By Irek Kusmierczyk
As Paul Ollsop was steering his bicycle home across the Laurier Bridge recently, hugging the curb on the right lane and trying to make room for the wave of cars that swelled behind him, he was broadsided by a brown sedan trying to squeeze by.
“It’s really scary,” says the 52-year-old Ollsop. “The cars come as close as six inches. The OC Transpo buses are even worse because they come even closer.”
The four lanes of the 100-year-old bridge are too narrow for cars and there are no lanes for cyclists. Cars struggle to stay in their own lane while pick-up trucks and buses often invade the lane beside them. The historic bridge itself is weak and slowly crumbling.
The bridge is “absolutely critical” to the downtown core, says Doug Brousseau, regional deputy commissioner for transportation. It is the principle east-west route in the downtown area and the main connection between downtown and the Queensway. The bridge is also a vital truck route.
During peak hours, 2,575 vehicles, 600 pedestrians, and 200 bikes cross the bridge every hour.
Ollsop says he worries for his safety, but won’t use another bridge.
“It’s the closest route to where I live,” says Ollsop coming home from work at The Celtic Cross pub on Bank Street. A passing red van nudges his leg.
Safety was a major factor in the Ottawa-Carleton regional council’s decision earlier this month to rebuild the historic Laurier Bridge over the Rideau Canal, says Brousseau.
The bridge will have wider sidewalks, two-metre bike lanes in both directions, and the traffic lanes will be expanded from 2.8 metres to 3.25 metres all at a cost of $19.5 million.
In addition, instead of having one stairway connecting the bridge to Queen Elizabeth Driveway, there will be two. Pedestrians won’t have to cross the busy street to use the lone stairway. Also, cyclists will benefit from ramps connecting the bridge to the Queen Elizabeth Driveway.
According to the region’s traffic collisions statistics, there were 11 collisions on the bridge from 1995 until 1997. Five of those accidents involved bikes.
Sgt. Graydon Patterson of the Ottawa-Carleton regional police says for every accident reported there are 10 to 15 accidents that remain unreported.
“That’s a lot,” says Brousseau. “Here, you’re going straight and you’re still bumping into people.”
Brousseau says most accidents occur at intersections and not between them like on Laurier Bridge, which is why the number of accidents on the bridge is considered high.
“I can’t bring to mind another similar location with that problem,” says Brousseau. “It’s unusual.”
Somerset regional councillor and transportation committee chair, Diane Holmes, is concerned that widening the bridge will invite bigger and faster traffic to the Centretown area.
“I am worried they’ll give that area back to traffic with pressures to build more roads,” says Holmes.
He also worries future councils may remove the bike lanes and sidewalks to create a six-lane throughway.
Regional council was anxious the old bridge would not survive to see the future.
“The bridge is falling down,” says Brousseau.
It has been crumbling since the early 1990s.
Large chunks of concrete are missing from both sides of the bridge.
Regional council is concerned other pieces may fall on pedestrians below.
The renovations, which include a pair of new steel arches and girders, will fix the problem.
Four original steel arches and girders will remain to preserve the heritage features of the bridge.
The construction will begin in the summer of 2001 and will continue for two years.