they should consider selling the naming rights of a bike-share program to cover the costs.

Bike Ottawa’s Dave Robertson tried to convince the committee that it makes sense to have a bike-share program, considering the popularity of similar programs in other Canadian cities, like Toronto and Vancouver.

Robertson appealed to the city’s desire to get more people travelling on public transit, especially after the Stage 2 O-Train expansion is finished.

“If 77 per cent of all Ottawans are going to be within five kilometres of our LRT stations, getting there by active transportation will be critical,” Robertson said.

Coun. Shawn Menard directed staff to take a more detailed look at ways to fund a bike-share program, but the committee didn’t take a position on whether the municipal government should pursue it.

“I think it’s worth looking at the next term of council when we’re setting priorities,” Coun. Glen Gower said.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/councillors-show-interest-in-city-bike-share-program-but-staff-warn-resources-arent-available

[waterloowarrior]

North Grenville looking at 3m MUPs rather than cycle tracks along widened 43
https://pub-northgrenville.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=15346

[LRTeverywhere]

North Grenville looking at 3m MUPs rather than cycle tracks along widened 43
https://pub-northgrenville.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=15346

As someone from the area I have to agree with the report and say this makes sense, it has been a long struggle for North Grenville to get the funding to do this project. Like it says in the report the majority of pedestrian and cyclist destinations will be on the south side of the road meaning lots of extra crossings would be needed to make the north side of value, I'm actually surprised that the north side is still getting a MUP for that reason aswell.

[DarthVader_1961]

So, allegedly, these one seater electric cars can use bike lanes... thoughts ?

https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/will-be-the-future-canadian-billionaire-develops-one-seat-electric-vehicle-to-fight-traffic-woes-1.5397396

[PHrenetic]

So, allegedly, these one seater electric cars can use bike lanes... thoughts ?

https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/will-be-the-future-canadian-billionaire-develops-one-seat-electric-vehicle-to-fight-traffic-woes-1.5397396

Good Day.

Yes, one..... that it is at least better in aim and realization, under the e-bike regs, than
1) the E-Bike that I recently saw turning onto Montreal Rd. that was the size / shape / volume / occupancy equivalent of a Smart-For-Two vehicle. Yes..... big, bulky, and licensed with one of those green 'e-bike' plates where the license plate 'appears'.
2) two full-sized, and I mean Full-Sized (like Kawasaki speed/sports size and speed) E-Bikes that were licensed as 'e-bikes' (green 'plate') motoring along with a Kawasaki along Beechwood recently.

MeThinks the e-bike regs need big re-writing (along the line of what is beginning to be realized to be necessary in B.C.)

NoJoy!

[rocketphish]

NCC proclaims 'parkways for people,' expands weekend bikedays

Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Apr 30, 2021 • 38 minutes ago • 3 minute read

The National Capital Commission is increasing space for weekend bike days four-fold, and claiming “parkways for people” to walk, run and bike.

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCC has been creating more public space for safe physical distancing and to promote outdoor activities for people’s physical and mental well-being,” the commission said in a release Friday.

“This summer will be no exception.”

During expanded NCC Weekend Bikedays, presented by Nokia, “active users will have exclusive access to the capital’s scenic parkways for their physical and mental well-being.” Bikedays are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends starting Saturday and running through Thanksgiving on Oct. 11.

Included are:

A 9 km stretch of both westbound lanes of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway from Vimy Place to Carling Avenue;
An 8 km stretch of both lanes of the Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway between the Aviation Parkway and St. Joseph Boulevard.


The Weekend BikeDays attracted more than 650,000 visits in 2020, NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum said in the release.

In 2021, the commission “will provide over 20 weekends of increased space for national capital residents to safely enjoy the capital’s shorelines, green spaces and symbolic landmarks — quadrupling the time opportunities available for them to do so.”

A second year of a pilot project reserving Gatineau Park parkways for active use much of the time also starts Saturday. Motorists can use the parkways on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays after 1 p.m.

The North Loop of the Gatineau Parkway between parking lots P8 and P9 is temporarily out of the pilot project because it’s serving as a detour during roadwork on Meech Lake Road.

Both lanes of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway will be open only for active users along a 2.4 km stretch from Fifth Avenue to Somerset Street in a bid to make more space in “this densely populated core area.” It’s from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this weekend and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day from Monday until June 30.

