Leaving comments
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- Comments like “I agree! What a pain!”, “This is not a problem” or “I got hit at this intersection” are perfectly valid
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Reporting new items
There’s no way that any one individual can be aware of every biking challenge throughout the entire city, so this is where you come in. There are two ways to report a new problem:
- fill in the web form (preferred)
- write up an entry below (easiest)
The most important reports are on routes that are heavily used by cyclists, that either connect significant destinations or follow previously identified city bicycle routes. This includes places where large sections of pavement are damaged, high curbs, missing signage, gaps in bike routes, etc. It also includes upcoming changes, locations of open consultations, links to plans, and current construction.
Broken glass, potholes and other repairable facilities are best handled with an email to 311@ottawa.ca.
Note: If you have a problem with driver or cyclist behaviour (e.g. cyclists never signal, drivers throw things at me, I hate bikes, etc.), your comment will not be published. Go read question 2 of the FAQ if this is unclear.
While riding along the West side of the canal towards the Ottawa River, the bike path ends behind the NAC. The most direct route is up the ramp behind the NAC. This is a one way street, with sharp turns going the other direction. There really needs to be a better integration between the great canal pathways and the Ottawa River pathways.
Asphalt/concrete pavement on Island Park is very rough.
Cracks in the pavement all over the city, plenty of potholes!
Smooth the roads, pretty please, or at least the edges, so that we cyclists can enjoy a smooth ride.
I’d like to report a new problem that has sprung up due to some new lanes painted at the intersection of Island Park and Fisher/Holland headed north towards Carling.
Quite recently a bus/right-turn lane has been added right after the bend heading up the hill towards this intersection, which forces the cyclist into a very narrow middle lane that is usually rather busy during the evening rush, and also adds the danger of a bus on the right hand side (also a narrow lane).
There is no signage indicating this new bus lane, other than the diamond on the pavement and the right hand arrow, while on the other side of the street at Holland and Carling there are signs stating that both cyclists and buses are exempt from the right hand turn and may pass though.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=fr&geocode=&q=Island+Park+Ottawa&sll=45.411572,-75.698194&sspn=1.251325,2.463684&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Island+Park,+Ottawa,+Ontario&ll=45.389138,-75.726743&spn=0.01956,0.054846&z=15&layer=c&cbll=45.389289,-75.726292&panoid=sEiwuGnUninFZLwEQhzb5w&cbp=12,288.48,,0,5
Update: It took a few weeks but they have finally added signage to this new lane, it states that buses and bicycles are exempt from the right hand turn.
Okay. Is this still a problem?
- A
It seemed to be a bit better, though both lanes are still quite tight and I can see problems arising when it comes to sharing either lane, thankfully most cars seem to take the middle lane giving cyclists the space they need.
Island Park at Iona. A terrible place for cyclists and pedestrians to attempt to cross the very busy Island Park drive
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=island+park+at+iona&sll=45.397615,-75.748347&sspn=0.011843,0.019891&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Island+Park+Dr+%26+Iona+St,+Ottawa,+Ottawa+Division,+Ontario,+Canada&ll=45.393003,-75.739467&spn=0.002961,0.004973&t=h&z=18
Bank Street Bridge over the canal:
Crossing the QE Driveway from the bike path to Queen Elizabeth Place (connecting to Wilton Cr.) often requires two steps in heavy traffic: from the path to the traffic island; from the traffic island to QEP. Once on the traffic island, however, vision is obstructed by the bridge so that oncoming vehicles (westbound and often travelling fast) are not visible until they are too close.
Fix? Hang a convex traffic mirror on the north face under the tunnel so that westbound traffic is visible from the traffic island.
Northbound on bicycle pathway (not the lane on the road) that follows Woodroffe on the east, where the pathway meets Slack road. Northbound automobiles turning east onto Slack have a dedicated right turn lane which effectively discourages them from slowing down during the turn or even looking, even if they have a red light. Also, for a cyclist who is about to cross, also often without slowing down especially if they have the green walk signal, the turning vehicle is basically behind them off to their left, and not easily visible. The best solution to this would be to get rid of the island and force automobile right turns be at 90 degrees.
