Pedestrians walking along Laurier Avenue may come across something different painted on the road. It's not a parking spot. In fact, it's a launch pad.
The two-year segregated bike lane project on Laurier Avenue is set to include these launch pads, depicted in the image.
Obtained from City of Ottawa, East-West Segregated Bike Lane Project, January 2011
Laurier Avenue launch pads
According to the City's report, the launch pads will serve to "enable cyclists to safely perform a two-stage left turn: the cyclists would cross the intersection in the designated cycling lane, then would wait on the launch
pad for the traffic signal to switch to allow movement on the cross street."
Construction on the segregated bike lanes began on May 30th, with an anticipated mid-summer completion date.