From July 2 to Sept. 6, a 5-km stretch of Colonel By Drive from Daly Avenue to Canal Woods Terrace will be closed to vehicles and open for active users during construction work on the Colonel By retaining wall.

With tulip time beginning, the NCC touted its almost a million bulbs of 100 varieties in 120 beds in 30 locations across the capital — including a second year of planters demonstrating the commission’s thanks to health-care workers at The Ottawa Hospital’s Civic Campus and the Hull Hospital.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, “the Canadian Tulip Festival invites everyone to experience the tulips online through the festival’s immersive virtual experience,” the commission said.

To encourage off-peak use and avoid crowds, the NCC said it would continue to report weekly usage figures for popular sites and has created an interactive map to help people find less-visited areas in the downtown core, the Greenbelt and Gatineau Park.

They include the more than 200 km of the Capital Pathways network and 20,000 hectares of the Greenbelt with farms, forests and wetlands and over 150 km of trails that also link to the Rideau Trail and the Great Trail of Canada.

The NCC asked users to follow local and provincial COVID-19 directives, practise physical distancing from those outside their household, go to less-visited destinations or visit popular sites at off-peak times, and to respect nature by leaving no trace of their visit.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ncc-proclaims-parkways-for-people-expands-weekend-bikedays

[rocketphish]

Cargo e-bikes could be banned under proposed Ontario bill
Critics say bike definitions in bill lack subtleties, call for U.S. model instead

Giacomo Panico · CBC News
Posted: May 13, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: May 13

https://i.imgur.com/F2vROLM.png

Proposed legislation in Ontario to address the growing use of e-bikes risks making many existing power-assisted bicycles illegal, warn bike owners and advocates.

Bill 282, also known as the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act, contains language that would ban many e-bikes based on their configuration, wheel size or weight, even though the same bike would be permitted without the electric assist feature.

The legislation could prohibit three-wheeled cargo bikes similar to the one Ottawa's Felicity Borgal recently bought, in an attempt to avoid purchasing a second family car.

Her bike includes a battery and electric motor that give her a boost while pedalling. It can hit a maximum speed of 25 km/h.

"I can carry my kid and all the groceries. The e-assist just makes it a lot easier to make those longer trips and not have to avoid hills," said Borgal.

"I could just take the battery out and it would be legal. It's bizarre."

The proposed bill aims at differentiating e-bikes that resemble traditional bicycles from those that look more like mopeds and motorcycles, according to a statement from the Ministry of Transportation.

Municipalities have the option of joining a provincial cargo e-bike pilot program that does account for vehicles that Bill 282 — if adopted as is — would ban, although none have done so yet, the ministry said.

But critics say the bill's e-bike definitions — which include a weight limit of 55 kilograms — would exclude many power-assisted cargo bikes, as well as bike-taxis that give seniors rides as part of the Cycling Without Age program.

Parcel delivery companies already pilot-testing cargo e-bikes in Toronto could also be forced to change their fleet, said Joel Harden, the NDP MPP for Ottawa Centre.

Harden's party is seeking amendments to the bill that would see the province adopt an e-bike classification system based on one that exists in more than two dozen U.S. states.

In that system, e-bikes that resemble mopeds and motorcycles face tighter restrictions, while e-bikes that are actually usable by pedal fall into three classes.

The first is reserved for bikes that must be pedalled for the electric motor to assist the rider, up to a maximum speed of 32 km/h. The second covers bikes that provide power even if the rider isn't pedalling, but which stop once it hits 32 km/h.

The third class covers e-bikes that must be pedalled but allow the motor to assist the rider all the way up to 45 km/h.

"This bill has none of those subtleties," said Harden, who rides a cargo bike himself. "I want to see Ontario embrace a cycling revolution for all abilities, for all kinds of folks. And e-bikes give a lot of people just that little bit of extra power to get over significant hills or to deal with the long daily commute."

While the Ministry of Transportation says it continues to work closely with stakeholders on the proposed changes, advocacy group Bike Ottawa is also calling for a closer look at the consequences of the bill.

"On the one hand, it's good to see the government updating regulations," said Érinn Cunningham, the group's president.

"But as it stands it could make it harder for families and for companies to make a green shift."

Bike Ottawa has submitted a letter to the legislative committee at Queen's Park studying Bill 282, asking them to reconsider its e-bike definitions, Cunningham added.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/cargo-e-bike-bill-ontario-ban-1.6023444

[rocketphish]

New technology will end 'scary' red reverts at hundreds of Ottawa intersections
Made-in-Ottawa solution looks to make intersections safer for cyclists

Kimberley Molina · CBC News
Posted: May 15, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

Cyclists are expressing some relief over new software designed to cut down on the potentially dangerous traffic signal trend of red reverts.

