Roads/Bridges projects/issues

[rocketphish]

'This should not be happening': Councillor wants answers on Hog's Back bridge closures

Taylor Blewett, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Jul 26, 2021 • 6 hours ago • 3 minute read



In the summer of 2017, River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington wrote to the CEO of the National Capital Commission about the Hog’s Back swing bridge.

Why was the bridge repeatedly malfunctioning? And what was the Crown corporation doing to fix it?

Four years later, after a complete bridge rehabilitation that cost millions and tested the patience of area commuters, Brockington is asking the same questions.

“I’m getting frustrated again. This should not be happening with a brand-new bridge that’s been tested.”

In June, and again this past weekend, the NCC advised Ottawans that “operational issues” had resulted in the closure of the bridge, which carries traffic on Hog’s Back Road over the Rideau Canal, and swings open to accommodate the passage of boats in the spring, summer and fall.

The June closure lasted two weeks, according to Brockington, and the current one — ongoing as of Sunday night — means motor vehicles need to find another way to get between the well-trafficked roads and neighbourhoods on its east and west sides.

Pedestrians and cyclists can use an elevated lock gate crossing, but it’s not universally accessible — good luck getting a stroller through that, and Brockington said there’s no chance a wheelchair can get across.

“People are disappointed that millions of dollars are spent on infrastructure and it breaks down. It still has the new bridge smell, it’s still new and this is happening.”

Thanks to a $55 million investment in the 2018 federal budget to revitalize a multitude of NCC assets, the Crown corporation embarked on a rehabilitation to provide a “reliable and durable” Hog’s Back swing bridge. Many of its components had reached the end of their life cycle, according to the NCC, and the rehab would extend the bridge’s service life by 20 to 30 years.

Between August 2019 and October 2020, commuters and local businesses dealt with the impacts of a full road closure for the fixed bridge work (an A+ detour was built to maintain access for pedestrians and cyclists, said Brockington).

Unimpeded access didn’t return to Hog’s Back Road until January 2021, after Parks Canada finished repair and rehab work on the Hog’s Back fixed bridge located just east of the swing bridge.

“I’m willing to give the NCC the benefit of the doubt — determine what the cause is, get it fixed. But they have a public obligation to be very open about this. They need to tell people what’s going on,” said Brockington.

“They need to reinforce that the bridge is safe. They need to reinforce that the bridge is in good condition. And this is not going to happen again because it’s not acceptable.”

No one with the NCC was available for an interview Sunday. But in a statement to this newspaper, the Crown corporation explained that a malfunction on Friday prevented the bridge from being able to fully close. Hydraulic and mechanical contractors were called in and worked to evaluate and do temporary repairs into Friday night.

The bridge could operate fully on an auxiliary system. But until the issue was resolved, it was being kept in the open position during the day to allow for boat traffic and closed at night, an approach that would “lower the risk of a future malfunction that could affect (boat) navigation (due to a minimum of open-close actions).

“It appears the issue is related to the hydraulic system,” said the NCC, noting that further investigation was needed to determine the exact cause of the malfunction.

“Due to contractor availability, further investigation/repair work is unlikely to take place during the weekend and will be continued next week.”

The NCC said it will update the public as soon as the bridge closure is lifted.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...nts-answers-on-hogs-back-bridge-closures

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by MountainView

On a related note... when is that Greenbank re-alignment and new bridge over the Jock going to happen? That's another thing that has been talked about for what seems like decades.

https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/public-en...nment-and-southwest-transitway-extension

here's a recent public consultation. Detailed design and property acquisition is underway along with updating previous designs. Construction not scheduled til 2031 horizon but will be reviewed as part of TMP.

[Dengler Avenue]

The left turn from Eddy bridge to Albert has a very short cycle, probably 5 seconds max.

[rocketphish]

And so the tax grab begins...

City ready to increase photo radar sites as councillors consider expanding criteria for camera enforcement
From mid-July 2020 to mid-July 2021, eight photo radar sites near schools produced 101,778 tickets and about $5.4 million in revenue to pay for road safety initiatives.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Oct 06, 2021 • 19 minutes ago • 4 minute read



Fifteen additional photo radar locations are poised to be installed on Ottawa roads by the end of 2022, with the prospect of dozens more cameras added to communities before 2026 and potentially on speedy streets outside of school zones.

