Category: pedestrians

cycling in Ottawa, Ottawa, pedestrians, sidewalks, walkways8 Comments

Complexity confuses

Westsideaction

  Is it just me, or is there a fresh proliferation of new symbols and signs we are supposed to recognize and obey?  I find a lot of them not very clear at all. The new pedestrian crosswalk and cyclist crossride at Fifth and the Canal is an overdue intersection improvement and I am grateful that it is there. And I look forward to a lot more safe crossings in our road-traffic-dominated city. But the proliferation of symbols and signs is a sight to behold. Look at the above pic. The nearest crosswalk is marked with solid white lines and … Continue reading Complexity confuses

Florida, Ottawa, pedestrians, streetscaping, walkways4 Comments

Putting pedestrians first at intersections

Westsideaction

Yesterday I self-indulged in a bit of bitch about how the City makes intersections safer for motor vehicles at the expense of pedestrians: Look at almost any intersection. The City locates the signal posts back from the curb line, for the safety of motorists. But then directs pedestrians to stand in the same spot where they deem it too dangerous to place a wooden or steel post.  Allright, the natural question is what could be done to make it better? My first response is Amsterdam, like many European cities, puts real bollards (set deep into cement bases, designed to repel … Continue reading Putting pedestrians first at intersections

Albert St, pedestrians6 Comments

Transferring Risk TO pedestrians is standard practice

Westsideaction

  This photo shows a utility truck doing some service work along Albert Street. Note the concern for safety. Bright flashing lights. Safety Cones ! And note how well he pulled off the travel lane, snuggling his vehicle right up against the retaining wall on the outside of the walk. This was so very thoughtful, not inconveniencing motorists at all. But what about pedestrians? (and timid cyclists who use the walk here since crossing Albert is difficult/impossible, and the motor traffic lanes scarily fast with badly chewed up curb lanes full of bike-eating holes). Are pedestrians supposed to walk around … Continue reading Transferring Risk TO pedestrians is standard practice

pedestrians4 Comments

Safe Routes to School

Westsideaction

Of course, all routes to school should be safe. And schools should be located on collector streets in real neighbourhoods and not in isolated locations outside of built-up areas. Whilst in Montreal, I noticed intersections marked as shown in the picture below, presumably identifying intersections with a higher number of school kids using the crossing. Of course, I suspect the well-frequented intersections enjoy “safety in numbers” and the real risk lies in less-used intersections, which are less likely to get marked. Which is yet another reason we should have lower speed limits, and roads designed to restrict speeds to safe speeds.   … Continue reading Safe Routes to School

bike path, bikewest, Booth St, Cdn War Museum, cycling in Ottawa, pedestrians, planning, road diet, roads, sidewalks, streetscaping, walkways6 Comments

Churchill Cycle Track takes shape

Westsideaction

  Churchill Avenue running north from Carling Avenue towards Westboro is being rebuilt today as a complete street. In addition to the regular car / truck traffic lanes on the street, there will be concrete walks and at the same level as the walkway, a cycle track. A cycle track differs from a bike lane, which is a painted zone on the street just off to the side of the car traffic. Road traffic can readily intrude into the bike lane (hello FedEx). The cycle track is separated from other vehicular traffic by a curb and buffer zone. The opening … Continue reading Churchill Cycle Track takes shape

Bronson, pedestrians, streetscaping, walkways

Lipstick on Pig improves looks

Westsideaction

Last year, we wondered if the proposed artwork on the “reconstructed” part of Bronson Avenue would be enough to make a difference. Andrew O’Malley’s artwork is now installed on the porch roof of the Bronson Centre (there being no public right of way space available at ground level as its all devoted to car worship). The residents of the ‘hood, taking refuge on the Bronson Centre’s roof, were installed this week. And lit up. Here’s some snaps of the action figures: As promised, sometimes the figures are all the same colour, as we come together. I think this is fun … Continue reading Lipstick on Pig improves looks

