Ottawa resident sails along on her cargo bike with her son at the helm. Photo credit: GabeImages
“The Moving Ontarians More Safely (MOMS) Act”, is touted by the Ontario government as new legislation that “will help protect people and families by targeting those who engage in stunt driving and unsafe, high-risk driving.” Digging into the Bill, we find it also includes new regulations for e-bikes and cargo bike usage across Ontario.
Bike Ottawa has submitted the following letter in response to the proposed Bill, as we have concerns about many of the details in the Bill. You can read our letter below, further discussion on the topic of cargo bike/e-bike use and the MOMS Act is forthcoming.
Bike Ottawa recently learned that the plans for the Strandherd Drive Widening project were altered to include a slip lane. This modification came as a surprise to many, as this slip lane was not in the plans shown at the last public meeting on the project. We are also concerned with the modification itself, since it unnecessarily endangers vulnerable road users; we therefore wrote a letter to the City of Ottawa to object to this modification.
In April 2020, after the start of the pandemic, the office of Councillor Shawn Menard purchased a number of large barrel pylons to be placed on the Bank Street Bridge near Lansdowne in order to provide more space for active transportation and physical distancing. This created a safer environment for people walking and rolling, with limited impacts on motor vehicle traffic. It also gave people on bikes the opportunity to actually experience how travel over the Bridge could be much safer. Around the same time, the City of Ottawa retained the consulting firm WSP to complete the design of repairs to the Bank Street Bridge. Construction of these repairs began in summer 2020, but after the start of the project, the City asked WSP to develop a revised design to improve active transportation facilities. The key change to the new design is that it will include two northbound vehicle lanes and one southbound vehicle lane over the Bridge which will create space for active transportation facilities. In March 2021, Bike Ottawa attended a meeting organized by the City and provided comments on the new design. In a follow up letter to the City, several key points were made by Bike Ottawa.
Grade Separation The proposed solution includes a difference in height between the cycle track side and pedestrian walkway side which we see as having pros and cons. It is better to have height separation to encourage the separation of users, but this also places a cyclist at increased risk if an evasive maneuver is needed, for example to avoid a small child or dog jumping into the cycle track. Nevertheless, Bike Ottawa endorses grade separation on the multiuse path (between users) because of the benefits it provides to other users.
Staff recommended Bridge design
Protection from Vehicles There is a risk that a cyclist could fall from the raised cycle track into traffic. This risk could be mitigated with the installation a solid barrier of some kind. During the meeting, we shared images of narrow barriers that rely on tension wires. This would allow some snow to move to the street and would keep the people on bikes from falling into traffic. After further discussion as a group, we feel extremely uncomfortable with not having a physical barrier as part of the design options. Bike Ottawa has indicated that the City and its planners must find a way to install a barrier within the space designated as a painted buffer (30 cm in each side), in order to prevent a tragedy from occurring along this cycle track.
An example of possible physical barrier that could be used to keep people on bikes safer and separated from motor vehicle traffic
Signage to Help Northbound People on Bikes Bike Ottawa has also suggested the installation of signage at the bottom of the Bridge at the end of the northbound section to direct people on bikes and walkers to watch for each other, and encourage people on bikes to do a loop southbound on to the MUP just east of the Bridge, and then turn under if they wish to travel west.
Approaching the Bridge We provided our support for extending the cycle track to Aylmer to reduce conflicts southbound when exiting the Bridge and start at Aylmer to go approach the Bridge going northbound. We also feel that the southbound transition for people on bikes onto the Bridge is not ideal. Placing an advanced bicycle light at Exhibition Way (for people traveling from Lansdowne) would be really important for the people on bikes that are in the area right now, since we see few headed South from Holmwood Ave. down Bank. We indicated our preference to have the bike lane begin further back. There is a speed board on the bridge that shows that motorists regularly drive faster than the speed limit, and with the new configuration, it may encourage them to try to “get ahead” of the line where two lanes move down to one. As a result, having the bike lane begin sooner will allow people on bikes a safer ride, giving them their own space from motor vehicles traveling at speed. We also indicated the need for a physical barrier at Wilton Street to protect people on bikes in the bike lane by ensuring that vehicles slow down and make a proper 90 degree turn, rather than using the bike lane as a right turn lane.
Construction Start and End Dates The City indicated that construction for the improved active transportation facilities is expected to begin in the Summer of 2021 and last until Fall 2021.
Written by Sarah Sullivan Partridge and William van Geest
Bike Ottawa sent a letter to the City of Ottawa regarding a plan to add pedestrian infrastructure on Connaught Avenue.