Councillors on the transportation committee had no problem with those plans during a meeting on Wednesday. No one objected to an expansion of the municipal government’s photo radar program, which is expected to gross nearly $16 million in revenue in 2022, more than twice the amount of revenue the city expects to collect in 2021 with eight cameras.

Council will be asked to approve the committee’s recommendation next Wednesday.

Coun. Tim Tierney, the chair of the committee, dismissed criticisms that photo radar is a municipal cash grab and defended the city’s approach to deciding where cameras should be installed.

“There’s a lot of real data that goes into where we place these traffic measures,” Tierney said.

He also shot down complaints that the cameras are calibrated to ticket motorists who are going just over the speed limit. “A couple of kilometres” over the speed limit won’t generate a ticket, Tierney said, although the city doesn’t disclose the minimum speed that will result in a ticket being issued.

The city started deploying photo radar cameras in July 2020.

From mid-July 2020 to mid-July 2021, eight photo radar sites near schools produced 101,778 tickets and about $5.4 million in revenue to pay for road safety initiatives.

As for the impact on motorists, there has been a “200 per cent increase in compliance with the speed limit and a 72 per cent decrease in the percentage of high-end speeders” at the camera sites, according to a staff report to council.

The city wants to continue installing cameras around schools and eventually near playgrounds.

However, the committee could be introducing a precedent to install photo radar in areas that don’t have nearby schools.

All committee members supported a motion from Coun. Diane Deans to have staff use data to identify “high-speed” roads that could benefit from photo radar, using two yet-to-be determined locations as pilots starting in 2023.

Coun. Shawn Menard also won support for the city to consider two photo radar sites in high-speed areas where there’s a higher rate of pedestrians.

Deans expressed concern that “our roadways are being used as speedways,” especially in cases where there is street racing.

Coun. Allan Hubley warned the committee about expanding the locations for photo radar when the city has told the public the cameras would be set up near schools and community safety zones. Hubley called for more public consultation.

Staff said they weren’t interested in setting up photo radar where there isn’t evidence to support it.

Phil Landry, the director of traffic services, said the city must stick with data-driven decisions when it comes to establishing photo radar sites.

The camera locations are leading to some downtown-area communities feeling left out of the photo radar fun.

Coun. Jeff Leiper said he understands the core has different roads than other communities, but noted his Kitchissippi ward constituents feel there’s an “unfair allocation” of the speed cameras.

There will be plenty of opportunities for more roads to be considered for photo radar. The city wants to add between 15 and 23 new camera locations every year, starting in 2023 and through the next term of council.

The leftover ticket revenue, after deducting all costs related to running the photo radar program, will be put into a special account for road safety projects.

In 2021, the city is forecasting $6.5 million in revenue from photo radar, with about $1.7 million in operating expenses.

With new cameras expected to hit the streets in subsequent years, the amount of money pouring into city hall from the automated speed enforcement program will increase significantly.

The city is projecting it will rake in $15.7 million from photo radar in 2022, with an operating cost of about $7.1 million.

The municipal public service will need an influx of permanent workers to support the expanded photo radar and road safety programs. They will be tasked with processing charges, prosecuting cases, making payment inquiries, providing technology support and delivering road safety projects. Revenue from fines will pay their salaries.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

Proposed new photo radar locations

• Tenth Line Road between Amiens Street and Des Epinettes Avenue
• Bearbrook Road between Centrepark Drive and Innes Road
• Greenbank Road between Jockvale Road and Half Moon Bay
• Kanata Avenue between Goulbourn Forced Road and Walden Drive
• Abbott Street East between Moss Hill Trail and Shea Road
• Stittsville Main Street between Bandelier Way and Hazeldean Road
• Woodroffe Avenue between Georgina Drive and Highway 417
• Greenbank Road between Harrison Street and Banner Road
• St. Laurent Boulevard between Noranda Avenue and Clarke Avenue
• Fisher Avenue between Deer Park Road and Kintyre Private
• Alta Vista Drive between Ayers Avenue and Ridgemont Avenue
• Crestway Drive between Oldfield Street and Hathaway Drive
• Chapman Mills Drive between Beatrice Drive and Meadgate Gate
• Abbeyhill Drive between Aldburn Place and Sherwood Street
• Bridgestone Drive between Sunnybrooke Drive and Granite Court

