Ontario Tourism – the bike lies we tell

Posted by Lana — May 13, 2013

Come – bike on our sidewalks!

Last night, we were relaxing in front of the computer watching an episode of the Office. A new ad came on for Ontario tourism and the song was pretty catchy, so we found ourselves watching along.

Near the end of the ad, there’s a shot of a couple of cyclists biking in front of Parliament Hill. “Hey, were they biking on the sidewalk?” I couldn’t be sure.

Luckily, the ad came on three more times during the episode.

Sure enough, there they were, two happy-go-lucky tourists biking past Parliament on the sidewalk on Wellington Street. Side by side, no less!

First, biking on the sidewalk along Wellington isn’t a good idea. It’s usually quite crowded with people walking.

Secondly, biking in Ottawa is definitely a highlight of any vacation. Biking past Parliament is a great idea for tourists (and commuters alike). And yes, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to socially bike side-by-side!? Yes! There’s just one small problem, we don’t actually have a bike lane here.

Here’s what biking on Wellington at this location could look like:

(Wellington was closed to traffic for a charity bike ride in this photo.)

If biking on Wellington is an activity worthy of promoting to our visitors, surely it’s worthwhile of a bike lane. Otherwise, we’re not promoting Ottawa, we’re just lying.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/embed/Blcb7XRMZeU?hd=1&autoplay=1

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The great burlap bike ride in Nepean

Posted by Lana — September 17, 2012

So, we’re planning a birthday party for a very special almost 4-year old. There’s a quasi “adventure” theme. Stealing inspiration from a Donna Hay magazine (what’s a Pinterest?), we’ll be serving swamp lemonade. (Lemonade with green food colouring and gummy worms. ) In Donna’s example, she wrapped the punch bowl in burlap… as one is wont to do in the wild.

Lemonade and gummy worms is easy enough to procure in Centretown. Burlap.. less so. It would require a trip to a fabric store (I had my doubts that Darrell Thomas carried burlap). The Fabricland at Merivale and Baseline seemed to be my closest option. I’ve driven here many times for groceries with the Vrtucar, it’s a super easy drive from Little Italy. Which in North American speak means it’s likely a pretty lousy way to get there by foot, bike or bus.

The great thing about Merivale and Baseline is that it’s very easy to reach by bike from downtown. Yes! I cycled through the Experimental Farm and the only traffic I had to deal with was a gaggle of slow moving geese. (Well, the pedestrian pushbutton crossing at Fisher *could* work faster. I jaybiked at a break in traffic. Honestly, I didn’t think it was ever.going.to.change.) I looked back a few minutes later to see traffic stopped for my “walk” light. Heh. Consider it, free traffic calming.

Onwards to Merivale! McCooey Lane provides a pretty backdrop for biking.

When I approached Merivale, I saw a very pretty path running towards Baseline. Great!

Until I saw the ‘no bikes’ sign.

Why? Why? Why? Since there was no one else around, I rode by bike.

Why would I bike on Merivale Road when there is a beautiful off-road path leading to my destination?

Ruh roh. I’m a bad mom.

There are three ‘no bike’ signs. They meant it. Really, NO BIKES. Ok ok ok. I decided to give the Merivale bike lane stub a stab after seeing a lone wolf approaching.

He continued on along Merivale. I decided I’d like to live another day and chose the sidewalk to continue along Baseline.

There appears to be a little bike lane nubb that begins on Baseline just before Merivale. Of course, that assumes you’re biking on Baseline to begin with. Which I am not. LOOK AT ALL OF CARS at the light. It then ends shortly after the intersection.

Meanwhile, up in sidewalk-land – there is a wide strip of pavement roughly 3 feet wide. I suppose this could be a raised cycle track, but it seems to be occupied with a 60km/h speed limit sign. Yes, the traffic sign is afforded more space than cyclists here. Fact.

When I reached the Loblaws plaza, I was pleased to find a decent bike rack. And it was even full of bikes! The mom who was parked next to me with the Chariot trailer had another child attending one of the martial arts classes.

This dad and his kids were biking to the grocery store too. I assumed they sidewalk cycled as well to reach the mall.

I didn’t expect to see any other cyclists. And I certainly did not expect to see families riding here. I felt badly about their options to travel safely by bike in their neighbourhood.

