Cycling residents to demonstrate at Bank Street Bridge Inauguration

For immediate release: 1993 September 17

The Regional Transportation Department is celebrating the completion of the Bank Street Bridge's "rehabilitation" tomorrow morning. But residents who ride bicycles won't be joining in the celebration. They will be protesting another regional road project that still doesn't provide safe and comfortable cycling. Protesters will ask that improvements be made to facilitate bicycle travel on the bridge and in its vicinity, and on the Laurier Bridge, which will be reconstructed in the next few years.

According to the Regional Transportation Department's Director of Roadways and Structures, Rejean Chartrand, "this is a heritage structure in the Region, one which is a critical link in the Ottawa-Carleton transportation network."

Brett Delmage, president of Citizens for Safe Cycling (CfSC), which is organizing the demonstration, strongly criticised the department for the final product.

"They should be hanging their heads in shame, not having a party. They spent approximately $10 million dollars of public money on this 'rehabilitation' and the bridge is as risky and unpleasant for cyclists and pedestrians to use as when they started. Many cyclists fear for their lives on the bridge, so they ride on the sidewalks, endangering pedestrians. Does the Transportation Department think that this bridge is a critical link for only motor vehicles?"

Cycling is a part of Ottawa's heritage too. Bicycles were popular in Ottawa before 1900. When the Bank Street Bridge was built in 1912, police were riding bicycles and horses; they didn't start driving cars until 1914. The Ottawa Bicycle Club, founded one hundred years ago, is Canada's oldest bicycle club, and is still one of its largest and most active.

"People who use bicycles for transportation protect our heritage," said Delmage. "On the other hand, motor vehicles cause air pollution and acid rain that destroys our historical architecture."

The Transportation Department is planning to provide bike lanes on several bridges it is reconstructing: Mackenzie King Bridge and the Dunbar Bridge. "We know they can do a good job. That's why we consider the Bank Street Bridge unacceptable. It carries more cycling traffic than the other two bridges combined."

CfSC suggested improvements that could make the bridge more usable for the more than 800 child and adult cyclists who use it each day during the cycling season to travel to school, work and shopping:

• "Calm" the curbside lane with speed humps or traffic control signals so that the speed of motor vehicles is compatible with bicycles
• Change the illuminated, overhead signs to read "Slow down - Yield to bicycles"
• Erect "No passing bicycles" signs on the narrow, curbside lane, as was done during construction
• Build an adjacent, cyclists-only bridge

CfSC also recommended that the white edge lines, which were painted to prevent motor vehicles from driving into the high sidewalks, be redesigned. Many cyclists and motorists mistake the narrow, .6 m wide space between the edge line and sidewalk as a bicycle lane. Some cyclists squeeze themselves between motor vehicles and the high curb, risking a serious accident. Cyclists who refuse to ride in this hazardous space are frequently abused by motorists, who think they should be riding in the "bicycle lane." Properly designed bicycle lanes are a minimum of 1.5 m wide.

Delmage said CfSC was concerned that the Bank Street Bridge would set a precedent for another "bicycle hostile" design on the soon-to-be reconstructed Laurier Bridge, another heritage structure. He also questioned the Region's stated goal "to get people out of their cars and on to bicycles" when there has been no commitment from the Department to fund the implementation of the Region's current Cycling Transportation Network Plan, which will address problems such as the Bank Street Bridge.

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Contact: Citizens for Safe Cycling 722-4454