Current photo radar locations

• Watters Drive between Charlemagne Boulevard and Roberval Avenue
• Longfields Drive between Highbury Park Drive and Verona Avenue
• Bayshore Drive near St. Rose of Lima School
• Meadowlands Drive West between Winthrow Avenue and Thatcher Street
• Ogilvie Road between Appleford Street and Elmlea Gate
• Smyth Road between Haig Drive and Edgecomb Street
• Innes Road between Provence Avenue and Trim Road
• Katimavik Road between Castlefrank Road and McGibbon Drive

[lrt's friend]

I know my street is used as a racetrack. It has become far worse in the last year. I figure the real estate boom has enabled the purchase a lot of very expensive vehicles with huge engines. I have never seen so many high end vehicles and people driving like lunatics. I watched one idiot burning rubber big time last night and he almost lost control of his vehicle in traffic. What a fool. On another occasion, I watched someone driving so fast that when he reached traffic, he decided to use the left turn lane to pass when someone decided to use that same lane to turn left going the other way. Close call, could have been a head on collision. The problem with speed cameras is that it doesn't generally catch these very aggressive drivers who should have their licenses suspended.

I still believe that speed cameras are a cash grab by the city. They keep lowering speed limits when the road has been engineered for a higher speed. Now 30 kph zones are being introduced. When we have hundreds of speed cameras across the city, it simply becomes a tax. Over 100,000 tickets in a city of 1,000,000 with a minimal number of cameras tells us more than one thing. Nobody is respecting the posted speed limit. Most people drive at a speed that a road is designed for.

I drove down Merivale Road last night in the dark, and the speed limit kept changing, 80 to 60 to 50 to 40 to 60. It was hard to keep track of the constant changing speed limit. I couldn't figure out why the speed limit had dropped to 40 on a major arterial. Maybe there was a school, I don't know.

[MountainView]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I drove down Merivale Road last night in the dark, and the speed limit kept changing, 80 to 60 to 50 to 40 to 60. It was hard to keep track of the constant changing speed limit. I couldn't figure out why the speed limit had dropped to 40 on a major arterial. Maybe there was a school, I don't know.

The issue I find with the 40 km/h school zones is that it is only 40 during select times throughout the day and the writing is very small under the sign (especially difficult to see at night). The times coincide with school start and stop times, meaning, many of the school zones vary in speed limit change from one another. They should really make all the school zones "40 km/h when flashing" and have the 2 yellow lights flash between the sign when the speed limit is reduced to 40.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by MountainView

The issue I find with the 40 km/h school zones is that it is only 40 during select times throughout the day and the writing is very small under the sign (especially difficult to see at night). The times coincide with school start and stop times, meaning, many of the school zones vary in speed limit change from one another. They should really make all the school zones "40 km/h when flashing" and have the 2 yellow lights flash between the sign when the speed limit is reduced to 40.

I have seen that implemented (outside of Ottawa), but that might interfere with fine collection and costs money to implement in a city that is increasingly cash strapped because of a failing transit system.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I know my street is used as a racetrack. It has become far worse in the last year. I figure the real estate boom has enabled the purchase a lot of very expensive vehicles with huge engines. I have never seen so many high end vehicles and people driving like lunatics. I watched one idiot burning rubber big time last night and he almost lost control of his vehicle in traffic. What a fool. On another occasion, I watched someone driving so fast that when he reached traffic, he decided to use the left turn lane to pass when someone decided to use that same lane to turn left going the other way. Close call, could have been a head on collision. The problem with speed cameras is that it doesn't generally catch these very aggressive drivers who should have their licenses suspended.