In general, Bike Ottawa supports this project: a continuous sidewalk the length of Connaught will provide a safer space for residents of all ages and abilities to access local amenities, whether Connaught Park, Pinecrest Creek MUP, Elmhurst Park, Lincoln Fields LRT Station, Queensview LRT Station, Severn Avenue Public School, or Woodroffe High School, among others.
Nevertheless, Bike Ottawa also had some suggestions for these plans. Connaught-Pinecrest Creek Pathway Connection This proposal also has provisions for the connections from the Pinecrest Creek Multi-Use Pathway to Connaught Ave in four places: at Sackville St., Elmhurst St., Henley St., and Hanlon Ave. The Pinecrest Creek Pathway is heavily used by both pedestrians and cyclists. (See Figure 1. For more Strava heat maps in Ottawa, see Bike Ottawa’s map page.)
Strava heat map of the area.
Bike Ottawa is concerned about the proposed bollard in the middle of the Pinecrest Creek MUP, at the junction of that MUP and Connaught Ave. This bollard would make navigating the path difficult for non-standard bicycles, such as cargo bikes, tandem bikes, bike trailers, and other modified bicycles. Bollards also pose a danger to children learning to ride and cause a friction point between varied traffic, such as groups of pedestrians and groups of cyclists, because the space to travel is limited. There are many MUPs in Ottawa that do not have bollards, and we recommended that the bollard be omitted from these plans.
The plans also propose a fence to be installed on either side of the pathway, anywhere from 0.5 m to 1 m from the MUP. Bike Ottawa recommended that a wider spacing be chosen. Given that the Pinecrest Creek MUP is an artery for cyclists and pedestrians, a wider space is necessary to ensure there is no crowding.
Lastly, to avoid conflict between the many users of the Pinecrest Creek MUP, Bike Ottawa recommended that the link to Connaught Ave allow for both pedestrian and cyclist access. Since according to provincial guidelines, a cyclist must dismount on a pedestrian cross-over (“PXO”), it is preferable to have a devoted space where cyclists can ride without having to dismount. This type of facility already exists where the Trillium MUP meets Carling Ave.
Carling Avenue and Connaught Avenue Bike Ottawa also noted that the intersection at Carling Ave and Connaught Ave is also part of this plan. This intersection would benefit from cycling infrastructure, to ensure connectivity from the Queensway Terrace North neighbourhood to other existing or future cycling infrastructure. For example, through the development of the Lincoln Fields commercial area, QTN could be linked to the Richmond Rd. cycle track by way of a multi-use pathway through the commercial area. This could also be connected to the cycle track proposed for Carling Ave in front of the Lincoln Fields LRT station.
Carling & Connaught current configuration looking north
Carling & Connaught current configuration looking south
Bike Ottawa would like to see cycling infrastructure at the intersection of Carling Ave and Connaught Ave, to allow for cyclists to cross Carling Ave. This would include a bike box for eastbound cyclists turning northbound, with a bike sensor a “bicycles excepted” sign for cyclists to cross Carling to or from Connaught green paint or a dashed line to guide cyclists along this crossing
Bike Ottawa is looking forward to the benefits of improved active transportation options in this area.
By 2046 it’s expected that Ottawa’s population will hit 1.4 million, and the new Official Plan is the legal document that will contain the City’s goals, objectives, and policies that will manage and guide this growth. The Official Plan implements the City’s Strategic Plan in relations to land use, which impacts the economy, environment, and communities. The Official Plan also provides direction for many city plans, including the Infrastructure Master Plan, the Transportation Master Plan, and the Parks and Greenspace Master Plan.
The “5 Big Moves” from the Draft Official Plan
The Official Plan is centred around the “5 Big Moves” which includes Growth Management (“more growth by “regeneration” than by greenfield development); Mobility (“By 2046, the majority of trips in the City of Ottawa will be made by sustainable transportation”); Urban and Community Design (improve urban and community design, including priority areas, and policies that tailor to distinct neighbourhoods); Climate, Energy and Public Health (environmental, climate and health resiliency will be built into the framework of planning policy); Economic Development (“Embed economic development into the framework of planning policies”).
Bike Ottawa is encouraged to see the goal of having most trips be taken by sustainable transportation by 2046, and that discussions of mobility are at the core of the Official Plan. We believe that with some thoughtful consideration of how to make active transportation a more attractive option for people to move around all parts of the city, Ottawa can combat the climate crisis and develop in a way that makes it more of a space for people. We have studied the Official Plan Draft and submitted the following letter and addendum for consideration.
