The story here earlier this week on the the next phase of the Trillium MUP got 1732 views, which indicates to me a keen public interest in expanded cycling and walking infrastructure. ** My colleague Richard Eade has some more … Continue reading More on Trillium MUP, phase 3
The recently constructed paved Trillium Pathway currently terminates as it crosses Carling Avenue, in the top left corner of the above aerial view. Those who persevere can follow the worn out remainders of the NCC’s 1963 stonedust pathway along the … Continue reading Trillium MUP Phase 3, aka OTrain path extension
Anyone who walks in Ottawa knows that a key feature of our crosswalk design is that the crosswalk must be located at the lowest possible point. So that puddles will form right at the crosswalk location. In winter. In spring. … Continue reading Bonus feature for crosswalks at cycle tracks
Today we will examine the City plans for the reconstructed Carling between Sherwood and Preston. This includes the new median bus stop for Trillium crossing / Preston intersection. Recall that either before Sherwood (Richard’s view) or after Sherwood (city’s version) … Continue reading Carling … proposed median bus stops
Over the next few stories, Richard Eade and yours truly will be looking in some detail at the proposed reconstruction of Carling Avenue from the top of the hill by the Farm, down to Sherwood Drive, to Preston, Booth, and … Continue reading Carling Avenue Reconstruction
I have never owned a car. Nor do not wear a helmet when cycling or walking. I used to have a MIT article explaining how if we really wanted to reduce head injuries we’d require helmets before anyone could walk … Continue reading Car Free, Helmet Free
Canadians are too tolerant of unsafe roads, and unsafe cities, and unsafe neighbourhoods. There is a lot written about this, only some of which is readily understandable. I thought this video made the case in simple English with persuasively related … Continue reading Vision Zero, or is it Zero Vision?
From time to time the city rebuilds residential streets. Loretta Avenue, which runs north-south between the Trillium Line tracks and Bayswater Avenue, is one such street. It crosses Hickory, a busy east-west cycle and ped route, and crosses Laurel, which … Continue reading Loretta Avenue rebuild
Some pretty darn good new public spaces are appearing in our neighbourhoods. Some are much heralded, like Winston Square in Westboro which is fun day and night. Some are hidden away, not widely known. Here are two of those “secret” spaces … Continue reading New public spaces grace west side Ottawa
In a story earlier this week I enthused about the McRae Avenue progressing from blah to an attractive Transit Oriented Development. Did I speak too soon? Is the city trying to thwart TOD before it can leave the cradle?? Here’s … Continue reading Shooting TOD in the cradle
As a society, we take it for granted that there is a lot of car infrastructure around. But we built most of it from scratch, at great expense. When that money came in the form of grants from higher levels … Continue reading Making better use of existing infrastructure
These are exciting days for sidewalk superintendents as the big beams for the new Bayview LRT Station were put in place. The beams are precast concrete: The design of the structure is the same as Booth Street overpass / Pimisi … Continue reading Construction Updates – Bayview Station, Trillium Line
ALT seems to be a trendy new word. Here’s how it applies in downtown Ottawa. We now have an Alt sidewalk. Go on, go walk on it today. The Alt Hotel occupies part of condo building on Slater. The building … Continue reading The Alt Sidewalk Design
The new Bayview Station on the Confederation Line will be built up high on the new bridge in the same place as the old transitway bridge. It will have a curbside entry from Albert Street at the east end of … Continue reading Underpass at Bayview Station
John Turner and Jim Watson have lots in common. In a crisis, both claim they can’t do something. It didn’t work out well for Mr Turner. So people get killed moving about in Ottawa. Anyone looking at the traffic fatalities knows … Continue reading Yes you can, Mr Mayor
There are certain facts of life we have to deal with today, even if we regret how things came to be that way. I wont rehash how Booth Street north of Albert, going through LeBreton Flats, came to be designed … Continue reading About those not-quite-bike-lanes on Booth Freeway
The existing Trillium multi user pathway (MUP) on the EAST side of the OTrain tracks has been a hit with the commuting and recreational public. Its popularity grows weekly. Less well known is the planning “win” when the community obliged … Continue reading Bit of new west side Trillium MUP opens
Get ready to be upset. You may not want to see these pic or watch the video. Not suitable for children or the squeamish. On Friday afternoon last week, a pedestrian was killed at the intersection of Rochester and Somerset … Continue reading Beg Button for Death
It is good to be (still) living, in a time when transportation is finally focusing on people who walk, people who cycle, and not just people who drive. Yet to come, of course, is any concern for the people living … Continue reading Some real ped improvements, and some not
I have a book by John Adams, entitled RISK, and it is all about … risk. * One risk is driving with or without a seatbelt. Or helmet. It is also about transferring risk, usually from one mode where something is … Continue reading Understanding traffic risk
Ottawa City Council has approved speed cameras on roads and streets. But only near schools. Provided the streets fit certain other criteria. Jump through all the hoops and yup, there may be some speed cameras installed, someday, in some innocuous … Continue reading Not enthused about speed cameras
The picture shows a standard beg button at a crosswalk. One seldom really knows if these things actually work or are necessary to make the signal change. The yellow advisory plate pictographic is the city’s obscure way of telling you … Continue reading Beg Button, theme and more variations
The raison d’etre for the Queen Street reconstruction and streetscaping is to enlarge the sidewalks enough to carry all the people walking to and from the new subway entrances. All the entrances are on one street, the originally planned ones on other streets were value engineered out of existence. That there is some access from other streets is strictly courtesy of private-property access: through the Clarica Buildings lobby from Albert Street, or the underground concourse at Place de Ville (but not 240 Sparks or Constitution Square or Minto Place). A principle Lyon Station entrance is through the Podium Building, shown below. The … Continue reading Queen Street wrap-up : for people who walk
Road diets refer to over-sized streets being right-sized to a more fit form. At the Queen Street streetscaping plan unveiling last week, Queen was referred to going from four lanes to two. A first glance at some drawings confirms this: … Continue reading Did Queen Street really go on a diet?
Let’s go back to Milan. As part of their transformation project towards a Green City, they have recently reconstructed a multi-block street to make it more urban, less car-dominated. They got mostly good results, but with a number of caveats. … Continue reading Building a Better Street, an example from Milan