I use this bicycle path to commute from Barrhaven to Colonnade daily and I’m now a bit nervous about this intersection, even though I’m on a dedicated bicycle path. I almost got hit once because I admittedly rushed to use the green light and a very fast moving right turning vehicle was not obvious to me. Likely as much my fault as the driver’s, but I still say that intersection is dangerous.
Here’s a Google street view of the intersection:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Woodroffe+and+Slack,+Ottawa&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=41.941194,67.412109&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Woodroffe+Ave+%26+Slack+Rd,+Ottawa,+Ottawa+Division,+Ontario+K2G+3R9&ll=45.316901,-75.741514&spn=0.001388,0.002057&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=45.316812,-75.741502&panoid=o-Hb3uE1akd-mdKWT977Cw&cbp=12,2.1,,0,20.96
Albion south of Lester
This stretch of road has 80km traffic including; a bus route, transport trucks, gravel trucks and a high traffic volume throughout most of the day. The road is much to narrow to safely share with large vehicles, and the shoulder has recently been filled with a loose mixture of sand and gravel making it very difficult to ride.
Carling and Sherbrooke. Cars turning left onto eastbound Carling often do not give the right of way to cyclists/pedestrians crossing Carling heading north west to Sherbrooke st.
On my daily commute to work there are three sites were I have had near misses and have seen accidents
1.bicycle path crossing on carling near Andrew Haydon Park west of Bayshore and Carling intersection
2. 416/417 offramp on to Holly Acres. Drivers never come a complete stop on a red light, and only check south bound vehicles. Even walking your bicycle across the intersection is dangerous. Always make eye contact with the driver and signal your intentions to cross the road.
3.Radical Lane reduction on east bound Richmound and Lynhar intersection followed by Northside road on ramp
Location: Connection between Percy St bike lane and Carling Ave.
Problem: Carling meets with Glebe Ave, but Glebe Ave is one way eastbound, meaning cyclists cannot go west on it to a clean connection with Carling. If they do, they are forced onto the sidewalk to cross at the crosswalk, which is dangerous for pedestrians as well as illegal.
Solution: Install an opposing-traffic westbound bike lane (painted on, with appropriate signage) along the north side of Glebe Ave, as well as either a censor or bike-friendly button to trip the lights for crossing Bronson. Parking may have to be limited on Glebe Ave, but the street is plenty wide as it is currently only one lane but could easily accomodate two lanes of car traffic.
To complement the westbound bike lane, sharrows should be painted along Glebe Ave’s southside for east-bound cylcists to safely connect with Percy St.
This would work well if dedicate bike names were installed along the length of Carling, as the lanes could feed into each other and the Percy St/Bay St N/S line through the Glebe all the way to Wellington Ave and the Ottawa River.
tinyurl to the map: http://tiny.cc/3u6tu
I want to warn cyclists about the red light on Rue D’Eglise and Montreal Road. Motorists trying to run the stale green & coming from Rue D’Eglise (Church Street) cannot see you until they are on top of you. That entire intersection has enormous pressure for cars to accelerate immediately as well.
The bike lane Westbound on Montreal Road ends abruptly at St. Laurent.
NAC RAMP
There are large cracks in between the concrete slabs behind the NAC as you go between QE Drive and the Parliament Hill path, so large that even with my hybrid bike (tires are 8-10 cm wide) I managed to get my wheel stuck in a rutt and suffered a fall/broke part of my hand. I noticed in the last few weeks there are crews out filling the cracks, however I am not sure to what extent they will fill all the cracks – I’ve noted the large ones that I don’t see getting repaired right now where I fell.
http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=108660056573621720308.0004925a61a4f1fd72610&ll=45.423371,-75.692333&spn=0.001969,0.005477&t=k&z=19\
A more and more common problem are at intersections where they have taken the 1 or 2 lanes in each direction, and added a left turn lane on one or both. This means taking the 3.5 m + 4.00 m lane widths to 2.5 m to give room for a 2.5 m turn lane. Suddenly, a road that was shareable becomes definitely not sharable.
When this is done, the city should erect signs and road marking to indicate to the cyclist, and motorists, that cyclists take the lane, while at or going through the intersection.
