The picture is taken from the McKenzie-King Bridge, between the canal and Rideau Centre. The unique spiral staircase on the left is now closed, and will be removed. It is, apparently, not fully accessible.
It is being sort-of replaced by the straight staircase on the right, adjacent the new Convention Centre. It has an elevator hidden inside a nifty turned-over ice-cream cone metal shroud, so Everyone can go up or down.
But look closely at Colonel By Drive. Notice that peds arriving at the bottom of the staircase on the right appear to have a crosswalk. And on the left side, partially obscured by the old stairs, there is a connecting sidewalk. I watched as several sets of pedestrians approached the road and sort-of started right into crossing while simultaneously checking that cars were actually stopping. Only they weren’t. Stopping that is. The motorists were zooming along Colonel By like it was the Qway (outside of rush hours).
After a few minutes examining the scene, I realized the horizontal stripes across the road are not crosswalks, they are some sort of architectural landscaping treatment, or maybe warning lines to encourage traffic to slow down. They just look like a crosswalk, especially when connecting the canal-side paths with the staircase up to McKenzie-King.
A solution to this problem would be to pave the first “crosswalk” entirely in pavers, and mark it properly as a crosswalk.
I was unaware they were planning to tear down those lovely (if badly maintained) spiral staircases. So let me get this straight, in the interest of “accessibility” pedestrians crossing the bridge who want to enjoy the canal now need to walk (or hobble / wheel / etc.) an extra 50 m all the way to the far side, descend, then cross a busy and dangerous street at a non-crosswalk. then travel 50m back to the canal? Why not simply repair the spirals for those that can use them and ADD a new staircase / elevator for those that need them?
Sad that one more way of connecting Ottawans to our waterways will disappear.
There is another spiral staircase off the Laurier Bridge. It too was removed a while back and replaced with a more modern steel version instead of the reinforced concrete version at Mackenzie King. I’m pretty sure that is what is to happen at Mackenzie King. If you compare the two staircases in Streetview or in person you’ll notice a few differences besides the materials, notably that the Laurier structure has a central column and that the handrails are far more secure on the Laurier structure. I believe that is the reason that the Mackenzie King staircase is being removed and replaced.
As a form of modernist art, the Mackenzie King spiral/helix staircase is certainly unique with its stack of triangular concrete slabs, but if the handrails are not sound unfortunately it has to go.
David – I’ve also heard that the spiral stairs on Mac-King are going. I think I heard it from an official or semi-official source.
Design aside, the current and future pedestrian volumes could not be easily or safely carried by those stairs (ever tried to pass someone in the opposite direction? Or go down them without being fully able-bodied?)
As for crossing the drive, yes the current version needs improvement to make this safer for pedestrians, but this must be done by calming or stopping traffic, not by getting pedestrians to avoid crossing it. With the volume of pedestrians naturally increasing with more people living downtown, with the beautiful public space along the canal, and with the popular new congress centre, there will be pedestrians here so give them power in numbers to make them the priority over cars in this stretch.
It’s a “scenic driveway” after all, isn’t it? Rename it a scenic parkway so drivers can enjoy the scenery while they’re virtually parked, which they already are on Colonel By if you’ve ever seen it during rush hour. from an official or semi-official source.
Design aside, the current and future pedestrian volumes could not be easily or safely carried by those stairs (ever tried to pass someone in the opposite direction? Or go down them without being fully able-bodied?)
As for crossing the drive, yes the current version needs improvement to make this safer for pedestrians, but this must be done by calming or stopping traffic, not by getting pedestrians to avoid crossing it. With the volume of pedestrians naturally increasing with more people living downtown, with the beautiful public space along the canal, and with the popular new congress centre, there will be pedestrians here so give them power in numbers to make them the priority over cars in this stretch.
It’s a “scenic driveway” after all, isn’t it? Rename it a scenic parkway so drivers can enjoy the scenery while they’re virtually parked, which they already are on Colonel By if you’ve ever seen it during rush hour.
Call it a “car path”!*
* Can’t remember who I stole it from, but at least I’m confessing to the crime.
I biked past those brick inlays yesterday and wondered what they were. Looking at them now from above the do look quite like pedestrian crossing lines! Yikes.
I wonder if there is any plan to put stop lights for the cars at these pedestrian crossing, of if its going to be another take your chances kind of deal…
They’ve done a great job of fixing this area up. It’s already become a popular spot for people to sit and enjoy the surroundings. As it is now, the spiral stair is a rusty, dirty thing that needs to be fixed or removed. As pointed out, the one at Laurier is still there if you need a fix of spiral stair architecture. It also takes about a minute to walk to the lights so I hardly think removing it is a great hardship if one needs to cross the driveway. I go this way frequently by bike or by foot and I don’t see any obstacle that one can’t overcome by simply thinking about where you are going.
I like the lack of regulation. If you’re about to cross a street then you should exercise some caution. Too often we settle on binary solutions. Crossing should only occur at intersections with the maximum possible protection, and it should be illegal everywhere else.
Exactly!
Ditto: But a YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS sign either side of this area should be added to warn drivers that pedestrians could be doing unexpected things – like using the space that drivers usually claim as their own.
I presume Peter Drake is being sarcastic in his comment that he likes lack of regulation but wants crossing restricted to intersections only. Good thing he wasn’t my kid: I went to great effort to teach them to cross mid-block when it is safer to do so. Intersections are designed for the convenience of motorists with too little regard for pedestrians.
Eric,
He’s saying he likes the lack of regulation. Regulation refers to requirements to cross at crosswalks, and he says he likes that this is not the case here. In other words, he is agreeing with you.
– RG>
What happened to the bicycle/pedestrian path on the west side of Colonel By? When I cycle north along the east side of the canal, I’m directed up the hill and onto a dead end! The only option appears to be to try to cross Colonel By and use it for cycling north, but it’s far to narrow to accommodate cars and bicycles safely.