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.
To: Alain Miguelez, Manager, Policy Planning, City of Ottawa
March 12, 2021
Dear Mr. Miguelez,
On behalf of Bike Ottawa, a safe cycling advocacy group, we would like to provide the following feedback on the draft Official Plan for the City of Ottawa.
We are encouraged to see that the Official Plan recognizes that the foundations for a livable city is encouraging sustainable transportation as a means for navigating 15-minute neighbourhoods, and sets the goal of the overwhelming majority of trips to be carried out in this way. Nonetheless, the ambitions of the Official Plan must be matched by concrete policies that will drive this transition through the Transportation Master Plan, including:
Ensuring that all major infrastructure is built to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable people on our streets year-round, namely people, walking, biking, and using mobility devices;
Building active transportation infrastructure that links to rapid transit facilities within a 5km radius;
Committing a portion of the annual budget to build and maintain active transportation infrastructure commensurate to the modal share the Official Plan envisions;
Prioritizing ease of movement by active transportation, while discouraging motorized traffic through measures such as, eliminating parking minimums, filtered permeability, and congestion pricing; and,
Enabling a shift towards cargo movement using cargo e-bikes and transshipment hubs to allow for safer, less-congested streetscapes in our city.
Bike Ottawa remains concerned that the City of Ottawa continues to encourage suburban sprawl that requires the expansion of the urban boundary. This type of development is uneconomical, wasteful and does not mesh with a strategy of prioritizing sustainable transportation, as it will inevitably lead to an increase in vehicle kilometres travelled. Given the City’s own declaration of a climate emergency, we believe there is a fundamental disconnect with the needless consumption of undeveloped land and addressing climate change.
While we applaud an increased focus on developing within the existing urban area, we would caution against the concept of urban regeneration, vs. intensification. Ottawa contains many successful neighbourhoods that do not require “regeneration” but instead require nurturing in order to thrive. While many auto-oriented parts of the city will require significant investment and intervention to shift them towards being places for people, we must also be mindful that for many, “urban regeneration” evokes the history of urban renewal that has also damaged, or even erased many successful neighbourhoods in our city, disproportionately impacting lower-income neighbourhoods where many Black, Indigenous and People of Colour communities can be found.
Bike Ottawa believes the draft Official Plan reflects a strong start from an aspirational stance, and looks forward to seeing more detailed implementation. Without the proper policies and ultimately, funding to implement the goals of the Official Plan, Ottawa will continue to develop in an unsustainable pattern that will squander the human, ecological and monetary capital we require to build a livable and sustainable city.
Sincerely,
Érinn Cunningham
President, Bike Ottawa
Cc: Mayor Watson, City Council
Bike Ottawa Feedback on the Official Plan Document
P.23 4) “viable transportation options” for small business growth should include cargo bikes, mobility lanes sufficiently wide for commercial cargo bikes, and passing.
P.27 1) “Compact and Connected City.” Walking and transit mentioned. Bicycles and other mobility devices have not. Use the term “Active Transportation.”
P.31 Policy Intent – “encourage development of healthy walkable 15-minute neighbourhoods”. Define “car-light” (means low speeds through design, traffic evaporation). Include bike parking and the city’s new bike parking strategy. Discourage car parking to better use street space.
P.35 Prioritizing winter maintenance for active transportation over cars is gender equity.
P.36 2) “improve mobility options for women” should not just include transit, but walking, cycling and other wheeled devices (use term “Active Transportation”). Discuss multi-modal trips.
P.37 “More” separated cycling facilities built? Language needs to be more concrete such as, “extensive network that consists of mobility highways to connect communities, main network, and then local slow streets. Wide, flat sidewalks. Pedestrian priority crossings everywhere. All well maintained year-round.
P.44 “the City shall prioritize sustainable transportation modes (notably transit, and access to stations or stops by cycling and walking) over the use of private vehicles.” Most trips are very short in distance. With 15-minute communities, active transportation networks need to be prioritized #1, not transit. This active transportation network will then link to transit for people to move in between nodes.
“To provide a transportation network that prioritizes sustainable modes over private vehicles, based on the opportunities for mode shifts presented by each Transect area context.” Should also include: prioritize sustainable modes over private vehicles through best practice safe road design for vulnerable road users.
P.48 No mention of cycling. Active transportation needs to be number #1, transit #2. Active transport is the cheapest form of infrastructure, healthiest for the community, and how people reach transit. It is the foundation of a transportation system.
