Lana Stewart says plans for Bronson and Gladstone avenues will only make a bad intersection worse.
As plans for the reconstruction of Bronson Avenue move forward, one Centretown resident is still looking for a way to safely cross the road at Gladstone Avenue.
Lana Stewart, who has recently been posting YouTube videos of dangerous driving at the intersection of Bronson and Gladstone, presented her concerns to the city’s pedestrian and transit advisory committee Jan. 12.
“A lot of my neighbours do the same thing we do – avoid using the intersection when we can,” Stewart says. But when Stewart’s son switched from a daycare on Slater Street to one on Flora Street, there was no getting around it.
Ever since then, Stewart has come face to face with what she says are the intersection’s main issues: speeding cars, four left-hand turning lanes with no left-turn lights, poor lighting and a crosswalk that is barely visible.
“(The intersection of Bronson and Gladstone) is definitely not somewhere you want to send your elderly grandmother unless you want to inherit some money fast,” says Eric Darwin, Dalhousie Community Association president.
Stewart is urging the city to install a red light camera and left-turn signals, as well as paint a zebra crossing, which would mean thick, alternating light and dark stripes that are easier to see.
Improving safety is especially important, Darwin says, because a building situated south of the intersection at 520 Bronson Ave. houses many disabled tenants.
Cambridge Street Elementary School and the McNabb Community Centre are both within one block of Bronson and Gladstone.
But engineers’ plans to rebuild Bronson Avenue have ignored community concerns about unsafe intersections, says Stewart.
Bronson has been a hotbed for controversy since 2010 when the city announced plans to widen the street by 0.6 metres, which some say would encourage speeding.
To stop the move and push for pedestrian friendly adjustments, the DCA, the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corp., the Centretown Citizens Community Association, and Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes formed “Rescue Bronson Avenue” to implement a “road diet” that would see Bronson’s four lanes reduced to three.
“Ottawa has this transportation master plan that puts walking and cycling as priorities and yet when it comes down to making their decisions, it’s a very car-first mentality,” Stewart says.
Although construction for the four-year Bronson Avenue Renewal Project, which involves replacing underground water and sewer lines, is scheduled to begin in April, Stewart and Darwin say they still have hope.
Changes to the project are still possible, says Kanata Coun. Marianne Wilkinson, chair of the city’s transportation committee. But, the closer it gets, the harder it will become, she says.
“How do you provide adequate facilities for vehicles . . . cyclists and pedestrians and keep a nice streetscape all at the same time? It’s a really difficult job.”
For now, Stewart must continue crossing the intersection as is, her son’s stroller in tow.
“There is an opportunity with these major road reconstruction…to not just meet a standard, but make it better.”