The final Bike Love story comes from Giacomo Panico – reporter, as well as interim producer and host of CBC Radio’s “In Town and Out.” It’s highly likely that you’ve seen him around Ottawa on his bike reporting the news!
Thanks Giacomo for sharing your love of biking with us.
“What I love most about bikes is their ability for creating community immersibility. I don’t even know if that’s a legitimate term, but it should be. And the definition should include an image of a person riding a bicycle.”
It saddens me now to think of how I treated my first real road bike. I was in my mid-teens and I had saved up to buy a Bianchi Sport SX at Pecco’s bike shop in the Byward Market. I cherished that bike, and though I rode it hard I also babied it in between rides.
Then I bought a car.
As I moved more and more into a life dependent on my car, my poor little Bianchi collected dust. A neighbour in my building even stole the brakes off my bike, and I never noticed until years later.
Then in my early 30s, as part of what I like to call a personal reawakening, I found my way back onto that old Bianchi. It all came back to me. The excitement of my own power being converted into speed. The simplicity of just jumping on a bike and breezing past traffic. The satisfaction and pride of maintaining my bike.
Soon enough, I was firmly gripped by a case of the bug they call “n+1”.
I still own a car, but it will never make me feel as good as riding a bike will. And while I still love my road bike (and now my cyclocross bike too), these days I’m preferring to ride bikes that are upright so that I can enjoy the surroundings a bit more.
So how do I, as a grown-up now, define my “Bike Love”? One word: immersibility.
What I love most about bikes is their ability for creating community immersibility. I don’t even know if that’s a legitimate term, but it should be. And the definition should include an image of a person riding a bicycle. I love how riding a bicycle allows me to experience a place and its vibe, rather than just pass through it.
Not long after my revived love for bikes took hold, my CBC Ottawa colleague Julie Ireton suggested our station buy a couple for reporters to use. I jumped at the chance to setup what we would go on to call our Mics on Bikes.
The CBC bikes allow me to get to a story in the downtown faster than any other way; I can avoid heavy traffic and road closures, and I can easily ride with all my gear into parks and onto pathways. I’ve also found that strangers are more receptive when a reporter on a bike starts asking them questions. They have questions of their own.
By far my favourite CBC bike moment was during Canada’s 150th birthday on July 1, 2017, when we broadcast two hours of live radio while riding our bikes along Confederation Boulevard, stopping to interview folks along the way. It may have rained, but we were on bikes, immersing ourselves.
Bike Love story number five is written by Maria Rasouli, Founder and Operator of Escape Bicycle Tours and Rentals on Sparks St here in Ottawa.
Thank you, Maria for sharing your story of Bike Love!
“My parents gave me the gift of biking though the society took that joy away for over a decade. On the day I was told to stop bicycling, I could never have imagined that one day I would be free to bicycle again in my beautiful home, Canada.”
Our childhood memories and experiences mesmerise us, haunt us, and shape our hobbies and even career choices in adulthood. Have you ever wondered which kind of memories you are creating for your children?
I grew up in a small village in the North of Iran, near the beautiful Caspian Sea. Having a bicycle in the post-revolution war time was a luxury many could not afford when even essential items such as eggs, flour and sugar were scarce. Our family was not rich but we did have one Banana bicycle that was shared amongst me and my two other siblings. My dad who was in the navy had bought that bicycle for us on one of his overseas training trips. The pre-revolution monarchy government of Iran had strong ties with the USA and Iranian army personnel were sent abroad to receive military training from the USA Army. That bike was so precious that we kept it inside for a long time. In fact, I learned how to ride that bike inside our home on our Persian carpet! It was like riding a bike on a sandy beach.
Eventually, we brought the bike outside. My greatest joy was riding that bicycle every day after school with my best friend, Eli, balanced on my handlebar. We’d travel through the open fields and into the forest on the edge of the village. We’d often fall in the fields, or on the dirt paths, laughing hysterically at how ridiculous we looked.
Around the age of eleven everything changed. One day, Eli and I fell off the bike in front of a soccer field where a group of young male were practicing. We found it funny and started laughing at ourselves but an older man approached us and told us in a paternal tone:
“My daughters, you are a grown up woman. Getting on a bicycle in a skirt is inappropriate, especially around these young men. Go home and wear proper clothing. The two of you are grown up women and should not be on a bicycle.”
This incident propelled our parents to forbid us from biking as growing women. The next time I got on a bike was on July 25 2002, the first day that I arrived in Canada; straight from the airport to a room I had rented and then hopping on a bike that a friend had left for me. He was 6.2 and I am 5.1; I was riding an XL bike after almost 13 year and all I could feel was a rush of excitement, freedom and joy!
