Kait Labbate, Centretown News
City council will debate the success of segregated bike lanes in the city, including Laurier Avenue West.A group of Ottawa cyclists took to the streets Sept. 14 for Cycle In, a campaign put on by the Ottawa Centre EcoDistrict, to take a look at cycling infrastructure in the city.
The event brought riders in from 12 different wards along 21 different routes all ending at city hall. Participants were asked to take note of the positives and the negatives along their ride.
The goal of the EcoDistrict campaign is to facilitate a conversation about the various routes coming into the downtown core for the future.
“Cycle In is the cycle into anything,” says Don Grant, executive director of the EcoDistrict. Ultimately, he wants cyclists to feel safe riding on any street within the city, something that is not happening right now.
Catherine McKenney was one of the city councillors that rode in Cycle In. She says as the cycling culture continues to grow in Ottawa she notices that people are no longer asking for, but demanding, safer infrastructure.
Heather Shearer, a board member of Citizens for Safe Cycling, says she agrees. She notes that infrastructure that was thought to be effective in the past is no longer what cyclists want.
People want more segregated bike lanes where there is physical separation from motor vehicles as opposed to “sharrows” she explains.
Sharrows are road markings that remind motorists and cyclists to share the road. However, they do not exclusively reserve space on the road for bicycles.
Cycle In was a response to a community meeting hosted by the EcoDistrict in February where more than 300 suggestions were collected on how to make downtown more eco-friendly. “The issue that came out on top was improving cycling connections to and from the downtown core,” says Grant.
Grant explains that although there is a lot of catching up to do, the city has been responsive to suggestions over the years.
He adds: “One thing I found interesting is that when the city plans for a new road resurfacing they will take into consideration the opportunity for cycling lanes and that doesn’t come out of the cycling budget. Instead, it comes out of the budget for the road, Churchill Avenue being a perfect example of this.”
“I think that when you take your young ones out onto the road or you take someone out who is not a regular cyclist and you ask them what they need to feel safe, that’s a good marker to tell you which roadways are safe to cycle and which ones would you never go near,” says McKenney.
Cycle In comes after new Ontario legislature working to protect cyclists and improve safety. Bill 31, also known as the Making Ontario’s Roads Safer Act, went into effect Sept. 1. This bill looks to combat distracted driving making Ontario roads safer for all, cyclists included.
The bill requires drivers to leave one metre of space between them and a cyclist or risk facing a $110 fine and two demerit points. It also includes a hefty fine for motorists who open their doors into the path of a cyclist: $365 and three demerit points.
McKenney explains that Bill 31 is just another tool cyclists can point to as a standard of what is required.
“I think it’s important that we always remember that the safety of both pedestrians and cyclists is about sharing public space and our roadways are public space,” she says.