By Michael Hammond
The decades-old fight to calm traffic in Centretown might be going in a new direction.
Recommendations made at a Jan. 29 downtown revitalization summit differ from recent Centretown traffic calming measures, such as speed humps on Lyon Street.
The recommendations, including a proposal to convert one-way streets in the downtown to two-way streets, were passed on to Ottawa city council, and will be discussed in April.
The proposal to convert one-way streets into two-way streets marks a change in the traffic calming battle as many Centretown residents opposed the idea in the past.
But the idea received wide support at the summit, which included Centretown residents, merchants and representatives.
Dennis Carr, development co-ordinator for the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation, says calming traffic has become a main priority recently.
The Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police started an initiative in early February to crack down on unsafe driving, including drivers who run red lights and speed through downtown streets.
“(Unsafe driving) amounts to a serious quality-of-life issue,” Carr says.
Carr says people want two-way streets because they are safer and slower than one-way streets.
Marey Gregory, a member of the Federation of Citizen’s Associations, says the proposal reflects a growing concern over aggressive traffic.
“We’ve always had a problem with people running stop signs, speeding and running red lights,” she says. “Now, it seems to be the norm.
“Everyone has a story to tell about (aggressive driving),” Gregory says she was surprised there was general agreement at the revitalization summit that the problem of aggressive driving must be addressed.
The proposal to convert one-way streets received wide support she says.
The proposal to convert one-way streets focused on the residential streets in Centretown that are under city control such as Gloucester and Gilmour streets.
One-way streets under regional control such as O’Connor and Kent streets were not included in the proposal. Regional Coun. Diane Holmes says it is the regionally controlled streets that are the worst for unsafe traffic.
“(They) tend to be the ones I hear the most about,” she says.
Holmes says people opposed the conversion of residential one-way streets in the past because it would reduce on-street parking. She says the city will have to deal with the loss of parking spots if it decides to convert any one-way street.
John Braaksma, a professor of civil engineering at Carleton University and a transportation consultant, says the parking issue could be solved by creating alternate-side parking on residential streets, similar to parking on Bank Street. What this means is that residential streets would have parking on one side of the street on one block and parking on the opposite side on the next block.
Braaksma says having two-way streets would take away the problem of traffic circulation downtown. He says circulation occurs because many motorists have to drive around the block to get to their destination because of the one-way streets.
He dismisses the notion that two-way streets will attract more traffic to the area.
“I don’t think traffic will be increased at all,” he says. Braaksma says that, while two-way streets have slower traffic, they also cut down on traffic circulation, making traffic flow more efficiently.
Somerset city Coun. Elisabeth Arnold says it’s premature to speculate about the loss of parking on residential streets since the proposal is still in the preliminary stages.
She says it is likely that any changes would be made on a street-by-street basis, with some streets acting as pilot projects.
Holmes says the idea of converting one-way streets is interesting but there is a long way to go before anything can be finalized.
“If this is seen as a major recommendation, then that is a major transportation study,” she says. “We’re looking at at least $100,000.”