My parents gave me the gift of biking though the society took that joy away for over a decade. On the day I was told to stop bicycling, I could never have imagined that one day I would be free to bicycle again in my beautiful home, Canada. I often think about how different my childhood would have been if I could go biking with my family members freely and whenever wished. I love biking so much that the biking theme even makes it to my cooking! I say “Why walk when you can bike?”
I was thrilled to discover such beautiful pathways, nature and ease of access to everything via bike paths in Ottawa. I started Escape Bicycle Tours to share the joy and freedom of bicycling. One of the greatest joys I get at Escape is seeing happy parents and their kids before and after a tour or bike ride. It is like reliving my childhood through offering the biking experience to these happy young kids. What better gift to give our children than the gift of happiness, joy, wellness and health?
Bike Love story number four is from Cécile Lecoq, a Board member for Action Vélo Outaouais, she lives car free with her family in Gatineau.
Petite, j’adorais faire du vélo. J’ai grandi à la campagne, en Normandie, et on faisait souvent des balades en famille le weekend. J’en ai beaucoup de souvenirs : on allait cueillir des mûres en automne, mon père me poussait dans les côtes. Plus tard, mes études m’ont amenée à poser mes valises à Nantes, Paris et Stuttgart, et j’ai pris mon indépendance grâce au transport en commun.
C’est seulement une fois installée à Ottawa puis Gatineau que j’ai renoué avec le vélo, cette fois surtout comme moyen de transport, et c’est en découvrant ses magnifiques sentiers au gré des déplacements que j’ai adopté la région. Je ne l’aime jamais autant que lorsque je fais un détour au retour du travail pour longer la rivière ou affronter les dénivelés du Parc de la Gatineau. Le vélo me donne un sentiment de liberté, de puissance et d’affirmation de moi.
“Le vélo nous lie, et les moments qu’ils nous offrent resteront gravés dans nos mémoires.”
Il occupe aussi une place importante dans ma relation avec mes deux garçons de 10 et 7 ans, d’abord parce qu’il a créé une belle complicité entre nous. Les écouter raconter leur journée au retour de l’école ou du camp de jour, s’arrêter spontanément au bord de la rivière pour faire des ricochets, se faire prendre par une averse au retour du marché et rentrer le plus vite possible en riant à gorge déployée… Le vélo nous lie, et les moments qu’ils nous offrent resteront gravés dans nos mémoires.
Le vélo a aussi fait de moi une meilleure maman. Il m’a appris à lutter contre les élans qui me poussent à vouloir les protéger à tout prix. Il m’a appris à les laisser conquérir leur autonomie, d’abord sur les trottoirs, puis sans les petites roues, puis dans les rues résidentielles. Entendre le petit s’exclamer : «j’ai réussi tout seul, je veux faire le vélo toute la journée, j’aime le vélo!» lorsque je l’ai lâché pour la première fois, et lire la fierté sur le visage de mon grand quand il va seul à l’école ou chez des copains sont d’énormes récompenses.
Et c’est pour avoir le cœur un peu moins serré quand je le regarde partir que je milite pour que ma ville prenne soin de lui.
It’s Valentine’s Day and it’s time for the third story for Bike Love month!
Brett Bergie is a long distance bromptoneer- she trained to ride the 2020 Trans America Bicycle Race in 2020 on her Brompton. Yes, you read that correctly! She currently lives in Calgary where she advocates for safe streets, and is considered an honourary member of the Ottawa bike community.
“Time on my bicycle remains an opportunity to be truly present in my surroundings and activity. I feel my weight on the saddle, the pressure where my hands rest on my grips, and the responsiveness of my bike propelling forward with the rotation of my feet.”
On a chilly, grey day in early spring, just before arriving in the old town far from home, the road turns sharply on a bluff overlooking Lake Ontario. The low grey ceiling prevents me from seeing across to the other side. Vastness, openness, and coldness give me a chill, less so in the bone, more so in my soul – a moment when solitude feels uneasy.
Bicycling longer and farther than my friends are willing to go almost always means bicycling alone. Young and curious, I find myself lost on occasion, feeling unsettled and frightened each time. More than finding my way again, in those moments I wish I weren’t alone. After some time pedaling and meandering, I situate myself again and point my bicycle home. I evaluate my energy stores and feel some assurance I will make it. Elation comes first but then depletion.
