(Left) A current photo of Bronson Avenue. (Right) An illustration of Bronson after undergoing reconstruction and road widening.
A four-lane road with speeding traffic and reckless driving is the description community members and associations alike give the downtown stretch of Bronson Avenue.
Rescue Bronson Avenue, a collaboration between the Centretown Community Association, the Dalhousie Community Association, Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corp. and Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes, would like to see major adjustments made to make the north-south artery safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Currently, the city plans to tear up Bronson between 2011 and 2013 to put in new water and sewer lines but will restore Bronson to four lanes after the replacements are complete, which Rescue Bronson opposes.
“What we’re asking the city for is to consider alternative plans (for Bronson Avenue),” Holmes said at a public meeting held on Nov. 10.
The alternative presented at the meeting by DCA president Eric Darwin would reduce Bronson to a three-lane road and make the centre lane a dedicated left-turn lane.
With Bronson reduced to fewer lanes, there would be the option of widening sidewalks and adding either planter boxes or green space to the sidewalks, Darwin said.
Reducing Bronson to three lanes would also slow traffic, which is Rescue Bronson Avenue’s main goal.
The intersection of Bronson and Gladstone was a particular issue of contention at the meeting.
“You’re taking your life in your hands” when crossing the street, an unidentified community member said at the meeting. She recounted a story of nearly being hit by a car making a left turn, despite having the right of way.
“I had the light, and the car was coming and I knew there was no time for that car to stop,” she said. “Just imagine a child.”
Several other people seconded issues about the intersection.
“When it’s (the city) designing roads and the transportation department is active, it’s cars first and pedestrians are way down the priority list,” Holmes said.
But concerns were raised at the meeting that reducing the number of lanes on Bronson would make traffic even messier during rush hour.
“The problem with Bronson Avenue (is that) it’s the major arterial road, north-south, for the city,” city program manager Darryl Shurb told the Ottawa Citizen. It handles a large volume of traffic and it’s a transit route, he continued. “It definitely is a very, very difficult area to work with.”
Darwin said there are a variety of options and road diets available to consider; turning Bronson into a three-lane road is just one of them and right now, the main goal is to slow down traffic. This three-lane setup was shown to work best in studies referenced by Rescue Bronson.
The petition currently has more than 200 signatures.
In addition to improving the road for pedestrian safety, CCCA president Charles Akben-Marchand released a comprehensive plan for cycling via the Images of Centretown blog on Nov. 18, as part of Rescue Bronson’s improvement campaign.
“While cycling is certainly not the most viable option on Bronson itself, we should still be looking at roads parallel to Bronson to carry cycling traffic,” Akben-Marchand said in an interview.
Under the official cycling plan for the city, cycling into downtown from the west is tricky, Akben-Marchand said. “While there are designated routes on Percy and Bay streets, it isn’t exactly the most convenient alternative to, say, Bronson.”
The proposal considers modifications to the cycling plan that would improve conditions for cyclists.
Akeben-Marchand acknowledges that it’s relatively easy for cyclists to travel south bound on Percy, but northbound cyclists run into problems when they hit Gladstone and must jog over to Bay to continue north.
He also said because there are no traffic signals at Bay and Gladstone and Bay and Somerset, it’s difficult for northbound traffic to cross.
To remedy this, Rescue Bronson wants Percy converted into a two-way cycling route and Bay reclassified as a local bike route, rather than a major one.
This would give cyclists a safe and convenient route parallel to Bronson.
So far, the city has been resistant to the idea. “(The city is) saying no, it’s not our job,” in response to modifying Percy, Akben-Marchand said.
Similar intersection problems exist if cyclists are trying to head northwest to the Dalhousie neighbourhood or Chinatown.
To circumvent this, Akben-Marchand and Rescue Bronson want lights installed at Arlington and Bronson, which would give cyclists a safe way to cross Bronson when heading west from Percy.
At the public advisory committee meeting, the city said traffic counts at Arlington and Bronson are not high enough to warrant a traffic signal, Akben-Marchand said.
Though the cycling proposal did not receive city support at the first public advisory committee meeting, it was forwarded to the city’s senior engineer on the project. Rescue Bronson received this response:
“Great ideas/work/input on the proposed routes and alternatives for cycling in the downtown core. I look forward to implementing these crossings as part of my reconstruction project on Bronson once approved by the city.
“Unfortunately, the review and approval of the routes and crossings is entirely outside my scope for Bronson. I believe that Transportation Planning should take the helm on this one.”
Akben-Marchand said there is still hope for the cycling plan despite the initial negative response. “The door isn’t closed,” he said. “There is still an opportunity for additional information.”
Rescue Bronson plans to take its proposals to the transportation planning committee for review; it also wants to delay the reconstruction of Bronson Avenue so that Rescue Bronson can complete a trial of its suggested road diet, including improvements to cycling.
“We would like the city to work with the community to find the best solution for a better Bronson,” Darwin said.