Location
The Chaudière Bridge joins Gatineau with Ottawa. It connects other cycling arteries, such as the NCC Ottawa River pathway and the NCC Voyageurs pathway.
The Problem
1. Cyclists have to ride up against a concrete wall
To separate cars from pedestrians, there is a concrete wall that cyclists need to ride up against. This provides no buffer, so cyclists need to take the entire lane, which is difficult in fast-moving traffic.
2. Cyclists have to merge with cars in fast moving traffic
Going north towards Gatineau, two lanes become one just before the train bridge, and cyclists need to merge with fast moving traffic.
3. Bad surface
The surface of the road north of the bridge forces cyclist to weave into the lane. This is difficult when traffic is backed up in rush hour.
Solutions
- resurface
- since the length of road needs to merge from two lanes to one to clear the narrow bridge, have the entire length be just one lane. Use the remainder space for a dedicated bicycle lane.
1) I cross this bridge daily from Hull to go to the experimental farm. I have yet to find a satisfying north-south route. Southbound I just follow Booth until Carling. Northbound, I take Bayview-Albert-Booth. I would be curious to know what other routes are used.
2) I have on at least three occasions been honked at by motorists/trucks who believe that cyclists are not allowed on the bridge.
This is because of the sign that shows “riding forbidden / walking the bike mandatory”. However, this sign is intended for the sidewalk, not the actual road…
It might be useful to make the meaning of this sign more obvious.
I use the Chaudiere bridge everyday pedalling to work and back home.
Am northbound where the road merges 2 into one is plenty wide. I have never been buzzed in 3 years. The pavement is crappy only at the last intersection before the start of Eddy. Southbound same 2 to 1 deal. I watch my mirror carefully but again never been buzzed. Pavement is good. The only issue is the nearly 12″ depth to the drainage grate just before the bridge. It blocks and fills with water, don’t ride through that puddle.
Also, southbound cars routinely run the red light next to the War Museum, where the bike path crosses Booth St. Cyclists have to wait for their light to turn green and then wait for 1 or 2 more cars to run the red light, before they can proceed.
I have been hit by a car on this bridge – the car was speeding and drove too close to me, while I was riding as close as possible to the edge of the bridge part. The car kept going after it hit me so I reported the incident to the police, only to discover police don’t deal with incidents on this bridge because of jurisdiction issues, even when you have a plate number. I would be only too happy to see the bridge modified to safely accommodate the volume of bikes that commute across this bridge every day, even if it means widening the sidewalk portion to include a space for bikes.
I completely agree!! I live in the Experimental farm area and work at Place du Portage. The Chaudiere bridge is a major reason why I don’t bike to work as much as I would like. Even getting from Scott St. to the bridge is somewhat of a nightmare… buses, narrow lanes, giant potholes. I really hope the city does something about this.
Heading south on the bridge, you need to be aware of the joints in the bridge just before it reconnects. If you cut through Victoria Island and join up with the bridge your wheel can get stuck in the expansion joints, which run parallel with the bridge about 1 meter from the sidewalk. I had a nasty surprise on a dark rainy evening and thought I was going to die.