NCC addressing cycling safety as part of Portage Bridge re-surfacing plan

By Sarah Tsounis

Twice a day, every day — even in the winter — Cassandra Fulgham rides her bike on Portage Bridge from downtown Ottawa to her workplace in Gatineau.

Fulgham is one of 300,000 cyclists, on average, who cross the bridge every year, according to the National Capital Commission.

This summer, as part of a larger $2-million plan to re-surface the bridge, the NCC will be addressing cycling safety, too.

There is currently a 2.5-metre-wide, bi-directional bicycle track on the east side of the bridge, which runs between between Laurier Street and Maisonneuve Boulevard in Gatineau and Wellington Street and the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway in Centretown.

But cyclists such as Fulgham, a former executive member of the cycling advocacy group Bike Ottawa, have raised concerns about its safety, saying the track is barely wide enough for bikes travelling one way.

She explained that heading home is the most intimidating part of her commute because Ottawa-bound cyclists must ride directly next to the buses going in the opposite direction.

“It is an extremely narrow lane,” she said. “(The buses) are about half a metre off the end of your handlebars. And with the bus mirrors coming towards you, they’re not far away from your head.”

Three options have been proposed for the cycling improvements: widening the cycle track to about three metres, installing a barrier between the track and motor vehicle lanes, or creating two separate northbound and southbound tracks on opposite sides of the bridge.

In a survey that closed on Feb. 1, the NCC asked the public to choose a preferred option.

The feedback will help the project planners choose which design to present to the NCC board of directors for approval within the next few months, according to Cédric Pelletier, the federal agency’s communications adviser for construction and design issues.

He said a date for the board meeting has not yet been confirmed, but early spring is the latest it could be to meet the summer 2018 construction timeline.

Scott McDougall, vice-president of the Ottawa Bicycle Club, attended a consultation meeting in late 2017 where the NCC asked cycling stakeholders, commuters, and recreational riders in the city for feedback on the proposed designs.

Bike Ottawa also provided feedback before the designs were released for public consultation, according to Fulgham.

McDougall, a commuter and road cyclist himself, said he believes installing removable bollards between the cycle track and road would satisfy both cyclists comfortable in traffic and recreational riders.

“Bollards . . . send a visual message to drivers that there are bikes here,” he explained. “Put a bit of a hard barrier there so the families aren’t going to be a foot away from trucks and don’t have to worry about their kids falling in front of a car.”

He added that with the current design, he would not cycle across the bridge with his family.

As construction is set to occur this summer, Fulgham said she hopes the NCC will provide a safe option to ride over the bridge, because it’s her most direct route to work.

“You can go really roundabout,” she said. “But that would add extra kilometres to my route every day, if I had to go all the way around.”

Pelletier said the NCC will keep peak travel times in mind when the bridge is under construction this summer, possibly opening it to cars, bikes and pedestrians during rush hours.