Street closure ends McLeod car hazard

By Patrick Peori

A temporary closure at McLeod Street and Bronson Avenue was put in place Aug. 29 because of residents’ complaints about commuting motorists going the wrong way down the one-way street and putting them in danger.

Before the closure, the street was one-way westbound with signs prohibiting anyone from going in the opposite direction – eastward towards downtown.

But residents say wrong-way shortcuts happened all the time.

Caitlyn Pascal lives on McLeod Street with her family and said she often witnessed drivers ignoring the street signage. For the past few years, Pascal said she has spoken with city officials because she was worried about public safety.

“There are so many children on this street and people were just ripping down it the wrong way,” Pascal said.

With the close proximity to Highway 417, Pascal said speeding was a problem.

“You have a lot of people coming off the highway with the highway mentality,” she said.

Lynn Swiston, 60, also lives on McLeod and echoes Pascal’s complaints. She said people who visited businesses in the area were often careless on the street and used a lot of street parking.

“From the hairdresser there was lots of people coming and going and they didn’t care. They were going every which way,” Swiston said.

These are complaints Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney had been hearing ever since she was elected in 2014.

“People would report two or three a day sometimes,” McKenney said.

According to McKenney, the issue worsened last year following the construction of an apartment building at the corner of Bronson and McLeod. It prompted her to visit the area with residents and city staff to look at possible solutions.

After seeing how dangerous it was to have drivers going the wrong way on a street with so many pedestrians, McKenney said the closure needed to be put in place for public safety.

According to the City of Ottawa website, the complaints from residents about McLeod Street would have been studied by transportation officials to determine what change would be most suitable for everyone who uses the area.

Such a study would look at how the street functions and work to build a consensus with community members around one solution. In this case, a street closure was chosen.

McKenney said the closure stops commuters from turning onto McLeod Street and continuing the wrong way, but will allow drivers who live on McLeod to exit onto Percy Street.

“The traffic changes in that area will be minimal,” McKenney said.

This is a temporary closure and city staff are working on what to do in the winter months.

For now, Pascal said she welcomes the changes.

“It’s a huge sigh of relief,” she said.

Pascal said she now has peace of mind knowing her children are safer playing on a local street and Swiston said she’s seen a reduction in vehicles.

“We’ve noticed already it has cut down a lot of traffic,” said Swiston.

McKenney said she is aware of the many other Centretown streets being used by drivers to cut though to main arteries and said staff are looking into solutions.