The "amber lock" is made-in-Ottawa software that's set to be rolled out at hundreds of intersections with high volumes of cyclists.

Red reverts occur when vehicles, including bicycles, cause sensors in the road to trigger a traffic light change.

The sensor technology is meant to speed the flow of traffic through intersections. But if the vehicle or bicycle moves past the sensors too soon, the signal immediately switches back to red and the cross traffic gets a green light again.

That can leave cyclists caught in the middle of an intersection as the traffic signal is changing.

Instead of that happening, the amber lock guarantees the opposing traffic signal will stay red for at least 10 seconds, giving them more time to cross the intersection, said Phil Landry, the city's director of traffic services.

"It's a huge relief," said Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney, an avid cyclist who's heard concerns about the red revert technology for years.

"[We've had our] fingers crossed that nobody would get caught in a red revert."

Érinn Cunningham, president of Bike Ottawa said he's been caught in an intersection because of a red revert, something he said is "pretty scary."

Cunningham said he's heard from many others who've had similar experiences.

"There can be a lot of traffic and it can be moving at a significant speed," Cunningham said. "So, it's a pretty vulnerable feeling."

The software is unique to Ottawa, with the programming done by a consultant at a cost of about $46,000, said Landry. It's currently being tested at the city's traffic control centre before a planned rollout by the end of June.

"We're not aware of any other municipality in North America that's created this feature," Landry said.

He said the city also plans to include an automatic walk signal at intersections where the amber lock is triggered, ensuring pedestrians don't have to wait a full traffic cycle before being able to cross if they didn't press the walk button.

While the city plans to roll out the software at 192 intersections — the city has roughly 1,200 — Landry said that number will likely increase after consultations with councillors, residents and the cycling community.

Cunningham said he wants to see the technology rolled out at every intersection across the city. McKenney expects all intersections coming off the city's multi-use pathways will have the amber lock, along with every intersection within Somerset ward that doesn't automatically change.

"I'll be honest. I can't see that there's an intersection in the downtown where there isn't a high number of cyclists that use the intersection," McKenney said.

McKenney also said providing safer cycling infrastructure could encourage people to leave their cars behind.

"We have to start somewhere and to get more people out of their cars. We have to provide that safe infrastructure for them."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/amber-lock-software-replacing-red-reverts-ottawa-1.6026839

[J.OT13]

Leiper passed a motion at Planning today to allow (count) staked bicycle parking in new developments. At this time, even if it's possible to stack bicycles, so say fit two superimposed in a locker, it only counts as one, which makes little sense.

[Truenorth00]

Leiper passed a motion at Planning today to allow (count) staked bicycle parking in new developments. At this time, even if it's possible to stack bicycles, so say fit two superimposed in a locker, it only counts as one, which makes little sense.

I dream of a city where stuff like this gets built in new condos and office buildings:

9HdqTZs3vjU

[eltodesukane]

Instead we have this for the whole St. Laurent mall.
https://i.imgur.com/oRxUlQr.jpg

[Truenorth00]

They sort of tried with the Confederation Line stations. And it's decent for Ottawa. It's just that active transport infrastructure is always basically an afterthought in Canadian cities. I wish they had actually gone bold and built bicycle sheds at the stations. Sometimes you gotta show people what is possible.

[rocketphish]

Draft regulations for cargo e-bikes, e-rickshaws receive committee approval

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Sep 01, 2021 • 40 minutes ago • 2 minute read

Urban residents could soon see their packages delivered with electric power-assisted cargo bikes now that Ottawa’s transportation committee has endorsed the proposed road rules.

The provincial government’s decision to allow pilot projects for cargo e-bikes for five years starting last March has driven the city to move quickly on consulting the public and writing a draft bylaw regulating the operation of the vehicles.

If approved by council this month, Ottawa would be the first city in Ontario to adopt a cargo e-bike bylaw.

“We’re certainly going to draw some attraction and attention,” Omar Choudhry, the city’s project lead on the file, said Wednesday after the transportation committee meeting.

Cargo bikes traditionally have large boxes to transport goods or people. Like conventional bikes, cargo bikes are being manufactured with electric battery power to help cyclists pedal.

