The City of Ottawa is initiating a Cycling Safety Evaluation Project to assess conditions and develop and prioritize cycling safety improvement initiatives for these locations. The project will also be used to launch an on-going annual safety assessment and safety related prioritization for improvements of the existing and expanding cycling network in Ottawa. The City is starting with an online survey to determine how and where cycling safety could be improved, and are looking for particularly hazardous interesections in our neighbourhoods.The survey deadline is Sept. 15, 2010. OOS residents are encouraged to take the survey.
The following spots in Old Ottawa South were identified to the editor by local residents.
The Bank Street Bridge between OOS and the GlebeThere are no bike lanes on the bridge, and drivers speed recklessly—and blindly—over the hump in both directions trying to beat the light, and where cyclists frequently use the sidewalk for safety, thus endangering pedestrians.
The Intersection of Bank and Sunnyside
This busy intersection is often cited for its accidents, particularly as a result of speeding through changing lights in all directions. Cyclists heading south on Bank can be in particular danger from impatient southbound drivers who swerve suddenly into the right lane to get around cars waiting to turn east onto Sunnyside.
The Intersection of Bronson and Sunnyside
This unusually wide intersection has inadequate bike lanes, and is a high cycling traffic area as it is the entrance to Carleton University. Car traffic is especially bad at rush hour, and there is constant speeding on Bronson by cars trying to make the lights.
The Contra-flow Bike Lane on Cameron Avenue
The bike lane runs west on the north side of Cameron, which is a one-way street heading east, and both cyclists and cars present a hazard to each other, especially as stops are not clear for cyclists so they often don't stop at intersections. This makes the intersections of Seneca, Leonard and Grosvenor all dangerous to cyclists and car drivers alike.
One resident said, "We live at the intersection of Cameron and Leonard, and I cross Cameron on Leonard in my car at least twice every day— and often have to make a sudden stop after stopping fully at the stop signs, because a cyclist is racing along westward toward Brewer Park, opposite the direction of the lunatic car traffic. And I’m already aware of the problem, unlike many who come down Leonard to turn onto Cameron, completely unaware of the counter-intuitive hazard they are about to encounter."
He went on to suggest that, "All that’s needed to solve the problem there and further up at Grosvenor and Cameron is a prominent STOP sign in the bike lane, specifically for cyclists, facing eastward. I would go further and argue for turning the flow of traffic in the bike lane around."
Another recommended that the bike lane be removed.
Bank Street between Hopewell and Ossington Avenues
This downhill section of Bank Street has the appearance of a straight-away heading south, and southbound traffic in particular is prone to speeding. "I know of two cyclists taken to the hospital over the past 8 years, so possibly even more have been injured, ones that I just don't know about", one OOS resident remarked. His solution: "a dedicated, montreal style bike lane, or traffic calming techniques such as road narrowing to keep drivers in line".
Riverdale Avenue Between Belmont and Cameron Avenues
The main problem here is speeding: "Riverdale is a very wide street in this particular section, so you don't feel like you're going fast even though you're going 70km/hr. And the block here is very long," another resident stated.
Bus Stops a Hazard
One contributor to this article said, "There are too many bus stops in OOS. As well intentioned as they might be, buses making frequent stops end up motivating cyclists to move into the centre lane of the road because the bikers keep getting cut off— this is obviously more dangerous. The problem goes away when you make bus stop be 300m apart instead of being 100m apart as they are now...but this is getting into another issue altogether."
The cycling survey can be completed at: http://app03.ottawa.ca/survey/