Sadly, this Fabricland was sold out of burlap. Sigh. I should have called ahead. My next errand was in Westboro, so I headed west along Baseline to deeky-doo back around to Kirkwood. That’s when things got weird again.

You see, another Nessie bike lane appears on Baseline as you approach Clyde. You’ll see it starts about where the “look out for jaywalking pedestrians” signs are. (Yup, it’s another dedicated sign lane!) I think it’s a bike lane. Or maybe it’s a right hand turn lane. I have no idea. I stick to the sidewalk. There’s no one walking here.

I see the stencil for a bike lane, but I’m already on the sidewalk and I can’t tell what happens when you cross the intersection. Does the bike lane continue? Does it just jog to the right? So many questions. The sidewalk also jogs, but for now, it seems the better option.

I reach the new pedestrian friendly plaza and see there is a wide lane by the curb.

I think it’s a bike lane; however, I don’t see any bike stencils on the road until I’m closer to the Walmart sign. Again, I stuck to the sidewalk until I saw a stencil.

The lane seemed wide enough that to make me feel safe to be sharing the road so I hopped off the sidewalk and pedalled on the road. Albeit, for a short distance. The lane ends at Clyde.

Since, I’m heading north on Clyde, I jump back onto the sidewalk. The traffic on Clyde is heavy and the road is rough.
Then again, the sidewalk was much better. The walkability and charm of old world Bronson Avenue.

I met another man on his bike here. After all, there seems to be a segregate lane jutting off Clyde that leads to the Walmart.

I’ll write about the adventure getting to Kirkwood and across Carling another day. Spoiler: Traffic still goes very fast on Kirkwood despite traffic calming bulb outs and the bike ride didn’t improve until I was on Richmond Road.

So, funny story. As I was biking along and cursing at myself for biking out to this part of town, I realized that my local Bridgehead was selling used coffee bean bags for $2. Yup, nice brown burlap bags. In my neighbourhood.

I guess the next time I need to go to Fabricland, I’ll drive.

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Bayview, biking and a place to park

Posted by Lana — August 16, 2012

I was heading to the Ottawa River Parkway (ahem, the new S-JAM Parkway – Sir John A Macdonald) for Bike Sundays and decided to try a new route down Bayswater (which changes to Bayview Road after you cross Somerset).

It seemed a better choice after I tried using Parkdale last week to connect to the pathway. (Parkdale is horrible.) I needed a new route.

The Bayswater-Bayview option looked good on paper.

View Bayview Road in a larger map

After crossing Somerset, I pedalled towards the Tom Brown Arena. There’s a big fat lane next to the curb – and not far away, a big sign with a bike in a green circle. With such a wide sidewalk, I thought it meant this was one of those city sidewalks cycling exceptions. Honestly, I couldn’t tell.

As I pedalled, all I could think was ‘Wowza! That’s a lot of parking’. The parking lane follows the length of Bayview on both sides of the street. It was clear when I saw the large bulbouts on both sides of the street in the “big fat lane” (BFL) that it was not intended as a bike travel lane.

I assume these are here to prevent motorists from assuming it’s a travel lane. Like I did.

I suppose I should have known that the green circle signifies a “cycling route” – although, the street didn’t appear to have anything particularly bikey about it. (Like most signed bicycle routes in the city.)

Not living in Hintonburg, I’m not sure why this road needs so much street parking. Is the parking to service Laroche Park? Is it overflow for the Tom Brown Arena? The businesses along this stretch have their own lots. It’s too far from Devonshire school for it to be teacher parking.

It seems very odd. Hintonburgers, you tell me. I’m sure there’s a reason.

Did I mention that it’s all free. FREEEEEEEEEEEE!

It should also be noted that Somerset Street is only 200m from the O-Train. The station is about 500m from the Parkway. It’s transit hub-ish already.

I read in a city document that Bayview is the future “main street” of Mechanicsville. And you know every main street needs? On-street parking. (Kool-Aid man says OH YEAH.) Even a main street near a transit hub?

The Bayview LRT station plan calls for a new pathway extending from Bayview Road to the station. Eric Darwin has a drawing on his blog showing the proposed pathway. Midway along the pathway, you’ll notice the note “Limit of work”. Limit?

Connecting transit hubs to communities isn’t part of this plan?

But parking is. We’ve got that covered.

Enjoy the ride along Bayview. It’s actually decent for cycling.