MAIN ST BRIDGE
My family and I often head downtown and cross the Smyth/Main St bridge over the Rideau River from Alta Vista towards Colonel By for the Bike Sundays, etc – however we find the sidewalk is quite high and dangerous to ride on. We end up walking across the bridge on the sidewalk facing oncoming traffic. Not pleasant at all. A guard rail or some alternate way to get over to the bike path from Alta Vista to Colonel By bike path from where we are would be an improvement.
http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=45.399565,-75.67091&spn=0.016136,0.043817&z=16&msid=108660056573621720308.000492576e981743408d4
There is a better way. The foot/cycling bridge across the river at Hurdman comes right off the bike path which you can access at Riverside and Industrial (across from the Cancer Survivors’ Park). Once across, you keep going west to get to the canal.
Thanks for the suggestion. There doesn’t seem to be a bike path or obvious corridor connecting that bridge to the Canal or any way to cross / head west. Any thoughts?
Just follow Lees Ave. To Main. Turn right and you are there. To go west follow the canal north to the footbridge at Somerset.
PORTAGE BRIDGE – FAST BUSES
I commute regularly across the Portage bridge, and the speed at which the buses are coming towards me when I am headed south (on right hand lane of bike path) is enerving. One false move with oncoming bike traffic on the north bound lane and it could spell head on collision with a bus or other large, fast moving vehicle moving in the opposite direction. A guard rail or more buffer from the vehicles here would improve the situation.
I agree! And at rush hour, slow cyclists ahead, faster bikes passing and skateboarders hurtling towards you… not to speak of the fumes from the line of stopped busses, but that’s another story.
Innes Rd. I been using the Innes Rd bike lanes over the past few months and found that the amount of stone and road debris in the cycling lane to be significant. IF the city really wants to promote the usage of bikes and bike lanes then prehaps we can push them to start cleaning them up!!!
You should report such problems by calling 311 or emailing 311@ottawa.ca.
Fallowfield road is very dangerous. The section where the entrance to the 416 are has no bike lanes and there are very fast moving cars.
The second part of fallowfield once you turn left instead of going straight on strandherd (coming from the west) has no bike lane and cars reach up to 80kms/hr, there are also no shoulder lanes and the car lanes get pretty narrow.
This is a classic 416/417 problem. There’s more like this, have a look at http://ottawabikingproblems.ca/?p=518
Robertson Road just east of Eagleson where the paved shoulder ends and a curb starts, there is a narrow lane of raised asphalt beside the curb that can be used with care by cyclists to avoid conflict with cars as you approach the intersection.
On the north side of Robertson Road a local farmer has erected a sign, advertising local produce at the intersection on the Frisby Tire property. The sign sits on the grass right beside the raised asphalt narrow lane and it is weighted down by three 2×2 paver blocks on three corners. One paver hangs over the edge of the sign footings and obstructs the narrow lane even more.
Not a problem in daytime when you can see the paver, but a nightmare for anyone cycling in low light at the end of the day.
I have moved the sign back from the narrow raised lane about a foot and the raised lane is now free of impediment. I also informed the employee working the local farm stall (owners name is Hakins) of the problem and she said she would tell the farm owner.
I also have pic but am not sure how to load onto obp website.
Peter
Peter, please email the photo either to me or to Alex and we can upload it to the site.
There’s quite a backlog of reported problems to write up into new posts, but we’re working on it!
Thanks for a great report. And thanks to everyone else too!
Moodie Drive, just north of the old railway overpass and Robertson Road, is under construction and four car lanes and two bike lanes have been compressed into two lanes with signs that state: “DO NOT PASS BICYCLES” and a visual sign of a bicycle beside a car and the international “forbidden” red emblem.
Speed limit on this construction area is 60 km/h and I find that the sign is unreadable at about 50 meters. Considering the speed limit, which is probably not observed, the narrowness and the difficult passage due to the pylons on either side of the car, the driver has a maximum of about three seconds to focus, understand that the sign needs to be read and then read it. The signs are substandard as they cannot be read easily by drivers.
