Category: cycling in Ottawa

cycling in Ottawa2 Comments

The Bicycle

Westsideaction

While walking over to Art Is In bakery, I saw this bike. The lock has been cut off in a most bizarre way. Here I am fretting over my wobbly bike, and someone has done this to a road-worthly looking bike!  But why cut the bike off the lock and not remove the bike? Is a bike like this even repairable? I find myself thinking of Charles who has a bike wherein the rides separately from the back, joined by some hinged mechanism. Maybe this is the latest trend, the frameless bike? Continue reading The Bicycle

condos, cycling in Ottawa, Laurier Ave, parking3 Comments

Four inches that makes a difference

Westsideaction

Four inches more. That’s all it would take. But alas, that shortage of four inches is significant.   City planners are today wishing they had four more inches to play with. The significance is on Gloucester Street, shown above, behind the Queen Elizabeth Towers condos. Notice that the city has changed the painted bike lane to a parking zone. As part of the “deal” to install the separated bike lane on Laurier, the city relocated the parking from both sides of Laurier to both sides of Gloucester. The Gloucester bike lane becomes redundant when the Laurier lane is installed this fall. During … Continue reading Four inches that makes a difference

bike path, Chinatown, chinatown arch, cycling in Ottawa, design, sewage and drains, sidewalks, somerset street, streetscaping, Uncategorized9 Comments

Somerset dog-and-pony show — new priorities

Westsideaction

The City held an open house last evening to explain to the public what is being done on Somerset Street this year. It was a mix of old news — the section west of Preston remains  unchanged from last year except for some details — and new news for the section east of Preston up to Booth. The new stuff comes in several formats. The consultants and city staff had all the public consultation team members on hand, with name badges, to explain what is proposed and to tell their neighbours about some of the tradeoffs that were made to get to these results. … Continue reading Somerset dog-and-pony show — new priorities

bike path, cycling in Ottawa, design, Uncategorized4 Comments

The effacing Bridge

Westsideaction

  This story originally appeared as my WalkSpace column at Spacing Ottawa: http://spacingottawa.ca/2011/03/28/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge/ The City is conducting studies for the placement of a ped-cyclist bridge over the Rideau River connecting Somerset E to Donald Street. I think this will be a very useful link. I am also delighted that we are constructing a link based on its own merits and appeal to cyclists and peds and not just as an appendage catering to motorist origin-destination desires. From the newsletter of the study team, I espy the following comment, which is pretty typical for Ottawa:   “the design should look to enhance the natural … Continue reading The effacing Bridge

bike path, cycling in Ottawa11 Comments

Watson’s Turtle Bikes

Westsideaction

I ran across this item in the blogsphere (Streetsblog NYC): Deco Bikes Arrives in Miami: Miami Beach will début South Florida’s first bike-share system — Deco Bikes — tomorrow. Transit Miami reports the system will be launched with 500 bikes at 50 stations and later expanded to 1,000 bikes at 100 stations. Each station will hold 12 bikes and occupy two parking spaces.    “With the implementation of sharrows  …, upcoming revised bicycle parking standards, and now the implementation of a city-wide bikeshare program, Miami Beach is making big strides to expand bicycle use around the city,” said Garcia. “If successful, other cities in … Continue reading Watson’s Turtle Bikes

bike path, cycling in Ottawa, cyclopiste de preston, NCC, O-Train2 Comments

Janus the snowplower

Westsideaction

Whilst out walking last week, I noticed an interesting difference in City pathway plowing. From Beech south to Carling, the multi-use path (a MUP, in city jargon; a bike path to the rest of us) gets plowed. Presumably this is because of the O-Train station at Carling: The O-Train path is always gorgeous, lined (for now) with forty year old trees and established green verges bordering the stonedust path. But turn the other way, look north, and Janus does not plow it at all: It is still a city path — oops, MUP. The NCC stoop-and-scoop sign is a leftover from the … Continue reading Janus the snowplower

Booth St, Bronson, cycling in Ottawa, little Italy, O-Train, oc Transpo, pedestrians, Preston street, Uncategorized17 Comments

Be careful what you wish for … the story of Carling Avenue

Westsideaction

Life, especially when it comes to municipal planning in Ottawa, is full of inadvertent disasters. Sometimes these come from the law of unintended consequences, whereby something ostensibly for the good turns out to be awful. Other times is results from good wishes, which when delivered, make you wish you had never asked in the first place. That sounds like something from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and the proposed reconstruction of Carling between the O-Train and Bronson is looking a bit grimm to me today. In a city whose new mantra is taxpayer dollar value, we are looking at an expensive road scheme that will be … Continue reading Be careful what you wish for … the story of Carling Avenue

condos, cycling in Ottawa, downtown, intensificatioin, Lyon Street2 Comments

Proposed development considers cyclists

Westsideaction

A Toronto developer is proposing a 16 storey high-rise on a lot assembled on Gloucester Street, with some frontage on Lyon Street. It is kitty-corner the octagonal Minto Carlyle building (28 floors) and opposite the Minto-built stacked townhouse block that faces Lyon on the east side. Here is a plan of the ground floor. What I thought noticeable is the attention paid to cyclists. There is bike storage for residents in LOCKERS for 46 residents. These storage lockers are on the ground floor. No word on whether these lockers hold more than one bike. There is also 10 storage lockers … Continue reading Proposed development considers cyclists

condos, cycling in Ottawa, downtown, Laurier Ave, parking, roads, sidewalks18 Comments