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Biking strategies for going to Gogh (van Gogh that is)

Posted by Lana — August 7, 2012

I never thought of us as the National Gallery membership type of family. I mentally blocked out most Lowertown activities from our bike travels because it just seemed hard to get to in any sort of safe or sane way.

I was wrong. At least about the first part.

The most direct routes to the Gallery from downtown are not bike trailer friendly (or cargo bike friendly) and come with some biking challenges. I sat down with Google Maps over lunch and plotted out all of the travel options, based on bike type and ease of travel. (Thanks to Chris for the tip about the Option 1)

Here are your biking options (click the map to enlarge for more information):

View Biking to the National Gallery from Centretown in a larger map

Option 1: West side canal pathway – Rideau Locks
Ease of use: Good
Trailer-friendly: No
Challenges: Lifting your bike onto a lock, crossing a lock (very high!), steep hill

Option 2: East side canal pathway – bike ramp – Majors Hill Park
Ease of use: Fair
Trailer-friendly: No
Challenges: Pushing your bike up the steep bike ramp, tunnel with bike ramp is only open during the day 9-5.

Option 3: East side canal pathway – Colonel By – Sussex Drive
Ease of use: Good
Trailer-friendly: Yes
Challenges: There is a bike lane on Sussex that starts at York. Mind the right hand turning traffic on Sussex. It’s a busy road – afterall, it’s called a “Drive” for a reason!

Option 4: Just go across the River
Ease of use: Excellent
Trailer-friendly: Yes
Challenges: None. Bike lane and pathway all the way!
Note: Not as silly as it sounds.

Option 5: The Sandy Hill Scenic Route
Ease of use: Good
Trailer-friendly: Yes
Challenges: It’s a bit roundabout. Due to one way roads, the route changes on the return trip.

You’ll want to note that the bike parking at the Gallery consists of the old school “wheelbender” bike racks. This makes it hard to lock your frame to the rack for better theft protection. There are also a number of street signs nearby. An employee tells me that this area is security monitored, but they are not responsible for any thefts. (Interested in bike parking at other Ottawa museums? Read “Better know a bike rack“)

Wheelbenders. Owie.

The racks may be full on weekends.

Another option is just to the west of the main entrance, there is a long walkway with solid metal railings. Perfect for hitching.

Security note: You can’t lock your bike to Maman.

Why did we get a membership? When I found out that tickets to van Gogh were $25 each, the family membership at $110 (including van Gogh) seemed like a bargain. Basically after subtracting the cost of two adult tickets for van Gogh, we’d only be paying $60 for a year’s use of the museum. And short lines. Love those short membership lines.

And the art stuff. That too.

In another post… things to see and do at the Gallery.

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Family ride on Laurier

Posted by Lana — July 31, 2012

Here’s something I don’t see everyday downtown. On my morning ride to work, I saw an entire family pedalling along the Laurier bike lane.

They were slowly and carefully making their way somewhere. Possibly tourists. Possibly residents. I’m not sure.

Cities are for young and old.

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The Laurier Bike Lane turns one today

Posted by Lana — July 10, 2012

Having a one year old has its challenges.

Today, the Laurier Bike Lane pilot turns one. Like babies, despite the occasional spit up and drool; there are lots of great things to say about one year olds.

First smile. First tooth. First left turn in the bike box. First ride timing all of the traffic lights perfectly.

Let’s avoid those ‘terrible twos’ this year, ok? The ‘terrific threes’ are just around the corner.

Happy first birthday, Laurier bike lane. Oh the places you’ll go as you get older.

Why not send a birthday message to the City about the bike lane? I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.

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Biking and walking improvements on Wellington

Posted by Lana — July 3, 2012

I rode the Laurier Bike Lane on the first day that it opened and on Sunday, I rode the new Wellington bike lane. I am two for two on bike lane inaugural rides. But there were no news crews out to film the event. Yup, it’s just another bike lane for Ottawa… ho hum!

After many years of commuting to Gatineau and biking along this stretch of road (or sometimes sidewalk if a speeding STO was on my tail), this protected bike lane (and its companion pedestrian improvements) are a huge change in the right direction.

Yes, sidewalk. I know.

(Look at this intersection. It’s a hot mess of lanes!)

