By Mike Spelay
Speed humps and intersection bulb-outs will be the new standard in traffic-calming practices after the City of Ottawa reworks 11 streets in Centretown between this summer and next.
These changes to Centretown roadways will cost $160,000 in a city-wide project to rework a number of streets in Ottawa. Most of these projects will coincide with sewer and water main reconstruction. By combining the two, the cost only goes up by 10 per cent, says Somerset Ward Coun. Elisabeth Arnold.
The streets being reworked are Sparks, MacDonald, Waverley, Florence, Lewis, Robert and Gilmour in the east end of Centretown and Somerset, Arthur, Bell and Christie in the west.
Two public consultations were held March 20 and 23 to get Centretown residents’ ideas about the proposed plans. The suggestions will be reviewed by the public works department, which will make recommendations to city council.
The Centretown Traffic Planincludes up to 30 speed humps, intersection bulb-outs and raised intersections.
Key plans include closing a two-metre wide section of Robert Street that does not serve as a connection, and replacing it with green space; the city property on the end of Florence Street, currently used as a parking lot for the medical building, may be converted into grass or repaved; a reconstructed sidewalk on Lewis Street; and a full reconstruction of Somerset Street, including wider sidewalks.
One proposal from the Centretown Traffic Plan that project engineers disagree with is a raised intersection at Somerset and Bronson. They say that this type of traffic calming effort is dangerous because large trucks and emergency services use this intersection.
In a separate project, Kent Street will probably have two bulb-outs moved from the east to the west side of the street, which will define parking and offer straight lanes.
“If you don’t have a plan, if you just do one street, you wind up pushing the traffic onto other streets,” says Arnold. “You really do need a comprehensive plan.”
Ann Selfe, implementation engineer for the project, says speed humps are an effective way of slowing down traffic.
Bulb-outs curve out from the sidewalk at an intersection and force cars to take a slower turn around corners. They also mean that pedestrians spend less time on the street when crossing. Raised intersections offer higher pedestrian visibility.
These traffic-calming proposals will make controlled driving and pedestrian safety priorities in Centretown, and the city will work with residents and emergency services to make sure the projects suit everybody.
Some people still have concerns.
“I’m here looking at the safety issue of kids going to and from school,” says Barbara Wright, principal of Cambridge Street public school, which is in the middle of the Centretown West projects. She is concerned with when the construction will begin, and how it will affect students. Because construction is inevitable, she can now begin to plan for it.
Planners estimate that construction will begin between July and August of this year.
They say construction will be staggered, parking will not be affected and there should be minimal noise.