I have used this stretch of road on four ocasions in the past week and have found total disregard by drivers of my presence as a cyclist, confirming that the drivers are not reading the signs easily. I expect some disregard by some drivers but total disregard by all drivers often points to a more complex problem which I suggest would be poor signage.
What confounds me about this is that construction equipment, materials and machinery could easily be placed differently, and the west bike lane could be made accessible and still leave room for a southbound car lane. On the east side an extra set of pylons could be set up and cyclists could be separated from the north bound drivers. All of this could be effected with minimal incursion onto the area where reconstruction is taking place, and make cycling through this construction area significantly less dangerous.
I do have pics of this problem but I am not sure how to navigate this website to include them. Please advise.
Peter
You can’t upload photos directly to the website – you have to email them to Alex or someone on his team.
There are already some pictures of the problematic Moodie/Timm intersection here
Cars are used to accelerating madly out of Bells Corners towards the 417, and there’s a nasty section before the start of the bike lane near Timm where the cyclist is vulnerable.
Of course it’s even nastier now with the watermain project. Paul of Citizens for Safe Cycling has put a lot of effort into improving the situation here – it was even worse before!
To be fair to the construction workers, this project is HUGE and it can’t be easy for them to manage this intersection.
Sussex at Foreign Affairs
This problem area is well known to Ottawa cyclists as it is the location in which a cyclist was tragically killed last year, struck by an STO bus in a lane shared by bus and bike. I cycle the route regularly, and had the first few times made the same mistake that cost the poor woman her life. The path intersects Sussex Drive at such an angle that bicycle mirrors are of little use. It is also difficult to perform a decent shoulder check since one must turn his or her head nearly 180 degrees. Finally, the path meets the road at the foot of the King Edward overpass, so that the driver of a vehicle travelling over the bridge has little advance notification of what might lie on the other side. A bike jumping off the path onto the road at that point takes a considerable risk.
I’ve included 2 Bing Maps to illustrate the problem area and suggested solution. Currently, I ride along the sidewalk, shown on the map as a red-dashed line, then cycle onto the crescent-shaped driveway of Foreign Affairs so that I meet Sussex at right-angles to the road.. It is much easier to look left 90 degrees to see if the road is clear before entering into traffic. That intersection is also past the bus stop so any oncoming bus will have stopped prior to the point. I suggest making a path, as shown in blue on the maps, to avoid riding on the sidewalk yet still permit the cyclist to enter traffic at a safer location.
Overhead View
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=45.43688157927114~-75.6965989164915&lvl=18&sty=a&sp=Point.rk5f3w8prp7w_Endpoint%20A____~Point.rk5mgx8prqp8_Endpoint%20B____~Polyline.rk5f8f8prpc3_rk5m188prqw0_rk5m7c8prqty_rk5mdh8prqms_rk5mdh8prqmf_Proposed%20Path____%230000FF_%23008000_4pt_Single_Solid_rk5m478prqvg_~Point.rk5gmj8prpdy_Accident%20Location____~Polyline.rk5fs18prpdm_rk5gct8prpg0_rk5hmc8prpv7_rk5j4q8prq75_My%20Current%20Route____%23FF0000_%23008000_2pt_Single_ShortDot_rk5h058prpnn_
Bird’s Eye View
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=rk5hzh8prrnk&scene=32831112&lvl=1&sty=o&sp=Point.rk5f3w8prp7w_Endpoint%20A____~Point.rk5mgx8prqp8_Endpoint%20B____~Polyline.rk5f8f8prpc3_rk5m188prqw0_rk5m7c8prqty_rk5mdh8prqms_rk5mdh8prqmf_Proposed%20Path____%230000FF_%23008000_4pt_Single_Solid_rk5m478prqvg_~Point.rk5gmj8prpdy_Accident%20Location____~Point.rk5gmj8prpdy_Accident%20Location____~Polyline.rk5fs18prpdm_rk5gct8prpg0_rk5hmc8prpv7_rk5j4q8prq75_My%20Current%20Route____%23FF0000_%23008000_2pt_Single_ShortDot_rk5h018prpnn_
Alex,
I’ll second Victor’s comment here. Getting off on the Eastern sidewalk of the MacDonald-Cartier Bridge and onto Eastbound Sussex is a real safety issue. Victor’s comments sum it up nicely. The only thing he forgot to mention is the large numbers of pedestrians on the sidewalk and at the bus shelter. Dodging pedestrians and then shoulder checking to jump the curb into one of Ottawa’s only combo bus-bicycle lanes is a bit much for most bike commuters.