And pedestrians? They had the special privilege of walking under the road – adding extra distance to their walk. And that pathway was only maintained during the fairer months since they are on NCC property. So, if you were walking on the west side of the Bridge during the winter, there was no way to cross the road. It’s a bit amazing this went on for as long as it did. Like mice, pedestrians learn quickly to find their cheese routes.

Here is the approach to the Portage Bridge on Wellington. The dotted lines allow users to go on the road if they choose to get their vehicular cycling fix.

The concrete barrier begins on the curve to provide some protection from the fast moving and large buses. Hopefully this will encourage cyclists to stay off the sidewalk.

There is a bike pocket waiting area if you are going left onto Wellington. The traffic signal now applies to the bike lane – I think. The traffic lights are over the car portion, but the bike lane has a stop line. My gut feeling says that this is likely to be ignored.

If you are crossing with your bike, you’ll need to walk over to the pedestrian pushbutton. I didn’t see any indication that there was a traffic loop to detect bikes in the pocket.

Here you can see someone waiting to cross, but is positioned in the bike lane (not the bike pocket) as well as the somewhat awkward transition from a two-way bike lane on the bridge to a one way. I’m not sure which direction of cylist is supposed to yield if there is traffic. I guess you just have to work it out.

There are some small signs to indicate not to travel north in the bike lane. But what they really need is a sign that says that the northbound bike lane continues on the south side of Wellington once you cross the road.

It’s a long way across 7+ lanes of traffic (plus another 3 lanes to reach the southbound lane on Wellington!).

Here’s where you’re supposed to be to go south. I bet it’s still going to feel squeezy in that bike lane once you add the buses into the picture.

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More photos are in my set on Flickr

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Montreal on two wheels

Posted by Lana — May 10, 2012

No need to go to Copenhagen to experience better biking infrastructure – just go two hours east to Montreal.

I lived in Montreal ten years ago as a student and never biked a single day in the city. It was partly because I lived within walking distance of the campus and partly because it seemed crazy. But now? Times have changed and bike paths and Bixi bikes are everywhere. It feels like a complete culture shift.

Traffic calming is everywhere downtown. Narrowed streets, cyclepaths, speed humps, bulb-outs and reduced speed limits.

Here’s a brief tour of some great cycle-friendly things I saw over the weekend.

Bixi bikes everywhere. With locations in useful places that residents would go, transit stations and the usual touristy spots.

I hopped on a Bixi bike – from a rack stationed outside the bus terminal on rue Berri / Berri Metro stop / Main public library / Université de Québec adjacent and pedaled up the hill to my friend’s apartment.

Montreal’s Bixi network : 5,120 bikes and 411 stations.
Ottawa’s Bixi network: 250 bikes and 25 stations

If you have a monthly transit pass in Montreal – a full season’s Bixi membership is only $19. You also get discounts if you are a Communauto member (like Vrtucar). To my knowledge, Ottawa has no such incentives for the Capitale system.

My weekend bag tucked nicely into the handlebar rack. But I did need to use my spare bungee cord on the return trip despite my attempts not to buy too much.

The bike ride cut my travel time to the Mile End area in half. My relaxed bike ride took only 20 minutes – whereas the Metro and bus would have taken 45 minutes. Plus it was a beautiful warm sunny day and just great to be outside. Win win win. The reutrn trip to Berri was even faster on Sunday since it is all downhill.

Montreal has lots of protected and marked cycle lanes. Some with concrete barriers, some with poles, some are raised paths, some painted lines, some sharrows. They do it all. They also separate the path into cycling and walking lanes around Parc Mont-Royal where there is heavy people traffic. There are contraflow lanes and bicycle traffic signals. They’re using the best practices employed in other cycle-friendly cities and just doing it. It seems to be working. Bike riding people were everywhere.

Although, there are still lots of places for improvements. Like in NDG. But still – noticeable progress.

The protected bike waiting zone.
Berri at Cherrier is a wide arterial street – much like Wellington here in Ottawa. The radii at the corners are wide. By expanding the northwest corner to provide a safe waiting area for cyclists waiting to cross to and from the Berri and Cherrier bike lanes, the tighter corner means cars must slow down to complete their turn. It’s a traffic calming and bike infrastructure double whammy.

Berri has a bi-directional cycle path – as does the cross street Cherrier. To connect the two bi-directional bike lanes, the protected waiting zone gives cyclists a space to wait at the light without being on the sidewalk.

The protected zone helps cyclists and pedestrians navigate a busy junction. And provides traffic calming at the same time.