cycling in Ottawa, pedestrians2 Comments

Towards Ghosts that Last

Westsideaction

I see in the media that Ottawan’s were treated to the dubious spectacle of both another ghost bike (out on Hunt Club Road) and its first ghost pedestrian, on Woodroffe near Knightsbridge. The ghost bike concept is a good one. The ghost bike, started as a guerilla action and now gone establishment, reminds subsequent passers-by of the fragility of life and to be careful for cyclists. On a road verge, the bike might remain for months (eg Bronson at the Canal) but is less welcome in front of an office building (eg Queen Street near Metcalfe) or doesn’t fit the … Continue reading Towards Ghosts that Last

pedestrians, streetscaping, walkways1 Comment

Different attitude – different tree cover

Westsideaction

I was in Montreal a few weeks back and was struck by well treed their residential side streets were. In particular, I was impressed by the neighbourhoods around the old Olympic Stadium/Botanical Gardens, because the neighbourhood also dated from the early 1900’s, like west side Ottawa.   There were many blocks of these treed streets. And they weren’t Glebe-rich either, they were the typical fine mix of rows, triplexes, doubles, apartments, and singles. The wiring is along the street too, not underground or running over the rooftops.   I do believe the Montreal climate is worse than ours for trees … Continue reading Different attitude – different tree cover

design, O-Train, OTrain bike path, pedestrians, somerset street1 Comment

If there has to be a Somerset barrier, let it be discrete

Westsideaction

Recap: recall that in the last two posts we see the City planning to “harden” various pedestrian walks over the OTrain corridor. We don’t know if this is to prevent objects — or people —  being dropped on the OTrain, or what the priorities, if any, are.  It would be nice to know. And the City’s proposed designs for Somerset Street are simply awful. Presumably, other walks near the Otrain and possibly other transit facilities (hello transitway, hello LRT) will similarly be hardened. So a better design is urgently needed. above: the not-yet-terror-proofed Bayview Station, soon to be populated with … Continue reading If there has to be a Somerset barrier, let it be discrete

LRT, O-Train, Ottawa, pedestrians, somerset street, walkways5 Comments

Somerset Viaduct hardening

Westsideaction

  The local community around Somerset Street had to push very hard to get a pedestrian and cyclist-friendly environment. The results, shown above, are extraordinary (by Ottawa’s low standards): wide walks, bike lanes, ped lighting, trees and shrubs in irrigated-planters where there is no dirt … At the top of the bridge (or viaduct, to be accurate) there is a furnished belvedere. Right now the viewing point is a bit understated, but when the lines of 30-35 storey highrises already in the plans appear, there will be only one sight line to the north and south along the greenway corridor, … Continue reading Somerset Viaduct hardening

pedestrians6 Comments

City hides half its data

Westsideaction

  Ottawa, which used to be progressive, is looking stodgier and cheaper every day. Other cities innovate; Ottawa scolds. The pedestrian countdown signal shown above cannot be in Ottawa. It shows the pedestrian how long s/he has to cross the street, in this case a generous 93 seconds. (Does Ottawa ever have such a long crossing time? we won’t find out easily …). Ottawa has countdown signals on many pedestrian crossings at busy intersections. Yet it chooses to hide all the useful, positive information available to it. Wouldn’t it be nice if you were in a wheelchair, using a walker, … Continue reading City hides half its data

Ottawa, pedestrians, walkways2 Comments

Better sidewalk protection still eludes Ottawa

Westsideaction

Back in December I railed against the sorry state of sidewalk protection at construction sites: Pedestrian safety sheds: treat people like sh*t and they won’t come!  It is well worth re-reading.https://www.westsideaction.ca/pedestrian-safety-sheds/   On a recent visit to the Centre of the Universe (TM„) I was delighted to come across the NYC-designed scaffolding in use closer to home. There is now officially hope that in Jim Watson’s eighth term of office, we might see something similar, but just on a demonstration basis, of course.   First, notice the solid concrete barrier between the pedestrians and the traffic, the construction vehicles, and … Continue reading Better sidewalk protection still eludes Ottawa

Bronson, pedestrians, streetscaping, walkways8 Comments

Rescue Bronson (part v): gas station flip flop

Westsideaction

Several years ago, Suncor rebuilt the Petro-Can station at the corner of Gladstone and Bronson. It is on a fairly big site for a city. It has the conventional layout: gas pumps under a canopy out front where it can be seen, a convenience store and pay point in the rear. The whole station architecture is part and parcel of a “branding” exercise so we all know whose station it is without any signage actually being required.   Now, let’s look at the Petro-Can at Somerset: When trying to rescue Bronson from the City’s original excessively auto-obsessed design, community members … Continue reading Rescue Bronson (part v): gas station flip flop

