Traffic Calming

[Buggys]

Originally Posted by roger1818

This is what the City of Ottawa says about a Pedestrian Crossing at a Roundabout:

Ugh. That is crap. Pedestrians are slow enough without having bigger intersections (in the form of roundabout circles) to cross. The shortest & most direct route should be left for pedestrians. And if someone wants to visit the planter of flowers in the middle of the circle, they sure as heck can go across the roundabout.

As for drivers, there's a bit of a negotiation when entering into the circle, which makes it feel less safe than traditional intersections.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

There must be sensors at Claire/Princeton as I've often been driving up Churchill and watched the little red "don't walk" countdown 3... 2... 1... then go straight to the white "walk" symbol... not sure about Dovercourt.

In Ottawa, traffic lights are activated by sensors more often than not. The easiest way to tell is to look for the small yellow sign above the pedestrian button. If there's a sign, it indicates that the button has to be pressed in order to activate the walk signal, and this usually means there is a sensor for cars in the secondary direction.

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Except that isn't the guidance ottawa gives at roundabouts to pedestrians

According to this link all roundabouts will be retrofitted with pedestrian crossovers by 2017 to give pedestrians priority when crossing.

[1overcosc]

Ontario law requires drivers to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks, provided the crosswalks meet certain design standards. Historically, this meant requiring orange flashing lights overhead, like this (you see them all over Toronto, but they're very rare anywhere else in the province):

Barring these, crosswalks were only ever 'courtesy crossings' where cars had no obligation to stop.

The law was recently changed as of January 1, 2016. The design standards required for a crosswalk to be a mandatory yield to pedestrians were loosened considerably and now its possible for it to be done without lights. All that's required now is a break in the road paint and an overhead pedestrian sign, like this:


Kingston is switching all painted crosswalks in the city over to this new format to give pedestrians right-of-way at all of them; Ottawa should do the same.

[Channing]

What about changing the law further, to match somewhere like Alberta. In Alberta, any intersection is automatically a crosswalk. Pedestrians have the right of way. No signage at all required. Mid block or other crossings needs 'something' to mark the crosswalk, but nothing so extensive as Alberta.

(This might also be the rule in B.C. based on a quick search, and other provinces as well)