Condo, heal thyself …

Westsideaction

  Part of the controversy about the Laurier Separated Bike Lanes relates to who gets to use the street. According to the Bank Street BIA, it’s for cars and deliveries, period. Less strident but still vocal are the various condo owner and management groups in the core. Let’s look at one downtown condo, Queen Elizabeth towers, and their parking issues. Built in 1975 (left tower, 500 Laurier, 238 units) and 1978 (right tower, 530 Laurier,  217 units)  these 26 storey big block condos are a well known downtown presence. For these 455 units there are 455 parking spaces (according to the building manager’s office), … Continue reading Condo, heal thyself …

125 Hickory, 500 Preston, bike path, condos, cycling in Ottawa, cyclopiste de preston, Dows Lake, intensificatioin, little Italy, LRT, O-Train, pedestrians, Preston street, Soho Italia, Uncategorized20 Comments

Soho Italia – the developer’s proposal

Westsideaction

 Note: the land on the south side of Carling on each side of the O-train corridor is shown as green space. It is NOT parkland. The City’s Official Plan calls for this area along Carling to be developed as a high-density mixed-use centre, ie more condos and offices.  The facade of the podium facing Preston appears to have a fair bit of glass. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a Photoshop rendering of this facade. How the building relates to the street is very important for a livable street. In the background of the above picture you can spot the 125 Hickory … Continue reading Soho Italia – the developer’s proposal

bike path, cycling in Ottawa, somerset street11 Comments

Cycling Bridge over Rideau River

Westsideaction

Last night the City held an open house on the planning for a new multipurpose bridge over the Rideau River. For convenience, this can be referred to as a cycling bridge or pedestrian bridge, because those multi-purposes do not include motorised vehicles. Actually, the planners couldn’t bring themselves to call it a “bridge” either. It’s an overpass. To me that sounds like something over the Queensway, but plain simple language evaded the two dozen presentation boards. The project is being run by traffic engineers and the evidence was abundant. (anyone for a Champlain Overpass? McDonald Cartier Overpass? Alexandra Overpass? Hunt Club … Continue reading Cycling Bridge over Rideau River

cycling in Ottawa, downtown3 Comments

Definition of a bike rack, err handrail

Westsideaction

I am glad to see so many cubicle bunnies are cycling to work (well, at least those not taking sick leave) that there isn’t enough parking spaces around 240 Sparks. Cyclists are apparently locking their bikes to the hand rails on the stairs. Now, I think the message from this would be to … install more bike racks?? But no, nothing so sane. The managers of the cubicle farm have decided that English-speaking cyclists don’t realize that these are handrails, or what they are for, so they conveniently posted signs elaborating on their purpose. And some people say Ottawan’s have no … Continue reading Definition of a bike rack, err handrail

bike path, bikewest, cycling in Ottawa, cyclopiste de preston, Laurier Ave, Uncategorized4 Comments

Cycling routes – part of roads? or sidewalks? or all on their own?

Westsideaction

Timo Perala spoke at the CFSC agm on Tuesday evening. One point he made about cycling infrastructure in Oulu, Finland, got me thinking again about how cycling infrastructure should be regarded. In Copenhagen, cycling tracks are adjacent the curb, with parking lanes out closer to the traffic lanes. Cyclists cross intersections in two stages, like pedestrians, rather than in one left-turn movement like cars. This is the model Bedard liked after his trip to Copenhagen, and I earlier blogged about how I thought Vivi Chi liked this one too as it can be implemented consistently throughout an urban area. Although how she could fit this onto the freshly … Continue reading Cycling routes – part of roads? or sidewalks? or all on their own?

Bronson, cycling in Ottawa, pedestrians, roads, sidewalks, streetscaping, Transit, Trees8 Comments

Public gets chance to Rescue Bronson

Westsideaction

  This flyer is making the rounds of the west side neighborhoods abutting Bronson Avenue. The above photoshopped illustration shows just ONE potential way to improve Bronson so that it meets the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, adjacent businesses and residents, as well as motorists and commuters. There are alternative ways to improve Bronson so that it makes more people happy. Anyone who travels on or across that blighted street knows that the 1950’s thinking that gave us the current “four lane” urban arterial didn’t work. Yet Ottawa seems on the way to fifty more years of a disfunctional … Continue reading Public gets chance to Rescue Bronson

Bronson, cycling in Ottawa, parking, sidewalks, Uncategorized17 Comments

Toronto road diet

Westsideaction

Christie Street in Toronto is painted in different configurations. The southern section is a typical urban arterial, like Bronson: four lanes squeezed into a tight right of way, traffic jostling for position and obviously unattractive to adjacent businesses and residents. The more northerly section has been repainted into a different configuration. There is a painted bike lane between the parking and the travelled road surface. The bike lane is tight up to cars, raising concerns about “the door prize”. Traffic flowed much more smoothly too, with no passing and less stress driving the street. Above: north of Davenport,  Christie is painted with two … Continue reading Toronto road diet