I still believe that speed cameras are a cash grab by the city. They keep lowering speed limits when the road has been engineered for a higher speed. Now 30 kph zones are being introduced. When we have hundreds of speed cameras across the city, it simply becomes a tax. Over 100,000 tickets in a city of 1,000,000 with a minimal number of cameras tells us more than one thing. Nobody is respecting the posted speed limit. Most people drive at a speed that a road is designed for.

I drove down Merivale Road last night in the dark, and the speed limit kept changing, 80 to 60 to 50 to 40 to 60. It was hard to keep track of the constant changing speed limit. I couldn't figure out why the speed limit had dropped to 40 on a major arterial. Maybe there was a school, I don't know.

La Verendrye in Gatineau is as you describe Merivale. Speed limit changes constantly, with a series of speed cameras all along. Went to Quebec City last weekend. Honest to God 6 lane highway, 70 km/h limit, speed cameras. Speed cameras ALL OVER the place. There was a brand new road in a suburban area (like a denser Plateau) built for 70 km/h speeds, with a 50 km/h limit, and speed cameras. They do have some lite-up speed signs that (maybe) change (which would be good in school zones).

One thing I love about Quebec City are the traffic lights. Everyone gets their turn. All peds at once. Right turning cars, left turning cars and then those going straight. So much safer for pedestrians and less stressful for drivers. Remove right turns on red lights, like Montreal, and you're golden.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Remove right turns on red lights, like Montreal, and you're golden.

I would go one step further and delay the right turn on green, like Montreal, in urban areas to give the pedestrians a chance to show their intention to cross before letting cars turn right.

As for speed cameras, I have absolutely no issues with them in school zones and playgrounds. Speeds need to be kept low since, as I have shown before, the chance of death in a car/pedestrian collision goes from less than ten percent below 30 km/h to over ninety percent above 60km/h. For roads with speed limits of 60 km/h and above, I just don't see the point.

I get that this isn't a replacement for proper road design, but that isn't going to happen everywhere any time soon, and speed cameras are cheaper and easier to roll out and have proven to be very effective where they are installed. Optimally the revenue generated could be used to fund other road safety improvements.

[Tesladom]

Write to your local councilors, this has to stop.

Ask them to invest in better road design

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

La Verendrye in Gatineau is as you describe Merivale. Speed limit changes constantly, with a series of speed cameras all along. Went to Quebec City last weekend. Honest to God 6 lane highway, 70 km/h limit, speed cameras. Speed cameras ALL OVER the place. There was a brand new road in a suburban area (like a denser Plateau) built for 70 km/h speeds, with a 50 km/h limit, and speed cameras. They do have some lite-up speed signs that (maybe) change (which would be good in school zones).

One thing I love about Quebec City are the traffic lights. Everyone gets their turn. All peds at once. Right turning cars, left turning cars and then those going straight. So much safer for pedestrians and less stressful for drivers. Remove right turns on red lights, like Montreal, and you're golden.

My local racetrack (street) had a traffic light taken down by a vehicle yesterday afternoon. Looked like a 'cowboy' in a high end pickup truck that took it down.

An interesting comment was made yesterday morning on the radio. If these cameras are so effective in making things safer, the number of fines should be dropping and there should be no profit to the city from their operations. We are in fact using these cameras as a cash cow that is not a healthy situation and improving safety is not the prime motivator.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by roger1818

As for speed cameras, I have absolutely no issues with them in school zones and playgrounds. Speeds need to be kept low since, as I have shown before, the chance of death in a car/pedestrian collision goes from less than ten percent below 30 km/h to over ninety percent above 60km/h. For roads with speed limits of 60 km/h and above, I just don't see the point.

Not sure about the distinction that you are making. Bronson in front of Carleton is 60 kmph, and it has a horrible speeding problem, as well as tonnes of pedestrians crossing. Obviously the design is an issue, but speed cameras are a pretty effective way to slow traffic in key spots like that.

While speed cameras obviously don't address lots of dangerous driving behaviour, they are good at targeting a key risk, and they also have the effect of narrowing the range of speeds on a street, which helps with safety at any speed limit.

[zzptichka]

Originally Posted by Tesladom

Write to your local councilors, this has to stop.

