
The Bronson Team (composed of members of the three community associations, Glebe, Glebe Annex and Dow’s Lake) has recommended a number of traffic safety improvements for Bronson Avenue, and additional safety measures are anticipated with Bronson redevelopment. Work has begun on a project charter for the City’s Bronson redevelopment project.
Photo: Barb Popel
Bronson Avenue redevelopment – some good news
By Barbara Popel
The City has started the planning process for the redevelopment of Bronson Avenue, and the Bronson Team, a group of volunteers from the Glebe, Glebe Annex and the Dow’s Lake neighbourhood, have been included as an official stakeholder in the consultations.
On October 10, the Bronson Team met with Roxanne Tubb, a senior City engineer who is the project manager for the redevelopment project, which has three compoments
A – Carling from Bronson to a point west of the Dow’s Lake LRT station
B – Bronson from the Queensway (Imperial Avenue) to Carling
C – Bronson from Carling to the Canal
The requirements analysis and design phases of these three components will be done concurrently. They will be implemented in an as-yet-to-be-decided order. It’s possible that “A” will be split in two due to the Ottawa Hospital’s ongoing Civic campus construction in the Experimental Farm.
We invited Jonathan McLeod from Councillor Shawn Menard’s office to the meeting; Ms.Tubb was accompanied by four City colleagues who are charged with providing requirements from stakeholders.
We learned a lot at this meeting.
Ms.Tubb is now working on the project charter, which is the “kickoff point” that establishes the scope and structure of the project. She cannot forecast when the charter will be completed and approved.
In parallel, Ms.Tubb has begun collecting the project’s requirements, which will come from many sources, including the City, the cancelled 2019 Bronson redevelopment project, new standards set by the City and the province, several utility companies and, of course, our group, the Bronson Team.
We gave Ms.Tubb a copy of our report, “Bronson Avenue – Solutions for a Safe and Healthy Street.” It contains 14 solutions that could be implemented immediately and 21 solutions that could be incorporated into Bronson’s redevelopment.
We highlighted how unsafe Bronson currently is for pedestrians and bicyclists. We talked about Bronson’s narrow sidewalks and speeding cars. We think this is because Bronson was designed as a “stroad” (see sidebar). A “stroad” is an arterial street which, by its appearance, encourages drivers to drive at high speeds to reach their destination. Stroads are not designed for pedestrians or bicyclists.
One of the Bronson Team’s highest priorities is to widen the sidewalks; we want them to be 1.8 metres wide and clear of obstructions. Ms.Tubb was pretty sure that 1.8-metre sidewalks will be part of the design, because it’s now the standard for streets like Bronson.
We also want Bronson designed so it discourages speeding. Our document proposes a number of ways this could be done.
Another of our requests is that the City do a safety audit of the intersections and treat the results as requirements. After the project’s completion, we want the City to do another safety audit to see if there are still safety issues. Ms.Tubb said that on the project she is currently managing – the redevelopment of Bank Street south of the Rideau River – they did several safety audits. She thinks it highly likely that the Bronson redevelopment would involve at least one safety audit as the project gets underway.
As well as improving safety for pedestrians, transit users and cyclists, we want to see improvements in the environment (pollution, noise) for those who live on or near Bronson. We’re inspired by the Main Street Redevelopment project which focused on the immediate community rather than on commuters who drive through the area twice a day.
We also support Councillor Menard’s request that the City install an automated speed enforcement system (ASES, better known as “photo radar”) near Senator Eugene Forsey Park and a permanent red-light camera at the Fifth, Madawaska and Bronson intersection.
After the requirements are gathered (this will take awhile) for the Bronson redevelopment, the City will hire a consultant to do the design. The City will then hold public consultations. The Bronson Team will be there, and we hope you will be too!
Barb Popel is the team leader of the Bronson Team. She has lived in the Glebe for over 33 years.
What is a stroad?
A stroad is a type of street-road hybrid.
Streets provide access to shops and residences at safe traffic speeds, and can serve as a destination.
Roads, on the other hand, serve as high-speed connections that move traffic efficiently and at high speed and volume from one destination to another.
Stroads try to do both, and do neither well. They are wide arterials (like roads) that often provide access to strip malls, drive-throughs and other businesses (like streets).
Common in the US and Canada, stroads have been criticized by urban planners for their safety issues and inefficiencies: they are considered expensive, inefficient and dangerous.