P.49 “Increased access to sustainable modes of travel as well as the necessary infrastructure to support the electrification of private and public vehicles.” Change wording from “increased” to “prioritize.” “Increase” can mean a very slight increase. “Prioritize” has a very different meaning. Recognize that private vehicles, electric or not, still negatively impact our urban landscape. By not changing this wording, the City is contradicting gender equity priorities.
P.53 8) f) should not only read walking but year-round mobility network that includes bikes. Use the term “active transportation.”
P.53 3.5 5) “Industrial and logistic areas that are land extensive and need greater separation from neighbourhoods and requires access to a highway interchange.” Not entirely true. There should be logistic nodes closer to neighbourhoods to facilitate transfer to cargo bikes for more local deliveries (based on plans from courier companies and local businesses).
P.53 3.5 Does not mention how year-round mobility networks are essential for gender equity in terms of access to places of employment. Transit is mentioned, but people need to get to transit, and so an active transportation network needs to be prioritized.
P. 58 4.1 1) “Provide mobility options to safely and equitably navigate the city” Prioritize these mobility options.
4) “Support the shift towards sustainable modes of transportation” should instead read “prioritize sustainable modes of transportation in all planning.” The wording “shift” is non-commital.
P.58 “As a result, the City will take a more deliberate approach to the allocation of space for automobiles and prioritize the role of public transit and active transportation. The City is also committed to a Safe Systems Approach that reduces the frequency and severity of collisions for all road users” The City should be prioritizing active transportation, then public transport, then cars. Set a goal to eliminate road deaths and reduce injuries through design.
P.59 4.1.1 Should focus on the liveability of each street like Sweden’s 1-minute community.
P. 60 4.1.2 3) Priority should be given to active transportation users through design without signalization devices. Signalization devices should be used as a last resort. Where used, they should be configured to prioritize active transportation. Consider Dutch traffic controls that will change immediately on approach if no car traffic. One benefit is users not waiting in inclement weather conditions (whereas drivers are sitting comfortably in a car).
P.61 Paved shoulders cannot be maintained year-round for active transportation.
P.61 4.1.2 As the noise, and more so, air pollution has substantial negative impacts on those using active transportation, the more traffic, the more segregated the mobility pathways should be. Consider the network as a whole, ensuring connectivity to services, not necessarily building mobility pathways alongside major roads, but parallel and a slight distance away.
P.62 “ Policy 13 a.(ii), the City may consider proposals to provide shared cycling and motor vehicle street surfaces, when it is demonstrated that speeds and volumes are below a threshold for mixed travel modes.” This should only occur when speeds 20-30kph through design, very low traffic volumes, and little-to-no on-street parking.
P.63 22) Park and Rides should be eliminated. They demonstrate the lack of active transportation and encourage car use. Purchasing and operating a vehicle should not be required to access public transport. This is not equitable.
P.65 4.1.3 8) Reword – during construction, an active transportation network must be maintained and prioritized over car traffic on the same side of the construction project (as well as the other side of the road). The temporary mobility pathway must be safe, accessible for all users, all ages, well maintained year-round. Car traffic should be redirected to another route, if needed, to make this possible.
P.66 2) Eliminate parking minimums city-wide.
P.69 8 c) This needs to include personal vehicles that are above a specific size. Oversized pickup trucks, SUVs need to be regulated. They do not fit in urban environments—Montreal as an example where larger vehicles pay higher fees for parking on residential streets.
P.69 4.1.6 8) Movement of goods. The emergence of cargo bikes and small electric delivery vehicles. Plan for this with a well-connected active transportation network.
P.70 4.1.7 3) Rights of ways: Eliminate any future road widenings.
P.70 4.1.7 9) Use the term “active transportation” instead of “cyclists and pedestrians.”
P.71 4.2 Multi-unit dwellings (including community housing and retirement communities should all have a minimum number of bicycle parking spaces that are secure, protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.77 4.3 Large Scale Facilities: bicycle parking spaces that are secure, protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). On-site cycling facilities should connect with existing or planned city or NCC mobility networks, be well lit, wide, and designed for year-round use. Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.80 4.4 Parks and Recreation Facilities: bicycle parking spaces that are secure, protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). On-site cycling facilities should connect with existing or planned city or NCC mobility networks, be well lit, wide, and designed for year-round use. Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.92 Urban Design “What we want to achieve”: Include “streets that prioritize the movement and safety of vulnerable road users.”
P. 93 Table 5: “Pedestrian” needs to be replaced with “active transportation” with a focus on priority and safety for vulnerable road users.
