Category: cycling in Ottawa
Churchill reconstruction to include raised bike lane
For some time, the City has been planning the reconstruction of Churchill from Byron southwards. It will include a protected cycle track. It includes a number of the increasingly “typical’ Ottawa features of reconstructed streets: recessed parking bays (I don’t know if they’ll be brick or asphalt, I prefer the texture difference of brick since it helps make the travelled portion on the road seem narrower) occasional tree planting, where utilities haven’t already grabbed the prime space (in Ottawa, trees get leftover space, utilities get first dibs on all public space, and little or no effort is made to identify and protect … Continue reading Churchill reconstruction to include raised bike lane
Update on OTrain bike path (MUP)
A lot has happened on the new multi-user path (aka bike path) being constructed along the east side of the OTrain from the Ottawa River to Young Street, which then joins the existing path that runs further south to Carling Avenue. Someday, I might get to put up all the in-progress pictures, but here are some showing the state of the new path as of yesterday. We start at Young Street / the Queensway, and work north to end up at the Ottawa River near Bayview Station. Path is due for completion just when the snow flies. Continue reading Update on OTrain bike path (MUP)
Bicycle tracks on the west side
A new sign has appeared on Albert Street near Empress (by the Good Companions, aka where Albert and Slater meet). It directs cyclists south along Empress, and up the stairs to get to Laurier. Now I recognize that this is a way to get to Laurier. And more specifically, the Laurier SBL. But after you hike your bike up hundreds of stairs (using the bike trough on the side of the steps), you arrive at the bottom of a steep hill. Walk up that, and you are at Primrose. Go east one block, north another block on Cambridge, then east … Continue reading Bicycle tracks on the west side
Cyclists don’t shop, I guess
I’ve had occasion to cycle up to the Rideau Centre several times in the last two weeks. I noticed that there is exactly one small bike rack, on the south side, by DND. It’s not attractive for me to use because a)it’s already full, b) it’s on the far south of the street, and the bike lane is in the middle, so I’d have to cross the bus lanes, park, then cross both sets of lanes again. This is long and boring and slightly dangerous. On the north side, close by the mall: nothing. And this is on a busy … Continue reading Cyclists don’t shop, I guess
Update on the OTrain MUP
What has happened in the two weeks since worked started on the new multi-user path (aka MUP, or bike path) running from the Macdonald Parkway by the Prince of Wales Railway Bridge south to Bayview Station, behind City Centre Building, to the new underpass under Somerset Street? (First post can be read at http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/construction-on-new-west-side-bike-path-begins/ ). From the Macdonald Parkway viewpoint by the Ottawa River, not much has changed in two weeks. Most of the work has been going on south of the Parkway, towards Bayview Station. The contractor graded an alignment for the path, here seen looking north from Bayview Station towards the River: Most of … Continue reading Update on the OTrain MUP
California Dreamin’: Palo Alto bike boulevards
The City of Palo Alto is not far from San Francisco, in Silicon Valley. It is a university and hi tech town, with lots of cycling and cyclists. There are a number of factors that make it attractive to cycle: short-ish distances, a dappled shade on the streets from the overhead tree canopy [to be contrasted in a few posts with the San Jose non-canopy], and their bike boulevards. Bike boulevards or neighborhood greenways are rather different from Ottawa designated bike routes. In Ottawa, the green sign goes up, and most of the time, nothing else changes. It’s merely a recommended route. As … Continue reading California Dreamin’: Palo Alto bike boulevards
Dept. of Silly Signs
I used to have a keyboard that came complete with a user warning of carpel tunnel syndrome or something like that. Seemed pretty silly, and not very likely to render the vendor “sue proof”. Then I saw this… I think I’d demand the cycle shop remove the sticker before I’d accept the bike. Continue reading Dept. of Silly Signs
Lazy Parker
etc The utter selfishness and laziness of people continues to astound me. We have previously seen pic on this blog of people who park on the sidewalk in front of their destination instead of parking a few feet further on in a vacant legal parking space. In the case shown above, there are several vacant parking spaces in front of the subject vehicle. Nonetheless, (s)he parked with tail end sticking out onto the street. And then turned on the car flashers to alert everyone that the vehicle was where it shouldn’t have been. Fortunately, a traffic officer went by in the … Continue reading Lazy Parker
Digging up the Laurier SBL
Cyclists on the Laurier separated bike lane (SBL) should have noticed some discrete trenching going on in the lane. Apparently using a saw blade, a narrow trench is being cut along the curb that separates the lane from other traffic: The work is being done at night, so trench itself constitutes the evidence. Every so often, there is another cut at right angles, going towards an adjacent building. To keep debris out of the trench until the cables can be installed, a plastic cap is put on: The fibre optics cable that is being installed by Globility (Primus) and they have pretty much finished their work on Laurier … Continue reading Digging up the Laurier SBL
Will your bike make the traffic signal change?