Confederation Line, cycling in Ottawa, NCC, O-Train, OTrain bike path, pedestrians, Preston street3 Comments

Preston “extension” bike path going, going … gone

Westsideaction

  The Preston Extension (shown above),  the leftover bit of pavement that runs north from the Preston-Albert intersection, that takes cyclists out to the Aqueduct bike path (now remediated into a pit) and eventually the  Sir John A Mcdonald (JAM?)  Path, is due to be closed this spring. It won’t reopen in a hurry. The surrounding brownfields will be remediated. For a clue as to what that will look like, examine the Damascas-like terrain out by the War Museum. Then the Confederation Line LRT track will replace the transitway. It will be bordered on both sides with six-foot chain link … Continue reading Preston “extension” bike path going, going … gone

design, parks, pedestrians, roads, streetscaping, walkways2 Comments

Burlington Design Smarts

Westsideaction

Every place offers new twists and variations on urban design. My fall visit to Burlington revealed some interesting ones that were not on Church Street Marketplace. (see the previous series a week or so ago on Burlington, this completes that series) One of the streets dead-ended at the lake. It terminated in a traffic circle. A mini-traffic circle. Can you imagine Ottawa’s engineers designing something so tight you couldn’t drive a 53′ tractor trailer around it at 50kmh?? At the lakefront park, they had park benches mounted as swings. They looked glorious. They looked fun. But I dunno how well they worked, … Continue reading Burlington Design Smarts

Ottawa, pedestrians, streetscaping, walkways

Sparks Street Mall SOUTH (part iii)

Westsideaction

The Burlington Church Street Marketplace had mostly older buildings along it, which gave it character and an attractive pedestrian scale. Sparks has lots of older buildings, plus some new office buildings which should generate lots of pedestrians. I did not notice any Burlington buildings with tinted-almost-black windows, like our public broadcaster. Nor was there a block of storefronts facing an indoor mall and turning their backs to the outdoor mall, a la 240 Sparks or D’Arcy McGee. The Burlington indoor mall met Marketplace outdoor mall at right angles, with corner stores facing both, complete with big windows and operable doors … Continue reading Sparks Street Mall SOUTH (part iii)

pedestrians, walkways4 Comments

Sparks Street Mall — SOUTH (part ii)

Westsideaction

The Burlington VT marketplace is in a much smaller town than Ottawa, with a metro population of about 200,000 (Ottawa is 1 million or so, depending on combien des Gatineaux you count). Yet their mall showed much more vitality than the Ottawa version. Some of this may be due to the proximity of a college; students were visible on the street. It is also surrounded by a residential and commercial hinterland, whereas Sparks is shoved off to the side of the Ottawa downtown commercial district and centretown residential areas. I saw several kindergarten or daycare rope-trains of tykes walking the … Continue reading Sparks Street Mall — SOUTH (part ii)

Confederation Line, Minto Place, pedestrians, walkways

Where loading docks and walkways conflict

Westsideaction

One of the exciting things about being in an urban environment is the variety of people doing different things, of different vehicles, and the shear jumble of activities. Sometimes it is wise to separate these activities, sometimes not. One area I am very undecided about is delivery docks for downtown buildings. Consider the south side of Constitution Square: There are several indoor loading docks, behind the garage doors. Beyond that is a busy entrance and exit to the underground parking garage. Beyond that, is the pedestrian entrance, conveniently located mid-block, opposite the mid-block transit station. The concrete surface is all broken up … Continue reading Where loading docks and walkways conflict

pedestrians, somerset street, streetscaping, walkways2 Comments

The joys of winter

Westsideaction

  The front of these stores on Somerset is much the worse for wear. The cause: walk  plowing. I have every sympathy for the walkway plow drivers. The pavements are uneven. Obstacles abound. Throw in hidden objects and frozen masses of snow, and its a recipe for difficulty. In this case, the plows seem to be crashing into the buildings to avoid the parking meter kiosks:   I have no doubt that the minimum 5′ gap was allowed for when positioning the parking meter kiosk. I did the walkabout with the meter installers with both the Preston and Somerset BIA’s, … Continue reading The joys of winter

pedestrians, walkways1 Comment

Pedestrian safety sheds: treat people like sh*t and they won’t come!