P.95 4.6.2 Scenic routes: a desirable streetscape prioritizes active transportation and the safety of vulnerable road users
P.95 4.6.3 1) Public realm should always be enhanced. Reword to prioritize active transportation, not just pedestrians.
P.95 4.6.3 2) Should read “Prioritizing people over cars.” Reword to prioritize active transportation, not just pedestrians.
P. 96 4.6.3 4) Reword to prioritize active transportation, not just pedestrians.
P.97 4.6.4 Net Zero construction always.
P.98 4.6.5 3) Replace “pedestrian” with “active transportation. Replace “minimize conflicts” with prioritizing the safety and convenience of active transportation users over drivers. Bicycle parking spaces that are securely protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.98 4.6.5 4) Accessibility does not mean cars only. Accessibility needs to discuss everything outside cars as everyone driving starts and ends their trip outside a motor vehicle. Parking must also include bicycle parking spaces that are secure, protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.101 6) Change “Sustainable Modes of Transport” to active transportation for uniformity. Bicycle parking spaces that are secure, protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). They should be close to entrances and have wayfinding to find this parking easily. On-site cycling facilities should connect with existing or planned city or NCC mobility networks, be well lit, wide, and designed for year-round use. Consider businesses using cargo bikes to deliver or receive goods. (parking, pathway widths, connections. Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P114 2) Cycling distance should also be mentioned.
P.120 4.10 “What we want to achieve” All students should have access to safe active transportation networks that get them from home to school and back. Their movement has to be prioritized over cars. Bicycle parking spaces that are secure, protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.) for students, parents and school staff. Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.121 4.10.1 Reinforcing that active transportation needs to be designed for all ages, it must be reinforced that children might have underdeveloped capabilities for cycling and require to be safely segregated from cars at all times. Noise and air pollution are just as significant having detrimental health effects. Reduce vehicle movement around schools. Consider car-light streets near schools where only local traffic is permitted below speeds of 30kph through design (impossible to drive above 30kph). As always, these are year-round networks.
P.123 4.11 1) Retail Food Stores and 4) Licenced Daycares: Bicycle parking spaces that are secure, protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). They should be close to entrances and have wayfinding to find this parking easily. Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.128 5.1 “What we want to achieve” should read active transportation.
P129 5.1.1. 2) Include active transportation.
P.130 5.1.2 Not every street in the Downtown Core should include cars. Many of the streets should prioritize active transportation for a healthier, safer, and more liveable environment. Even if every second street were car-light, this would vastly improve the public realm. Bicycle parking spaces that are securely protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.133 5.2 “What we want to achieve” should read active transportation.
P.135 5.2.2 Bicycle parking spaces that are secure, protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). They should be close to entrances and have wayfinding to find this parking quickly. On-site cycling facilities should connect with existing or planned city or NCC mobility networks, be well-lit, wide, and designed for year-round use. Consider businesses using cargo bikes to deliver or receive goods (parking, pathway widths, connections). Surface parking should never be prioritized over the safe movement of people. Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.138 5.3 Introducing active transportation in these communities should not be a challenge. There is ample space for pathways, facilities and/or redesigning streets for people, not cars. These should be one of the most effortless environments to build active transportation as there is more space.
P.140 5.3.2 1) Eliminate future construction of Park and Rides. Instead, provide excellent active transportation facilities and bicycle parking spaces that are secure, protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.140 5.3.2 2) Arterials should become pleasant places for people – not highways. Reduce speeds drastically through design and always include active transportation well segregated and safe. All intersections have to prioritize people, not cars. People in these communities deserve enjoyable places to live too. Bicycle parking spaces that are securely protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). They should be close to entrances and have wayfinding to find this parking easily. Coordinate with the City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.140 5.3.3 5) Active transportation – not pedestrian and cyclist network.
P144 5.4.3.1) b) Active transportation – not pedestrian, shortcuts.
P.145 5.4.4 Bicycle parking spaces that are secure, protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). They should be close to entrances and have wayfinding to find this parking easily. Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy. Use “active transportation.”
P149 5.5.2 Replace “walking and cycling” with active transportation. Bicycle parking spaces that are securely protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). They should be close to entrances and have wayfinding to find this parking easily. Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P163 6.1.1 Not every street in Hubs needs to include cars. Many of the streets should prioritize active transportation for a healthier, safer, and more liveable environment. Use the term active transportation instead of walking and cycling. Bicycle parking spaces that are securely protected from weather, accessible for all users, and accommodates all types of bicycles (cargo, recumbents, trikes, etc.). This parking should not take up space from those walking or rolling. Coordinate with City’s new Bike Parking Strategy.