In the weeks and months after the pandemic is declared, I habitually take to my bicycle. “Outside is not cancelled,” they say. While the threat of COVID-19 disrupts and upsets social connection and routine, I discover I can still draw pleasure and security rolling on two wheels in the open spaces, the green spaces, and the empty spaces.
For fleeting moments, life feels familiar. On the bike, my mindset is contemplative and unhurried. Time fails to dictate my actions as it does across life’s other compartments. Riding my bicycle is an indulgence in sensory pleasure: quietude, coolness of tree canopies, permeating aroma of a growing season, an open and uninterrupted horizon, and force upon my cranks. I feel a deep affection and gratitude for the contours of the land in all its natural beauty. Far removed am I from another element of nature – this pandemic.
Time on my bicycle remains an opportunity to be truly present in my surroundings and activity. I feel my weight on the saddle, the pressure where my hands rest on my grips, and the responsiveness of my bike propelling forward with the rotation of my feet. The bicycle is the ultimate expression of simplicity – and I am the faithful servant of simple pleasures.
It occurs to me that while the risk of COVID spread occupies my mind, consciously and subconsciously, my bicycle is my best tool to dislodge worry and unease. My mind lends itself to the air’s fragrance, not the droplet count. When in motion, seeing people evokes a wave instead of a threat response. I feel an overwhelming sense of connection and community.
And now I wonder if bicycling was ever a discipline of solitude.
We’re very excited for our second Bike Love story!
This one is written by Doug Gordon. If you’re not familiar with Doug, he is the co-host for The War on Carspodcast and is a Brooklyn-based writer, television producer and safe streets advocate.
If you’re not familiar with Doug’s work or the podcast The War on Cars, you should settle down and get familiar (after you read his story about Bike Love, of course!) You can also find him online at @BrooklynSpoke.
“In just one short trip through the Jordaan neighborhood with my daughter sitting on a small seat right behind the handlebars, I knew instantly that I Had To Have This Bike.”
I fell in love in Amsterdam.
It was during a 2012 vacation with my wife and daughter, then nearly three years old, that I first met what would become my bike. After two weeks of riding around and exploring the Dutch cycling paradise as a family we returned our rental bicycles to WorkCycles, the bike shop owned by my friend Henry Cutler. Already a little depressed to be thinking about our final 24 hours in the city before we had to catch our flight back home to New York, we hung out in Henry’s shop admiring the full line of bikes — from classic Dutch omafiets to cargo- and kid-carrying bakfiets — wishing we could take them with us. Before we left, Henry encouraged me to take a test ride of a relatively new model he had designed, the WorkCycles Fr8. (Pronounced “freight.”) Engineered with a weight limit Henry described as “let me know if you find out,” it rode like a dream, gliding across canal bridges and narrow Amsterdam streets with ease. In just one short trip through the Jordaan neighborhood with my daughter sitting on a small seat right behind the handlebars, I knew instantly that I Had To Have This Bike. Still, with just one child I hardly had the need to spend any amount of money on a bicycle designed to carry at least three. (And I mean “at least.” Henry has piled five kids onto his Fr8, something that hardly turns heads in a city like Amsterdam.)
Cut to a year later.
Kid number two, our son, had arrived and I was ready to pull the trigger on a bike that could carry him and my daughter. I instantly remembered the Fr8. A few emails with Henry and a credit card number later, my new bike was on its way. When it arrived, I fell in love all over again. After all, what is love if not connection? Connection with a spouse or partner, sure, but also connection with a special object or even a meaningful place. The Fr8 was both of those things: an object that connected me with a place. Many places, in fact. I used the bike to carry my children on adventures to places I love, from Prospect Park near my home in Brooklyn to Central Park in Manhattan and everywhere in between. Over the years with the bike, my kids fell in love with new playgrounds and the opportunity to meet friends no matter where they live. My wife and I fell in love with the convenience of not having to lug a stroller onto a bus or down a flight of stairs to the subway or the ability to get a week’s worth of groceries home with ease. As my kids got bigger, I fell in love with avoiding the almost inevitable middle-aged “dad bod” by getting some good exercise anytime I had to pedal my kids, their gear and myself up a big hill or over a bridge. To this day, every time I ride the Fr8 I recall my 2012 test ride in the Jordaan around Henry’s shop, our wonderful trip to the Netherlands, and the love I still feel for its abundant cycle paths, vibrant cities and friendly people. If one simple, well designed machine can do all that, what’s not to love?
— Doug Gordon
If you missed our first Bike Love story by Jillian Banfield, the Halifax Bike Mayor, read it here.
