A member of the city’s pedestrian and transit advisory committee is pushing to widen a narrow stretch of sidewalk on Metcalfe Street between Albert and Slater because it is one of the most heavily used pedestrian routes in the downtown core.
Advisory committee member Bernie Geiger says it’s a challenge along that block to pass people when the sidewalk is only about two metres wide.
He says two people walking next to each other take up nearly the entire space.
“You’ve really almost got to have people walking in single file in either direction to use that sidewalk,” says Geiger.
The proposal, which was approved by the advisory committee for further consideration by city council, would widen the eastern sidewalk next to the Nav Canada building at 77 Metcalfe St., and reduce the number of traffic lanes from four to three in the stretch of road between Albert and Slater streets.
Research would determine where the sidewalk should and can be expanded, says Geiger, if the idea gains support from councillors.
“Let’s face it, you don’t really need four lanes of traffic,” says Geiger. “You’ve got the sidewalks being so heavily used.”
Geiger says Ottawa has focused too much on accommodating cars for the past 60 years and sidewalks have been overlooked.
Geiger says that through the city’s Official Plan, walking is encouraged and deemed the preferred mode of transportation.
“So why do the cars get 80 per cent of the road width and pedestrians get less than 20 per cent of the road width?” says Geiger.
Some action has already been taken to create more space on the sidewalks – the removal of a set of bike racks and a Canada Post mailbox between Albert and Slater
Geiger says these items were making the sidewalks even narrower.
Ruth MacDonald, who works at the Starbucks on the corner of Metcalfe and Slater streets, says she agrees that the eastern sidewalk of the block is too crowded.
“A lot of people will be walking this way to and from work and it’s just really narrow right about here,” says MacDonald, pointing to the eastern sidewalk. “Especially with the buses going by, there is not enough of a separation between where we can walk and where cars go by.”
But Kate Forsyth, a University of Ottawa student who frequents the block in the summer, thinks there is enough room on the sidewalk as is.
“I think that reducing the amount of space that traffic has to go through will just make traffic worse.”
The proposal is expected to be discussed at an upcoming transportation committee meeting.