The Centretown and Ottawa-area biking scene could have a new look if the Citizens for Safe Cycling has its list of recommended infrastructure improvements implemented by the city.
Ottawa will receive the maximum $325,000 in grant money as part of the Ontario Municipal Cycling Infrastructure Program.
Much of that funding is earmarked for improvements to the area around the U.S. Embassy along Mackenzie Avenue.
Later this year, construction will begin on O’Connor Street to create a segregated bike lane as part of the Ottawa Cycling Plan which has a budget of $4 million from the city annually until 2018.
The advocacy group, located online at bikeottawa.ca, had its annual Spring.Bike.Ottawa at the McNabb Recreation Centre recently to go over changes to cycling infrastructure in Ottawa in 2015, and to address concerns from Citizens for Safe Cycling .
Those changes include new bike lanes in the city.
Safe Cycling president Gareth Davies produced the report with help from a team of writers and volunteers within the group.
In the presentation, he discussed what residents of Ottawa can expect in terms of funding for new paths and signage as well as additional city initiatives, such as the $200,000 to plow 20 kilometres of downtown bike paths.
Two plans to watch for in Centretown this year, according to CfSC, is the separated bike lanes being constructed on O’Connor Street and a path running along the O-Train going from Scott Street out to Dows Lake.
In an email to Centretown News, Davies says that CfSC is pushing to get more investment in cycling infrastructure in the city’s transportation budget sooner. Currently, the plan is to get eight per cent of the budget earmarked for cycling by 2031, he says.
According to the CfSC report: “We saw 44 per cent more trips in 2015 versus when the first (cyclist) counters were installed, in 2010. As well, according to Eco-Counter, which monitored 1,490 counters in 17 countries world-wide, Ottawa saw the third-fastest growth in cycling of any city, behind only Wrocław, Poland, and San Francisco, U.S.A.” Davies says this momentum should result in increased funding for cycling infrastructure in Ottawa.
He adds: “We feel the city should access federal infrastructure funding to accelerate the Ottawa Cycling Plan closer than the 2031 horizon, so we can reap the benefits sooner in decreased congestion, lower emissions, increased public health, and higher quality of life, to name a few.”
For further changes the association hopes to see, it put together a Top 10 list of issues for this year. At the top of the list is the need to design ways for bikers to have easier access to city transit around bus stations and O-Train stops.
Another is to mitigate the impact on cyclists when roads get shut down during construction in the city.
“City staff and contractors have a tendency to simply close sidewalks and bike lanes when work needs to be done, without giving consideration to the users of these facilities,” the CfSC states. “Also, it is not uncommon for work crews to park on sidewalks and bike lanes. The city needs to educate work crews to park their vehicles on the road.”
Other concerns raised in the presentation include: the need to avoid placing stop signs at minor intersections along bike routes, and instead putting in roundabouts so cyclists don’t have to stop as often — something Vancouver has already done; clarifying dead-end street signs in situations where bikes have a way to proceed but cars have to stop; and improving quality control of new pavement being laid to avoid spots where water can gather after it rains.
Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna, Canada’s environment minister, delivered the opening remarks at the April 2 gathering at McNabb. She has expressed support for improving cycling infrastructure through social media comments and during her campaign in October’s federal election.
During her speech, McKenna said, “it’s important to set an example of ways that Canadians can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.”
McKenna says that the federal government will be investing in public transit, “bringing good news for Ottawa Centre residents and cyclists — expect to see more details on funding for ‘active transportation’ initiatives … in the coming weeks and months,” she later said.
In a tweet posted on April 2, McKenna called improving the cycling infrastructure in Ottawa a “huge opportunity.” In the tweet, she says that one to two per cent of citizens currently cycle in mixed transit – where cars and bikes share the same lanes – but that the percentage of cyclists jumps to between 50 and 70 per cent when there are protected bike lanes.
Cycling has been a focus of hers for going back to her campaign during the 2015 federal election, part of which included pushing for federal funding for the footbridge to be built crossing the Rideau Canal and urging the National Capital Commission to create more bike-only lanes.
The CfSC report says that there has been “great progress” since 2010 in building new biking infrastructure in Ottawa, as well as communication between the advocacy group and staff at city hall and the NCC.
“We have seen a shift in the mindset at the NCC and City Hall and many staff and councillors are onboard with the active transportation files,” the report says.
While many of the problems cited by CfSC are being addressed, they say there are problems that remain unsolved.
In its report, CfSC says that it will look for changes to how it evaluates the progress made in cycling infrastructure in Ottawa by going back to recommendations made in the past and looking at the progress made over the years.