Photo by pubwash – Reddit Ottawa
John Dance
Two years ago, The Mainstreeter reported that much needed cycling and pedestrian improvements at the Smyth Road ramps for Riverside Drive would be installed “over the next few months.” As any cyclist or pedestrian who has recently traversed the bridge to Alta Vista knows, The Mainstreeter was wrong. Well, actually, what City of Ottawa staff told The Mainstreeter was wrong.
So what’s happening? A massive long-term care facility and a 15-storey retirement home are planned for the area on the Riverside Hospital campus to the east of the main hospital building. “The proposed development involves underground servicing work, which must be completed prior to the City’s cycling safety improvements,” says Bruce Kenny, the City’s Manager of Design and Construction. “As a result, we anticipate that the construction of the City’s Smyth Road Cycling Safety Improvements projects will commence in 2024.”
The improvements include raised crosswalks for pedestrians and “crossrides” for cyclists crossing the dangerous on and off ramps for Riverside Drive. It’s not clear how cyclists and pedestrians will easily get through the new development to access Billings Avenue, the much safer way to Alta Vista Drive rather than cycling along Smyth west of Alta Vista Drive.
However, the recently approved active transportation plan includes a project to extend the cycling facilities farther to the east of the Riverside Hospital intersection to connect with the existing bike lanes on Alta Vista Drive.
“Through the planning and design phases, staff will look at what can be accommodated within this segment of roadway in terms of the type of facility (e.g., painted bike lane, raised cycle tracks, shared travel lanes) and there would be opportunities for residents through public consultation to comment on the proposed design,” says Deborah Lightman, the City’s Program Manager for Active Transportation Planning.
“We’re aware that the existing VIA Rail overpass presents some spatial limitations along this segment,” she noted. The timing of proposed consultation and actual implementation of improvements has not been determined. The Old Ottawa East Community Association has recommended that with a creation of a new footbridge near the foot of Clegg Street a much safer cycling and pedestrian route would be available to get to Riverview Park and Alta Vista. This project is on the ultimate active transportation network, but it could be decades before it’s built.
