By Elayne Duggan
A move to accommodate parking on Bank Street is causing confusion for some motorists.
The project, initiated by the City of Ottawa, resulted in the dividing line on the street being changed from a straight line running down the centre to a staggered line veering slightly in and out from the curb.
One lane widens, while the other narrows at alternating blocks where new parking meters have been placed between Gloucester Street and Gladstone Avenue.
While the new system was supposed to solve a parking dilemma, it has caused other unforeseen problems for motorists.
Kin Jee, a manager of Silver Snail Comics at 391 Bank St., says he has seen cars drift into the oncoming lane while turning left onto James Street.
Although he doesn’t see the line as a problem for most motorists who drive the street frequently, Jee is concerned accidents might occur if drivers do not pay close attention to the slant of the line.
“I shook my head when I first saw the line. I guess they’re trying to be fair to all businesses on both sides of the street. The city just seems to want to make things more complicated than they have to be,” Jee says.
Until recently, there was no parking between Gladstone and Gloucester. Because the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton maintains Bank Street, when the city proposed on-street parking, it also had to suggest where meters would be located.
“We couldn’t get parking on both sides because the road wasn’t wide enough so we alternated it to stay out of conflict with OC Transpo and also alternated it to ensure that all the businesses on either side of the street would have a balanced representation when it came to parking spaces,” explains Peter Bula, parking design and development officer with the City of Ottawa.
The city and region consider the line to be a traffic-calming measure, the theory being that if motorists are guided back and forth slightly, they will be more alert and will tend to slow down.
But for some, the theory isn’t realistic.
“It has caused some confusion because I see myself trying to keep with the line when I see it turning. It’s just a reaction,” says Jerry Peters, owner of Class Act for Men at 195 Bank St. “My concern is I could hit a car in the next lane if they were a little too close.”
Doug Brousseau, director in charge of traffic and safety for the region, agrees to a point.
“I think some confusion may occur when there are no cars parked there and people are just reacting to the centre line. When cars are parked there, I’m quite confident it’ll work very well,” he says.
Sgt. Richard Lavigne, in charge of central division traffic enforcement for the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police, has received a couple of complaints about the line.
He explains that yellow lines in Ontario are intended to indicate to motorists where they should be. Problems arise when motorists are unsure as to where they should be in relation to the line.
Lavigne says no accidents have been reported, but can understand that it could be a source of confusion for motorists.
“What compounds the confusion is, if you also notice, there’s sort of a pink line running along the roadway as well. But it’s confusing, you’ve got a yellow line, you’ve got a pink line, and they’re offset,” he says.
The pink line was painted on Bank Street to mark Gay Pride festivities in early July and was removed with the same equipment used to get rid of the old yellow line.
After region officials had a chance to review the plan and saw it was causing some confusion, the sections were linked by a broken line.
“If (the line) becomes a safety issue, we’ll put it back,” says Brousseau.