The city of Ottawa puts three yellow dots on the traffic loop buried at intersections, marking where cyclists should stop to activate the signal. I don’t think many cyclists know this; and frankly, I don’t trust these marks to actually work. The one I use the most, at Lanark/Scott, seems pretty iffy to me. Here’s an instructional sign, from another city. It’s a tad ambiguous, since it shows the cyclist at right angles to the line, when in fact your bike should be both tires on top of the line… Continue reading Will your bike make the traffic signal change?
Dotted or solid, how do you like your bike path?
The paths along the Ottawa side of the River have just had their yellow centre lines repainted: But over on the Gatineau side, I noticed a section with a dashed line in the centre. Does it signify a passing lane? Government cutbacks to save paint? Continue reading Dotted or solid, how do you like your bike path?
Fording the Rideau at the site of the new ped – cyclist bridge
The City is working towards a new ped cyclist bridge over the Rideau River. It would connect Donald Street east of the Rideau with Somerset (East) on the west side of the Rideau (thru Strathcona Park). In addition to the numerous logical elements of connecting the road network, and the less obvious, like being able to avoid the Cummings Bridge and Rideau Street, there is also the convenience of a very shallow zone on the river. It is, in fact, a traditional spot for fording the river. Here’s a view from just a few days ago: The gent in the foreground, … Continue reading Fording the Rideau at the site of the new ped – cyclist bridge
Bike lanes in China
We get pretty wrapped up here in Ottawa about the life and death of the universe, also known as the Laurier separated bike lanes (SBL). Really, it’s worthwhile sometimes to go back and look at other cities, a bit further away, and see what other cultures are up to. Of course, our biggest models have been NYC and The Netherlands/Denmark, with guest appearances from Portland and few other places. A reader has returned from China, and sent me these pic on SBL’s there. [Many thanks to R for the pictures and some descriptions in the accompanying email]. They surprised me a … Continue reading Bike lanes in China
The City is monitoring much more than cycle traffic on Laurier
The Citizen reports today * that the City and Carleton U are monitoring cyclist and motorist behaviour along the Laurier separated bike lane (SBL). They are using video equipment to record behaviour of individual users and interactions amongst users. The citizen story doesn’t tell us HOW they are doing this, or give us the larger picture. Here is a photo overview of one video camera installation. The camera set up was used to record 100 hours of the intersection, then moved to the next, til all 8 Laurier intersections were monitored. (above): the recording device consists of some equipment boxes at the base, a … Continue reading The City is monitoring much more than cycle traffic on Laurier
When bike parking becomes trendy
For years, many merchants thought cyclists were a nusience, or just plain forgot about them. A few still think that way. But not TD Bank, which is installing TD-themed bike racks at its Fairlawn branch. These welcome customers, discretely advertise their brand, and make me feel welcome. They even have a useful decal to remind people that it is a bike rack (recall the Bank Street ones that are not readily identifiable as bike racks). Indeed, the whole Fairlawn redevelopment project has quite a few very sturdy bike racks (same style as the city parking meter ones, but with their own logo on them) … Continue reading When bike parking becomes trendy
Doing something about the lack of trees downtown
and and stepping back a few feet, here is a view of the whole installation, on top of one of the select few parking meters posts that got turned into a bike rack. Hey, it could be worse. Mayor Watson might have added a pole with tin leaves to make fake plastic trees, as were proposed for Bronson Avenue. Continue reading Doing something about the lack of trees downtown
Life’s a Beach, even downtown
The NCC is responsible for most of what is good and attractive in Ottawa. In the process of delivering the nice stuff, the NCC relies on government ownership of the property. Alas, the Law of Unintended Consequences comes into play. Measures intended to promote access to the waterfronts end up cutting them off, “public” space is too often “dead” space. The introduction of a new urban beach in downtown Ottawa might go a long way to rectifying this. The beach, between Ottawa U and the canal, on the east side of the Corktown Bridge (not to be confused with Corkstown Road, which is … Continue reading Life’s a Beach, even downtown
