At the corner of Bank Street and Laurier Avenue, a bundled up cyclist braves the cold and the traffic. In a year’s time, this intersection may mark the midpoint of Ottawa’s first segregated bike lane connecting Westboro and Sandy Hill. For now, the only thing building is controversy.
In 2008, City of Ottawa staff, along with hired consultants, created a plan to make Ottawa a more bike-friendly city. They wanted to increase the number of people using bikes for transportation. With more people commuting on bicycles, the city hopes to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve the general health of citizens. Another key focus of the plan was to increase safety.
Here is a link to the Ottawa Cycling Plan (OCP): http://ottawa.ca/residents/onthemove/cycling/plan_2008_en.pdf
Colin Simpson is the project manager in charge of designing the bike lane. The cost of the project is estimated at $1.3 million, Simpson said. This number includes the cost it would take to deconstruct the bike lane if the project was not successful, he added. Simpson said the construction cost alone is closer to $800,000.
The bike lane would separate motorists from cyclists, making people feel more comfortable using bikes as transportation, said Simpson. In between the car lane and bikers would be a buffer of parked cars, planter boxes and concrete dividers, he said.
“It’s important to get more people cycling,” Simpson explained. Part of getting cyclists on the road is providing safety measures such as this segregated lane, he said. Simpson quoted an Ottawa Citizen survey of the types of cyclists in Ottawa. According to the numbers, over half of Ottawa’s potential cyclists would benefit from this project. He explains the findings in the following audio clip:
While it would be logical to think that cyclists would be in support of the project, there are those who oppose it.
A group called the Responsible Cycling Coalition, led by Avery Burdett, opposes the bike lane. Burdett said the group is made up of “very experienced cycling veterans.” Many of the groups’ founding members are also members of the Ottawa Bicycle Club, said Burdett. The group said the lane is unnecessary because of three main reasons: it is not actually safe, it will not be used enough due to Ottawa winters, and it is a waste of money that could be used to educate cyclists and motorists on how to share the road.
“Those types of bicycle lanes, segregated ones with a barrier, only protect against collisions in between blocks, however, most accidents occur at intersections,” said Burdett. Often these accidents occur because of a cyclist error, he adds.
“You, as a city, don’t have any evidence that cycling lanes such as you’re proposing are any safer, in fact they’re probably not,” said Burdett.
Instead of spending a million dollars on a segregated bike lane, Burdett said more attention should be given to educating cyclists about the rules of the road, as well as educating motorists.
Here is a link to a video created by to get their opinion heard: http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8219921/
However, Hans Moor, president of Citizens for Safe Cycling, said Burdett’s group represents a small minority of cyclists. Moor quoted the Ottawa Citizen cyclist survey when he said that only two percent of cyclists consider themselves ‘experienced’. Many people are intimidated by large motor vehicles, like the OC Transpo buses, Moor said.
In regards to the concern about weather, Moor said the problem actually lies in getting the roads cleared and sanded enough to allow for safe travel.
“Some people are worried about cyclists in the winter time,” said Moor, “but we see thousands and thousands of people skating on the canal, so obviously the temperature is not an issue.”
Moor said that Citizens for Safe Cycling has some members who are for the segregated bike lane, and some who are against it. However, the formal stance of the organization is in support of the pilot project. Moor said it’s important to connect the four neighbourhoods of Westboro, Hintonburg, Centretown-Downtown, and Sandy Hill.
“We have a Queensway running right through the city. I think it’s time that we worked on the cyclist’s Queensway,” Moor said.
“They’re not even a cycling club,” Burdett said about Citizens for Safe Cycling, “they don’t even do any cycling.”
Burdett said he believes this type of segregation will promote incompetent cyclists and create more dangerous intersections.
Phase one of the project would connect Bronson Avenue with Elgin Street, said Simpson. The second phase would reach Sandy Hill, he added. Whether or not the pilot project even gets off the ground is up for debate on Feb. 2 at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall. Both sides encourage residents to come out and voice their opinion.
[…] year ago, I gave an interview to Sandy Hill Community newspaper: “Time for a Queensway for Cyclists“. I am glad to see this route is going to be a reality soon; it will definitely notch Ottawa […]