Month: January 2010

pedestrians, streetscaping

Dipsy Doo for Cars

Westsideaction

All pedestrians complain at the roller coaster sidewalks Ottawa inflicts on pedestrians. No driveway is too small or too seldom used that it can’t have a dip in the sidewalk. I had hoped that with the reconstruction of West Wellington, Somerset, Preston, and other streets with new wider sidewalks that maybe, just maybe, pedestrians could come first. But alas, no, the old patterns reappear even when there is no functional reason. Look at the sidewalk in the picture above. It is set back about 10 feet from the curb, but it still slopes down to a dip. Why can’t a … Continue reading Dipsy Doo for Cars

pedestrians, Primrose

Windsor should be happy

Westsideaction

From time to time we pedestrians find mysterious heaps of salt on the sidewalk. The little Everest shown is on Primrose Street in front of the park. Presumably, a sidwalk plow was re-loaded with salt at that point, and a little spilled over. Oops. I wonder how many street trees are mysteriously dead in the spring, or concrete surfaces pitted from unknown causes … when the spring comes, the evidence of the salt dump cause disappears. Windsor, or the Magdalene Islands, or where-ever it is that our fair city buys its salt from, should be happy at our generous distribution … Continue reading Windsor should be happy

Preston street, streetscaping

Find the Sidewalk

Westsideaction

As any repeat readers of this blog know by know, I am a big fan of streetscaping. Nonetheless, as a dedicated pedestrian and cyclist (never owned a car)(dont have  TV either !) some of the ways sidewalks get installed drives me nuts. Consistency may be the hobgobblin of little minds, but lets have some sympathy for the sidewalk plow crews and pedestrians at some of these intersections where the the sidewalk contorts itself to follow the curb line (of a bulbout) rather than the desire line of the walker. In the top picture, the sidewalk does not squeeze between the … Continue reading Find the Sidewalk