Safer cycling network still needed

John Gomes is a real estate agent who has lived in the neighbourhood for 12 years.

His wife works at Manor Park Public School. They have four daughters. Three go to school and another is in daycare.

They’re a self-described cycling family on all levels. Both John and his wife are avid cyclists who enjoy cycling around the neighborhood with their kids. John sees a lot of positives with cycling in Ottawa. Municipal and National Capital Commission (NCC) bike pathways are right in their neighbourhood, offering easy accessibility, while Gatineau Park is a reasonable distance away.

‘Feels like a highway’

However, John does have concerns about the safety of his kids when cycling in the neighbourhood.

“Beechwood Ave. from Vanier Parkway to the (Beechwood) cemetery is pretty treacherous and we don’t ride bikes on there with our kids because frankly, it just feels like a highway.”

He describes the bike lane on Beechwood as little more than “painted lines on the road. “There’s no respect for them, or often people are just going too fast or there’s too much traffic.”

Tara Templin is another local cyclist who also has children who bike. She believes that biking infrastructure in the Manor Park area is not designed with kids in mind. “So, kids naturally get more easily distracted than adults, and may not have the experience. They haven’t driven, right? So they don’t know that a driver may not be shoulder checking and they may not know that a bus needs to pull over to the side to pick up the passengers,” she notes.

“Everything’s new and they have to learn by experience what the rules of the road are, except you don’t get to make any mistakes when you’re on a bike.”

Reaching for the ‘8-80’ city

Many local cyclists see efforts made to make cycling safer in the community. Yet, the city and others must take more steps to achieve what Bike Ottawa president Florence Lehmann calls an “8-80 city”.

Bike Ottawa is a not-for-profit advocacy group calling for safer cycling in Ottawa for all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. One of the things Florence advocates for is an 8-80 city. This refers to the concept that cities should be equally safe for anyone between the ages of eight and 80.

She mentions Beachwood Ave. and Hemlock Rd. as examples of places where bike lanes exist but are not sophisticated enough. In these cases, the bike lanes are only separated by flexi posts (which are removed in the winter). In even worse cases, lanes are simply separated by painted on lines on streets where cars are driving at high speeds.

Tara also cites Beachwood and Hemlock as an area she is concerned about, saying that it’s a busy area that’s going to get busier. Furthermore, there are no side streets into Beachwood and downtown which forces cyclist to choose between biking on the sidewalk or on a busy street.

Kids not equating bikes with transportation

Florence notes experienced cyclists can cope with those conditions, but lines on a busy road are not enough for novices or kids.

“If we had protected bike lanes along that corridor, for example, you have kids who could actually bike to school safely. Which means teaching them to get around on their own steam, learning independence, and wayfinding,” she says.

As a result, Tara’s kids don’t see biking as a pratical form of transportation.

“What my kids are learning is that it’s only safe to bike on bike pathways for recreation. And they’re not learning that it is an actual mode of transportation that you can use legitimately as part of your life. And I don’t think that moves us further ahead in society.”

‘A bit sketchy’

Mark Smith, another Manor Park cyclist, also brought up Hemlock and Beachwood as an area where biking “can be a bit sketchy.”

“If you’ve got a little kid who maybe falls on their bike when they’re in that lane they are extremely vulnerable in that spot,” says Mark.

Another area of concern in the Manor Park area is Montreal Rd. This busy arterial road and its renovation and reopening received a lot of attention in Bike Ottawa’s 2022 annual report.

The report mentions members of Bike Ottawa, including Florence, rode the newly reopened stretch of road with former City of Ottawa Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury. They concluded from this experience that there was some good points, including new bike lanes. However, there were issues with the road being too narrow and overlapping with bus stops.

“When they clear the road in the winter, that buffer is actually very narrow,” says Florence, “which means when they clear the road, where does the snow go? On the cycle track.”

Reliable transit

Cycling advocates are calling on the municipal government to do more to support cycling due to its environmental and health benefits. Florence believes the government needs to start prioritizing alternative forms of transportation over cars.

“You need to start from the bottom up, like you need to start with the most vulnerable people because at the end of the day, whether right or wrong, when a mistake is made, if you’re outside of a car, you’re the one who will get severely injured or who could be killed in a collision.”

Mark notes that biking is especially important when public transit is slow and unreliable.

“I can be from my home to my office in 15 minutes by bike, but the same commute takes 45 minutes on a bus. It shouldn’t take that long.”

John believes that one of the keys to fighting climate change is to bring people back into the city by ensuring people can get places without driving. “If that happens, like, there’s just only so much room for cars. And I think we need to improve our cycling infrastructure.”

As we head into summer and more people turn to bikes for transportation, advocates will continue to fight for safer infrastructure.

This article was written by Keaton Hills.