PC Buttered Cyclist in Chinatown
Spotted in Chinatown: Sideguards on large trucks have very much been in the news lately. It’s not readily apparent from the photos that the guard angles in under the truck at the front end when it starts to taper to a point (just where the reflected light puts a bright spot in the pic below): Thanks to Loblaws for at least trying them. Continue reading PC Buttered Cyclist in Chinatown
One way street cycling
There are conflicting views about one way streets and cyclists. Some cyclists feel one way streets are designated that way for the convenience of motorists, and being human-powered “active transportation” mode, the rules simply don’t apply to them and cyclists should be allowed to go the “wrong way” down the one way street. Another version of entitlement. Others feel cyclists are sort-of motor vehicles, and for that reason or because of safety concerns, should obey the one way designations. Anyone who drives will have noticed the signs, usually on freeway or limited access roads, that scream out “wrong way – recuillez”, that … Continue reading One way street cycling
The O-Train bike path
For some time the City has been working on a multi-user path — MUP — (aka “bike path”) from the Ottawa River beside the Prince of Wales Bridge, south to the Bayview Station O-train platform, then south behind City Centre to the new underpass under Somerset Street, then slightly uphill to an at-grade crossing of Gladstone, thence behind the City signals yard, St Anthony Soccer Club parking lot, under the Qway, and joining the existing NCC path along the east side of the OTrain cut right to Carling Station. The reconstruction plan for Carling includes a signalized crossing of Carling for the MUP. At a … Continue reading The O-Train bike path
Major changes coming to downtown streets
The current downtown Ottawa is rather blah. Some might even call it bleh. Over the decades, it has become a motor-vehicle-oriented environment, with the fast movement of vehicles the main only priority. We all know about the walls of buses. And the priority given to automobile commuters over pedestrians. Trees: rare as hen’s teeth. It has become a downtown one goes to because you have to. It is not a shopping, or even much of a recreation destination. All rather sad. When the LRT is opened, there will be major changes. Most OC Transpo buses will be off the Albert … Continue reading Major changes coming to downtown streets
Planning in Ottawa, the Clint Eastwood Version
Last week the packed Urban Forum lecture heard and saw Dr David Gordon from Queens expound on planning and urban design in Canada’s Capital, 1800-2000. Note the cut-off year: amalgamation; also removing the necessity to venture views on current plans such as the LRT. He reviewed planning over the century using professorial wit and hectoring. His theme was drawn from spaghetti westerns, particularly The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. You’ll see the various planning efforts allocated to these categories in the picture below. Indeed, reviewing the outline below will give you a very complete summary of the plot. Like any … Continue reading Planning in Ottawa, the Clint Eastwood Version
Phoenix LRT (part iii) The Video
Let’s go for a trip on the Phoenix LRT. The video at this link takes 10 minutes to play. The link may not be live, ie you may have to copy and paste to your browser. http://youtu.be/D3EANU4FmiI Leave the window size small, as the video is low resolution, taken from a handheld digital camera while sitting behind the driver. The Phoenix LRT is 20 miles long (32 km), and has 28 stations. It opened in Dec 2008. Ridership in 2011 averaged 40,600 pax per day. The peak day carried over 60,000 pax. The trains are two-car train sets, thus the … Continue reading Phoenix LRT (part iii) The Video
Lonely house on the parking lot
The area along the O-Train corridor has undergone lots of changes from its original industrial beginnings. Occasionally, an old building survives. Notice that it has a real slate roof, there are few houses or buildings left in our neighborhood with slate roofs. In this case, it probably was to provide additional fire proofing from the sparks that flew out of the many steam engines in the area. David Jeanes tells me this may have been the home of Ottawa Stair Works. Probably built right after the Great Fire in 1902, the building then faced Somerset Street which was not yet elevated up on the … Continue reading Lonely house on the parking lot