The city’s plan is to have a two-year pilot project for cargo e-bikes, which includes those used for personal use and commercial use, such as delivery and rickshaw services.

The proposed bylaw is largely drawn from regulations imposed by the province.

Under the city’s draft rules, all cargo e-bikes would be allowed on roadways, on-street bike lanes, cycle tracks and segregated bike lanes. Where personal cargo e-bikes would be allowed on multi-use pathways, commercial cargo e-bikes would be restricted from operating on the paths.

When it comes to commercial cargo e-bikes, the city is calling for the company logos and identifying numbers to be displayed on the sides of the vehicles. Commercial cargo e-bike operators making deliveries would be able to buy an annual short-term parking permit for $15 per bike, allowing the bikes to be in loading zones and no-parking zones for up to 15 minutes.

The city has already been speaking with Purolator about the possibility of the company deploying cargo e-bikes in Ottawa. There have also been sightings of cargo bikes with FedEx logos in the capital but that company hadn’t approached the municipal government as of Wednesday.

Choudhry said he expects between six and eight commercial cargo e-bikes will be making deliveries in the fall or next spring and the city projects there could be about 25 commercial cargo e-bikes operating downtown within two years.

E-rickshaws that transport passengers would require a municipal licence, just like conventional rickshaws.

Members of the transportation committee were excited for the potential of cargo e-bikes replacing some delivery trucks in the urban core.

Coun. Jeff Leiper predicted that deliveries made by cargo e-bikes will improve the quality of life for his constituents in Kitchissippi ward if it means reducing the number of trucks chugging through neighbourhoods.

Council will be asked to sign off on the bylaw next Wednesday.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/draft-regulations-for-cargo-e-bikes-e-rickshaws-receive-committee-approval

[zzptichka]

Cycle tracks on Bay Street

https://i.imgur.com/cnRhfiy.jpg

[LRTeverywhere]

Nice shot! I like that the southbound track is able to be straight since the road is one way it doesn't need to bump out for visibility.

Is anyone aware of plans to fix up the sidewalk and turn the stretch along the West Memorial building into a cycle track aswell when work is completed on the building?

[hwy418]

Nice shot! I like that the southbound track is able to be straight since the road is one way it doesn't need to bump out for visibility.

Is anyone aware of plans to fix up the sidewalk and turn the stretch along the West Memorial building into a cycle track aswell when work is completed on the building?

The east side of that block will be converted to raised cycle tracks once the West Memorial Building reno is completed.

[J.OT13]

Cycle tracks on Bay Street

https://i.imgur.com/cnRhfiy.jpg

How far south do these go and what's with the zig-zag along the north bound cycle lanes? Someone mentioned visibility maybe, but I don't understand how.

[zzptichka]

How far south do these go and what's with the zig-zag along the north bound cycle lanes? Someone mentioned visibility maybe, but I don't understand how.

Yeah that's a head-scratcher...
Maybe they needed extra turn radius for buses and trucks? Although they could've still made it less zig-zaggy.

[OTownandDown]

This zig-zag is classic City overdesign of items. I think it's something to do with right hand turns, but its crazy, and nobody actually cycles this way. Everyone just rides right over the cast iron rusting items. Main Street and Churchill are the same (lets not even get into Rideau...where I bike on the road instead of bothering to use the 'bike lane' maze and lose 10 mins of my life waiting for lights.

I can say from experience that if I'm moving at more than a snail's pace, I'm going in a straight line, without zigging and zagging like a drunk person.

Also that last photo with the truck in the 'green zone' shows how much these painted items work.

[roger1818]

Also that last photo with the truck in the 'green zone' shows how much these painted items work.

To be fair, we can't see the status of the traffic light on Wellington. The truck may have a green light, and is proceeding to make its right turn (its right turn signal is on).

[TransitZilla]

How far south do these go and what's with the zig-zag along the north bound cycle lanes? Someone mentioned visibility maybe, but I don't understand how.

The design is adapted from the standard Dutch intersection design, explained in this video. The turns in the cycle track allow for drivers and cyclists to make eye contact at the crossing point, and prevent "right hooks".

FlApbxLz6pA

And part 2 of the video...

5HDN9fUlqU8

[J.OT13]

Thanks for posting. I'll check these out.

[TransitZilla]

This zig-zag is classic City overdesign of items. I think it's something to do with right hand turns, but its crazy.


Let's remember there was a fatality on the Laurier bike lane because of a right hook. Laurier does not have protected intersections with this feature. It is important.