P.165 6.1.2 6) f) Should read active transportation, not just pedestrian accessibility.
P.167 6.2 Remove Gladstone Avenue west of Preston Street as a Major Corridor (Mainstreet). The number of schools and dense residential development conflicts greatly with the high levels of fast-moving car traffic, and related safety, noise and air pollution. This creates a very unhealthy environment for residents. Scott Street and Carling Avenue are adequate East/West alternatives. This should be local car movement only (along with busses and emergency services). Restricting car use along this stretch should not change this area evolving into a more mixed-use development.
P171 6.3.2 Active transportation should always be prioritized no matter what 15-minute community.
P.172 6.3.3 Change walking and cycling to active transportation
P.174 6.4.1 Strategic movement of goods. Plan for hubs to move goods by electric cargo bikes (as planned by courier companies in Canada). Plan for small businesses to do the same. Quebec recognizes this with the new small business e-cargo bike rebate program as of 2021. Remember, these are still people that need to get to work or purchase goods or services. Just because it is a more industrial area does not mean that we can’t have a pleasant environment for active transportation used to move goods by e-cargo bike. There could be lower-income manufacturing jobs in these areas where employees would greatly benefit from an equitable transportation network.
P.178 6.5.3 e) Language – active transportation network will be needed.
P. 180 6.6.2 Parliament and Confederation Boulevard need to be car-free space. Due to its national significance, this space should be turned over for people, instead of unpleasant car traffic.. This would be a space that visitors would remember when they return home as a wonderful, safe place to enjoy. Tour busses would have a stopover area in Centretown out of view of this important area.
P.182 6.6.3 Walkways and cycleways (mobility pathways) should be segregated from each other, have ample space for all age groups and various skill levels visitors, and commuters might be travelling at different speeds by bike—turn-off areas for visitors to stop.
Queen Elizabeth Drive should be made a pedestrian and cycling the only corridor to provide enough space and take advantage of the beautiful scenery year-round. The same should happen for parts of Colonel By Drive.
P.184 6.6.4 Byward Market needs to be car-free and car-light in other areas. It is too important an area to take away space from people for private vehicles. This entire area should feel safe for young to old to walk or cycle.
P.187 6.6.6 Landsdowne should be car-light with very restricted movement. This space needs to be for people.
P.189 6.6.8 3) a) Language – Kanata North needs to prioritize active transportation and then public transportation.
P.207 9.2.2 Rural area villages are great areas for local active transportation networks. Mobility highways should connect these villages with other communities.
P210 9.3.2 Active transportation to get people from villages to workplaces.
P.222 10.2.1 Major Collector roads should be redesignated to reduce the number of vehicles (great sources of noise and air pollution) in areas with schools. An example would be Gladstone Ave. between Preston and Parkdale. There are too many children and families being negatively impacted by non-local car and truck traffic. Noise and air pollution affect the health of residents.
Have not seen any mention of air pollution in this plan. There are sensor around Ottawa providing us with data telling us where there is poor air quality, and when. Reprioritize roads with schools for local traffic only to make neighbourhoods healthier and liveable. The busier the roadways with cars, the more segregation is needed between vehicles and active transportation.
P230. 11.1 3) a) Use the term “active transportation.”
P.241 “Air Pollution Impact Assessment” is missing. This should indicate whether the road network needs to be adjusted to protect residents’ health.
P.243 “Transportation Impact Assessment”: eliminate Level of Service for vehicles and implement for active transportation. Personal vehicles must always be secondary when planning transportation networks. Building a city that no longer prioritizes cars means that vehicles’ Level of Service will go down to encourage residents to leave their cars behind.
P.252 Suggest placing definitions at the beginning of this document. (Missing “Active Transportation,” “Mobility Pathway,” “15-minute neighbourhood.”)
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?
Join us Feb 20th from 6 to 7pm to bake cookies while we chat about our love of biking, and how this fuels our advocacy. We’ll have Tom Flood with us to tell us about his #BikeLove and advocacy efforts.
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.
On January 19, 2021 we held our first ever East End Update meeting, and it was the largest meeting of East End cyclists we have ever had! The meeting was attended by Councillor Kitts, Luloff, Dudas, and Tierney, as well as city staff Zlatko Krstulic, Philippe Landry, and Deborah Lightman.
