[Acajack]

Very interesting - don't believe it has been posted here yet.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/Ottawa+cluttered+streetscapes+resemble+pages+expert+suggests/4037988/story.html

Gatineau gets credit in the article for its re-dos of Maisonneuve and Allumettières, but I am not sure the "Ville" is totally deserving of all the kudos as I am pretty sure all of Maisonneuve and at least part of Allumettières were done in conjunction with the NCC.

But it is true that the new King Edward between Rideau and the bridge is very disappointing from a human scale perspective.

[kwoldtimer]

Where have the experts cited in the article been hiding? - it has been obvious for at least two years now that the "new" King Edward was shaping up to be a hot mess. Downtown Ottawa's streetscapes in general are one of the city's weakest urban elements, in my view. Such a mess of excess signage, different styles of street lights every few blocks, and other assorted flotsam and jetsam. When you add in the realities of our winter and Centretown's grey-brown, boxy "architecture", the centre of the city can seem downright grim at times.

[bikegypsy]

I agree with this article. King Edward is a diamond that we keep throwing back on the pile of gravel. This road looks like it should be in Belleville where as it screems to be a boulevard lined with modern buildings, cafes, restaurants and shops. King Edward doesn't need an up-grade but rather a complete re-think.

Still, I'm optimist, as the concept of urban being has managed to slowly make some notable gains in this city which is scared to be one.

[flar]

King Edward is sort of an impossible situation, being essentially a freeway in Quebec then suddenly becoming a city street once you get off the bridge. There has to be an arterial route through that area that connects to the 417, it's really unfortunate that it has to pass through an otherwise vibrant and walkable area. It's really difficult to make a pleasant thoroughfare that can handle that capacity. I'm not sure if it can be done without creating the physical and psychological barrier that King Edward is.

[eternallyme]

King Edward is sort of an impossible situation, being essentially a freeway in Quebec then suddenly becoming a city street once you get off the bridge. There has to be an arterial route through that area that connects to the 417, it's really unfortunate that it has to pass through an otherwise vibrant and walkable area. It's really difficult to make a pleasant thoroughfare that can handle that capacity. I'm not sure if it can be done without creating the physical and psychological barrier that King Edward is.

The problem is how to reconstruct the area and build a freeway to connect the two networks and get rid of that traffic from King Edward once and for all. That would most likely be a 1.6 to 2.9 km long tunnel. But what would be the cost for that? (I'm going with an assumption the tunnel is 4 lanes wide, with ventilation and escape routes but no underground interchanges.)

One problem with a tunnel is that hazardous material would not be permitted for safety and security reasons, and they would still be stuck on city streets. Any surface route would require massive expropriation and is unlikely in that area.

[Kitchissippi]

The King Edward renewal shows how aesthetically illiterate Ottawa City Hall is. The only unique feature of the street is the black lamp posts, and they ruin the rhythm by using ordinary silver poles for the traffic lights :yuck: The simple act of painting those poles black would tone down the highway look.

[Uhuniau]

Where have the experts cited in the article been hiding? - it has been obvious for at least two years now that the "new" King Edward was shaping up to be a hot mess. Downtown Ottawa's streetscapes in general are one of the city's weakest urban elements, in my view. Such a mess of excess signage, different styles of street lights every few blocks, and other assorted flotsam and jetsam. When you add in the realities of our winter and Centretown's grey-brown, boxy "architecture", the centre of the city can seem downright grim at times.

Mess of excess signage? If anything, the problem is exactly the opposite; the city and NCC have a puritanical attitude towards commercial signage that sucks the visual life out of the city centre's commercial streets.

[Uhuniau]

I agree with this article. King Edward is a diamond that we keep throwing back on the pile of gravel. This road looks like it should be in Belleville where as it screems to be a boulevard lined with modern buildings, cafes, restaurants and shops. King Edward doesn't need an up-grade but rather a complete re-think.

What King Edward needs is for someone to dredge up one of those glorious archival pictures of the days when it was tree-lined King Street, and say, "here. BUILD THIS."

It can be done incrementally, if every future change to that street is allowed on the one condition that it moves the street one step closer to being "THIS".

Still, I'm optimist, as the concept of urban being has managed to slowly make some notable gains in this city which is scared to be one.

I'm not convinced. Ottawa loves being a tacky suburb of itself, whose solution to everything is to create more "green space".

[Kitchissippi]

I've posted these before, photos I took of Canal Street in New Orleans which, minus the palm trees, oddly reminded me of King Edward (it ends on a ferry crossing across the Mississippi). It just shows how integrating the traffic lights with the design of the lamps and street furniture helps in making this busy road more of an urban boulevard. Ottawa is notorious for just using off-the-shelf stuff and mixing it with other parts resulting in a mish-mash look.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3346/3452691051_d271e5e7ea_b.jpg

Canal street also has a streetcar running along the median. It would be great for King Edward if they narrowed it to two lanes with a tram running across the river. This will cause traffic congestion but the clear message is take public transit.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3657/3453505202_346a1d3679_b.jpg

[Acajack]

I've posted these before, photos I took of Canal Street in New Orleans which, minus the palm trees, oddly reminded me of King Edward (it ends on a ferry crossing across the Mississippi). It just shows how integrating the traffic lights with the design of the lamps and street furniture helps in making this busy road more of an urban boulevard. Ottawa is notorious for just using off-the-shelf stuff and mixing it with other parts resulting in a mish-mash look.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3346/3452691051_d271e5e7ea_b.jpg

Canal street also has a streetcar running along the median. It would be great for King Edward if they narrowed it to two lanes with a tram running across the river. This will cause traffic congestion but the clear message is take public transit.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3657/3453505202_346a1d3679_b.jpg

What I find odd about the new King Edward is the fact that in some places you have classic, old-fashioned black streetlights sitting on top of jersey barriers and things like this:
http://www.nbsco.com/images/impact/impactattenuator-02-lrg.jpg

Now, I realize that they may not have had a choice due to safety requirements, but still... it doesn't look that great.

[flar]

Canal St in New Orleans is not very comparable to King Edward. Canal is the main downtown shopping street, lined with big prewar buildings and I seriously doubt it carries anywhere close to the amount of through traffic that King Edward does. It is really wide though.

[kwoldtimer]

Mess of excess signage? If anything, the problem is exactly the opposite; the city and NCC have a puritanical attitude towards commercial signage that sucks the visual life out of the city centre's commercial streets.

Actually, I wasn't thinking of commercial signage, apart from the crappy sidewalk sandwich boards that need to be banned. I was thinking more of the plethora of traffic, park/don't park/don't stop at certain times, institution markers, etc, etc that clutter many main streets, especially lamposts. I was walking down Bank the other day while in town, however, and realized that in that case at least, they seem to have kept things relatively under control, so perhaps there is hope.

[Uhuniau]

Actually, I wasn't thinking of commercial signage, apart from the crappy sidewalk sandwich boards that need to be banned. I was thinking more of the plethora of traffic, park/don't park/don't stop at certain times, institution markers, etc, etc that clutter many main streets, especially lamposts. I was walking down Bank the other day while in town, however, and realized that in that case at least, they seem to have kept things relatively under control, so perhaps there is hope.

Ah, OK.

I will never understand why perpendicular (to the direction of the street) overhead hanging signs, which would be useful to business, pedestrians, and the streetscape alike, are verboten, but sidewalk-clutterers are permitted.