Westsideaction

Do you recall when downtown construction sites built wooden structures along the walkways to protect pedestrians from falling objects, dust or dirt? These used to be the full width of the walk; had a waterproof roof; and ceiling lighting. Often they had wooden floors, too, for a level walking surface. I see fewer and fewer of these each year. More often, the walk is simply closed for months at a time. The Albert – Elgin – Slater construction site is an example. It’s a if pedestrian movements in the downtown are discretionary, and can be foregone when convenient. Here is … Continue reading Pedestrian safety sheds: treat people like sh*t and they won’t come!

downtown, Ottawa, pedestrians, streetscaping, walkways

Playing Pedestrian in the Middle

Westsideaction

It’s easy to make excuses why sidewalks so often don’t meet pedestrians’ basic needs. And sometimes there are genuine instances of “falling between the gaps” Like this one Here the view westwards, along Lisgar: .Do you see it? Try this view, looking eastwards on the same sidewalk: In the foreground of pic two is Hudson Park, condo by Charlesfort. It has a wider-than-normal sidewalk, about 6′ instead of the regulated 5′. Which is good, because the walk is busy. The brick condo is by Domicile. The Domicile condo widened the walk in front of their building with cobbles and a … Continue reading Playing Pedestrian in the Middle

cycling in Ottawa, LRT, OLRT, Ottawa, pedestrians2 Comments

Side effects of the LRT construction

Westsideaction

Assuming that the LRT project about to announced on Wednesday at City Hall won’t be saying “the bids were too high, and as your fiscally prudent mayor, I am therefore cancelling it” …I think we can assume it will be going ahead. To construct it, the City is applying to close part of Old Wellington Street. Finding Wellington is rather like searching for a moving target when it crosses the Flats. Recall that the current Wellington runs down from Parliament, past the Archives building, intersects with Portage Bridge, and swings through the Flats to cross Booth and Vimy and then … Continue reading Side effects of the LRT construction

Bayview Otrain, bike path, cycling in Ottawa, O-Train, OTrain bike path, pedestrians, Preston street1 Comment

Eric Darwin commemorative gate CLOSES soon

Westsideaction

Intrepid follows of this blog may recall the brou-ha-ha over the gate at the north end of Preston (aka the Preston Extension) where for decades residents have accessed the Ottawa River parklands. We even had a legal crossing of the Transitway ! Then one day — shock: Several times the NCC has tried to close the gate, but we beat them back. Some kind soul even put up a sign naming the gate after Qui- Moi? That sign is long gone, and today the NCC announced our gate and access to the Flats, the River, the bike paths … is … Continue reading Eric Darwin commemorative gate CLOSES soon

pedestrians9 Comments

On safely crossing a street, aka taking your life in your hands

Westsideaction

I see in the paper there was another collision between a motor vehicle (in this case, a bus) and a pedestrian (14-year old girl) on St Laurent Blvd. While I don’t know the exact location of the collision, I find it odd that there could be 500m without a crosswalk. I suspect there may be 500 m between signalized intersections, but even where it is an unsignalized intersection, a crosswalk exists, whether marked or unmarked. Recall also that it is NOT ILLEGAL to cross a street. Some people think we should cross only at intersections, or signalized intersections, or at marked crosswalks. There are … Continue reading On safely crossing a street, aka taking your life in your hands

parking, pedestrians

How shoppers get to Preston Street

Westsideaction

A few days ago, I posted some info from the Wellington West BIA about how people get to their shops. The results were interesting to readers, including some city planners who contacted me on how to get the source info. A reader sends me this quote: [and note that at this point the street had undergone but not totally finished three years of muck and mud and noise of reconstruction, including reconstructing the sidewalks][and note also that this is a survey of local area residents, not of all the people found on the street, as was the WWBIA survey, which will account … Continue reading How shoppers get to Preston Street