Ask them to invest in better road design

Curious, what do you mean by better road design?
Fewer and narrower car lanes, segregated bike lanes, chicanes and raised pedestrian crossings?

I'm all for that. But something's telling me those against red-light cameras will be against better road design as well. Because in the end, they don't care about people's safety, they just want to go fast with impunity.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by phil235

Not sure about the distinction that you are making. Bronson in front of Carleton is 60 kmph, and it has a horrible speeding problem, as well as tonnes of pedestrians crossing. Obviously the design is an issue, but speed cameras are a pretty effective way to slow traffic in key spots like that.

Bronson is a special case in that there is a highway in a high pedestrian environment. IMHO we should be investing in grade separated pedestrian (and cyclist) crossings. Limiting the speed to the current limit doesn't do much for pedestrian safety as the limit is too high to be safe in the first place.

While speed cameras obviously don't address lots of dangerous driving behaviour, they are good at targeting a key risk, and they also have the effect of narrowing the range of speeds on a street, which helps with safety at any speed limit.

I agree. My point is if we are talking about pedestrian safety, we need to keep traffic speeds low enough to make it safe for pedestrians.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Tesladom

Write to your local councilors, this has to stop.

Ask them to invest in better road design

The problem is that it will cost billions of dollars to redesign all of the streets in Ottawa to naturally keep traffic speed down to 30 or 40 km/h so that is safe for pedestrians. Where is that money going to come from?

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

Curious, what do you mean by better road design?
Fewer and narrower car lanes, segregated bike lanes, chicanes and raised pedestrian crossings?

I'm all for that. But something's telling me those against red-light cameras will be against better road design as well. Because in the end, they don't care about people's safety, they just want to go fast with impunity.

(don't forget textured street surfaces).

[phil235]

Originally Posted by roger1818

Bronson is a special case in that there is a highway in a high pedestrian environment. IMHO we should be investing in grade separated pedestrian (and cyclist) crossings. Limiting the speed to the current limit doesn't do much for pedestrian safety as the limit is too high to be safe in the first place.

Maybe that's the solution there. I'd rather see it turned into a proper boulevard where lower speeds are more natural. Bring the new arena and pool (fingers crossed) right up to the road and do the same on the Carleton side so it actually looks like the urban road that it is.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by phil235

Maybe that's the solution there. I'd rather see it turned into a proper boulevard where lower speeds are more natural. Bring the new arena and pool (fingers crossed) right up to the road and do the same on the Carleton side so it actually looks like the urban road that it is.

That certainly is the other option. The design speed of the boulevard would need to be lower than the current 60km/h though.

The thing is, that section of Bronson is more of a road than a street, and the vast majority of the pedestrian traffic is across it, not along it. There aren't any street front business along that stretch and to make it a destination for pedestrians and the way it is configured, I don't see that changing any time soon. For that reason, I think it best to keep it a road and find ways to make it safer for pedestrians to cross it and redirect any pedestrian/cyclist traffic along it to segregated paths and along parallel streets.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by roger1818

That certainly is the other option. The design speed of the boulevard would need to be lower than the current 60km/h though.

The thing is, that section of Bronson is more of a road than a street, and the vast majority of the pedestrian traffic is across it, not along it. There aren't any street front business along that stretch and to make it a destination for pedestrians and the way it is configured, I don't see that changing any time soon. For that reason, I think it best to keep it a road and find ways to make it safer for pedestrians to cross it and redirect any pedestrian/cyclist traffic along it to segregated paths and along parallel streets.

It may be a chicken and egg thing. If you have a decent pedestrian environment, you’ll see a lot more pedestrians.

There aren’t a lot of parallel streets that provide options, given the crossings of the canal and river.

[MichelKazan]

Originally Posted by MountainView

The times coincide with school start and stop times, meaning, many of the school zones vary in speed limit change from one another. They should really make all the school zones "40 km/h when flashing" and have the 2 yellow lights flash between the sign when the speed limit is reduced to 40.

I think they do this on Jeanne D'Arc Boulevard North in Orleans up near Convent Glen Mall.