View Larger Map

Laurier Avenue East. A Laurier bike lane!
Oh the Lauriers. What would a city be without a Laurier bike lane? The Laurier approach in Montreal would cause Ottawa to erupt in flames. Not only did they add bike lanes in both directions, but they REMOVED an entire direction of roadway for cars. That’s right. It’s now a one way street with a single lane for cars. Cycle space now takes up more than half of the roadway. I tried searching online to learn more about how this decision came to be, but most of the Google’s search results are dedicated to Ottawa’s Laurier lanes. Yay us.

I did find two articles. One by Macleans (sporting a blatantly car-biased title). And another article published in the Walrus by Taras Grescoe that doesn’t take the confrontational tone that most newspapers and current affairs writers use to sell their work.

As my friend (who also owns a car in Montreal and bikes) describes it – it’s a pain if you’re driving but it’s fabulous when you’re biking.

Photo Credit: Alanah Heffez (I hope this is ok)

Montreal’s burroughs control their own traffic plans. So when speeding commuters (80% of Plateau traffic) were using the neighbourhood as a throughway, the burrough simply said no more. I’m not going to lie – I like that system. Imagine…

du Parc and Mont-Royal

Connecting the McGill ‘ghetto’ to Parc Mont-Royal to the Plateau? Check.
Bike share options? Check.
Separated bike path from traffic? Check.
Dedicated cycle signals? Check.
Wide sidewalk for pedestrians? Check.

It’s all the right things in all the right places. It turns out, this bike lane stuff isn’t rocket science after all.

But why choose just one solution on a street?
This street in Mile End has a contraflow lane and a sharrow painted for shared space.

And sharrows continue through the intersection:

And while you’re in Montreal – do stop in at La Maison des cyclistes for their wonderful croissants.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

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Types of cycling infrastructure in Ottawa – a primer

Posted by Lana — April 27, 2012

The Nessie. Like the green monster in Loch Ness, these lanes appear out of the dark and murky ashphalt and then disappear. No one knows where they go. Also applies to blue bike racks that appear only during the warmer weather.
The Zombie. This lane appears out of nowhere (like the Nessie) but hangs around for a while. Lulling you into a false sense of lane ownership and then is destroyed at the next intersection when arterial roads converge into a zombie lane eating apocalypse.
The tease. Looks like a bike lane, says it wants to be friends, invites pedestrians to the party, lets you cycle a certain distance and then suddenly tells you to stop and dismount.
Golden retriever. This is a multi-use path and everyone’s best friend. Likes to drool a bit, but don’t worry, that’s just runclub sweat licking you in the face.
Ghost path. AKA a “sharrow” – like a zombie, they rise up on certain arterial roads. Markings are often worn away. Identifiable only by Ghost Buster radar or bike map.
Morse code. Dot dot dot. It’s the 3 yellow dots often seen at an intersection to show where to stop for the traffic signal to register your presence. Like Morse Code – sometimes the signal gets lost into the ether.
The rhythmic gymnast. Comes with a pretty ribbon. Athletic, but not a “real gymnast” and often ignored. A painted line on a road (often a residential sidestreet) to create a bikelane. Ofen infected with large parasites that require a dose of 311 to remove.
The buddy system. A segregated bike lane with concrete barriers to keep bullies at bay. Often comes equipped with bike counting sensors used as “I told you so” when the bullies try to pretend you don’t exist.
The jock. Loves all types of athletic pursuits: running, roller blading, cycling, scooters, walking, and even nordic walking. You name it. He likes being seen with all the right infrastructure: pedestrian bridges, canals, rivers. Water is sexy. But behind that rugged athletic appearance, lies a scared little path who hides in the winter under a layer of snow. Wuss. You can find these paths along the Rideau Canal and Ottawa River.
Wallflower. These cycling routes are often indicated with an inconspicuous sign that no one really notices. They’re nice, but often ignored. They have nice personalities.

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Modal Mom

I want my share

Tag Archives: bike lanes

Ontario Tourism – the bike lies we tell

The great burlap bike ride in Nepean

Bayview, biking and a place to park

Biking strategies for going to Gogh (van Gogh that is)

Family ride on Laurier

The Laurier Bike Lane turns one today

Biking and walking improvements on Wellington

Montreal on two wheels

Types of cycling infrastructure in Ottawa – a primer