Here’s a link showing the path merging with the sidewalk, as well as the signage for the bike/bus lane:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=sussex+ave+ottawa+ontario&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=53.961216,100.634766&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Sussex+Dr,+Ottawa,+Ontario,+Canada&ll=45.436455,-75.697772&spn=0.001434,0.004498&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=45.436314,-75.697846&panoid=FyYeDbuioCBFlf5W-5sDxg&cbp=12,46.83,,0,5
Jonah
Jonah’s comments are right on the mark, there are numerous pedestrians to deal with, especially at the end of a work day, that often force the cyclist off the sidewalk onto the grass. But the “white bicycle” monument there is a constant reminder to put up with the inconvenience and bend the rules about cycling on a sidewalk.
NOTE:
The “Bird’s Eye” Bing links that I have posted for both this problem and the one at Riverside and Industrial do not appear to locate themselves correctly under Internet Explorer; they are only centred properly in Firefox. In IE, one must drag the image to the right to see the suggested changes. Not sure why that happens, especially since both IE and Bing are Microsoft products.
Okay, I’ve added this at:
http://ottawabikingproblems.ca/?p=1225
Sorry for the delay…
- A
Riverside at Industrial
The access path to the Rideau River pathway at Hurdman Station ends abruptly at the subject intersection. One block later, at Alta Vista and Industrial, a path leads up into residential neighbourhoods, ending at Coronation street and much quieter cycling. Joining these 2 paths is the very busy Industrial Avenue, and a sidewalk running parallel to Industrial adjacent to the Cancer Survivors Park. Typically cyclists travel on the sidewalk when heading to the Rideau River pathway, and on the road when coming from that pathway. While I do not object to using the road when travelling in one direction, I’d prefer a purpose-built path rather than the sidewalk when travelling the other direction. This could be done by changing the sidewalk to a 2-lane bike path.
Below are Bing Maps that illustrate the problem area and suggested solution.
Overhead View
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=45.411959796185485~-75.6573385745287&lvl=18&sty=a&sp=Point.rk1szk8pvnbp_Endpoint%20A____~Point.rk1rst8pvsxx_Endpoint%20B____~Polyline.rk1szf8pvn8h_rk1rs88pvsvb_rk1szf8pvn96_Proposed%20Bike%20Path____%230000FF_%23008000_4pt_Single_Solid_rk1scb8pvqjz_~Polyline.rk1tf28pvkp9_rk1szf8pvn4j_Existing%20Path%20A____%23008000_%23008000_4pt_Single_ShortDot_rk1tdj8pvkpm_~Polyline.rk1rqs8pvsx9_rk1rdm8pvv59_rk1r5z8pvvbc_rk1r728pvv8y_Existing%20Path%20B____%23008000_%23008000_4pt_Single_ShortDot_rk1r9b8pvv7t_
Bird’s Eye View
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=rk1stj8pvpzn&scene=32894528&lvl=1&sty=o&sp=Point.rk1szk8pvnbp_Endpoint%20A____~Point.rk1rst8pvsxx_Endpoint%20B____~Polyline.rk1szf8pvn8h_rk1rs88pvsvb_rk1szf8pvn96_Proposed%20Bike%20Path____%230000FF_%23008000_4pt_Single_Solid_rk1scb8pvqjx_~Polyline.rk1tf28pvkp9_rk1szf8pvn4j_Existing%20Path%20A____%23008000_%23008000_4pt_Single_ShortDot_rk1t6b8pvmdd_~Polyline.rk1rqs8pvsx9_rk1rdm8pvv59_rk1r5z8pvvbc_rk1r728pvv8y_Existing%20Path%20B____%23008000_%23008000_4pt_Single_ShortDot_rk1r9b8pvv7w_