A couple of days ago, I had to do a few errands that required me to ride through parts of Vanier, New Edinburgh, Sandy Hill and to City Hall. The total distance was under 13 km. Here’s what I encountered:
A) The business I needed to visit in Vanier caters to an active crowd, but the only option to lock my bike is a street sign on the very narrow sidewalk. The nearest secure rack requires a walk to to Montreal Road, walk half a block to the lights, walk another half block to the rack (I can see the business I visited from there), then reverse everything to get back, and repeat once I am finished.
B) Kudos for the effort to upgrade the racks at my next stop in New Edinburgh, but the building owner was only able to replace one of the two rusty old racks, with a new one that is bolted too close to the wall. The front wheel of my bike had to sit a good six inches above the ground. Net result? Far less bike parking available now, and even that isn’t great.
C) This truck was parked in the bike lane on Stewart. It was also parked right on top of one of the flexiposts, which will no doubt shorten its life. I reported to 311, but never know if I did it right. There is no category for vehicles blocking a bike lane (just for cars or sidewalks). Is it therefore considered debris on a path?
D) The bike parking for visitors to City Hall is an embarrassing testament to the priority placed on safe cycling in Ottawa. None of these racks were bolted down, and some were too close to the walls to be useable. The rack design is poor, so that a bike with a front basket (or a taller bike) could not use anything but the outside frame. To top it off, they are jumbled in with a pile of discarded trash cans.
E) Coming back on Wilbrod, I encountered another truck. It was in a driveway, but completely blocking the sidewalk and partially blocking the bike lane.
F) Beechwood remains a mess due to construction, with the eastbound bike lane closed. At the end of the closed section, there was a pile of discarded construction signs partly in the bike lane. I stopped to move them and realized they were also blocking the sidewalk. So I moved them some more. When I rode by last night, they hadn’t been moved x so who knows how long they would have been left blocking the way for pedestrians?
G) Once again in Vanier, I stopped for a picture of these comical bulb-outs on Pères Blancs. There is no marked bike path aside from the bulb-outs. They are more work to use than just going around them, and without enough height to keep cars from driving over them.
H) On Marier, another flexipost has given up its life. I never know whether this is supposed to be a bike lane or not, since the flexiposts aren’t the usual blue and white, and most of the space is filled with parked cars. if it is supposed to be a bike lane, it’s blocked by the “safety feature”.
I) Finally, heading up Acacia, I was confronted by this vehicle. Another was parked in front of my office it. Between the two is a no parking sign (pointing in both directions). The reason for that is that there is a curve, on a hill, with poor sight-lines and regular bus service. It is definitely not a comfortable place to have to go around while on a bicycle!
Though I didn’t run into major issues with actual moving cars and their drivers, last night’s ride more than made up for it. As I pulled away from the stop light on Beechwood going west near Putman, the car beside me decided to cut in front and drive into the bike lane between the flexiposts, one of which had only been replaced this week. He then pulled around the posts and road in the unprotected section of the bike lane for over a block. The actual road was empty.
On the way home, I was turning left from Beechwood onto Acacia when some guy leaned on the horn and passed me on the left. I was wearing a helmet and bright clothing, had my lights on, and was signalling. It wasn’t dark. He saw me but he just didn’t care.
Will I be riding again? Oh yes! I have a right to ride my bike in safety and I have a right to expect reasonable measures to help prevent it from being one of the 1,000 reported stolen each year in Ottawa. So do you.