NCC - Rideau Canal shorelines

[rakerman]

4 projects announced (and one event)

http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/plac...g-rideau-canal

• Capital Reading Garden
• POP UP PATIOS
• Rideau Beach & 8 Locks Flat
• Iceco Ltd. Ice Cream Push Carts
• Decorated Bike Ride

The Rideau Beach is inspired by Paris Plages and will have sand and a licensed patio.

Disclaimer: I'm one of the organisers of Capital Reading Garden.

[kevinbottawa]

That beach idea is kinda like Sugar Beach in Toronto. Only it's not next to a big sugar factory.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Good to see they're FINALLY starting to actually DO things with the canal.

[McC]

still no progress on some damn crosswalks though; not even a temporary trial during Winterlude for pete's sake!

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by McC

still no progress on some damn crosswalks though; not even a temporary trial during Winterlude for pete's sake!

The best answer at the crosswalks are pedestrian corridors, or signs saying (and required by law) "Yield to Pedestrians", like this one (common in the US, obviously modified for our use):

[McC]

Yes. Sure. Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto all have mixes of signed and signalized X-walks, but for reasons which baffle me -- Darwin has a story (apocryphal?) about a Gatineau driver who killed a pedestrian in a x-walk and argued the signs meant the opposite in QC, all horseshit because there are x-walks in MTL, onward! -- instead, we need to install "pedestrian-controlled intersections" with 2-6 sets of full traffic light signals on giant metal poles with all the attending price. Sigh.

[eternallyme]

Signalized crosswalks should be limited to situations where one or more of the following is met:

1) Speed limit is 70 km/h or higher, or the operating speed (85th percentile) is 75 km/h or higher

2) Roadway has more than 4 lanes of traffic

3) Pedestrian activity is extremely high (i.e. the crossings on Rideau Street)

In the case of Colonel By and Queen Elizabeth Drives, none of those apply (2 lanes, 60 km/h with a general flow at or below that, moderate but notable pedestrian activity)

[CongoJack]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Signalized crosswalks should be limited to situations where one or more of the following is met:

1) Speed limit is 70 km/h or higher, or the operating speed (85th percentile) is 75 km/h or higher

2) Roadway has more than 4 lanes of traffic

3) Pedestrian activity is extremely high (i.e. the crossings on Rideau Street)

In the case of Colonel By and Queen Elizabeth Drives, none of those apply (2 lanes, 60 km/h with a general flow at or below that, moderate but notable pedestrian activity)

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree.

1. First of all, in my experience 10kph over the speed limit is normal on those stretches of road and 20kph over is quite common. Even if people actually abided by the law, why 70kph? With many blind corners it would be very easy for someone doing 60kph to not see someone until it is too late.

2. You and I might be able to bound across two lanes (illegally at that), but what about the elderly or families?

3. And why isn't it currently? Maybe more people would opt to take a stroll down the canal if getting to it was safer/more convenient.

It boggles me mind that one of the nicest parts of Ottawa is effectively segregated from the rest of the city. For what? So people coming off the highway can get downtown five minutes faster? The downtowns of cities should be worthwhile places in themselves and not sacrificed to make getting in and out as quick as possible.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by CongoJack

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree.

1. First of all, in my experience 10kph over the speed limit is normal on those stretches of road and 20kph over is quite common. Even if people actually abided by the law, why 70kph? With many blind corners it would be very easy for someone doing 60kph to not see someone until it is too late.

2. You and I might be able to bound across two lanes (illegally at that), but what about the elderly or families?

3. And why isn't it currently? Maybe more people would opt to take a stroll down the canal if getting to it was safer/more convenient.

It boggles me mind that one of the nicest parts of Ottawa is effectively segregated from the rest of the city. For what? So people coming off the highway can get downtown five minutes faster? The downtowns of cities should be worthwhile places in themselves and not sacrificed to make getting in and out as quick as possible.

Hear hear! Agreed completely.

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

The best answer at the crosswalks are pedestrian corridors, or signs saying (and required by law) "Yield to Pedestrians", like this one (common in the US, obviously modified for our use

The only legal pedestrian crossings in Ontario are those overhead lighted ones you see in Toronto. Otherwise you have to have traffic lights or stop signs. Things are in the works to change this hopefully.

Some municipalities do use courtesy crossings, but drivers have no legal requirement to stop.

[MountainView]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Signalized crosswalks should be limited to situations where one or more of the following is met:

3) Pedestrian activity is extremely high (i.e. the crossings on Rideau Street)

In the case of Colonel By and Queen Elizabeth Drives, none of those apply...

I would like to think that pedestrian activity is high at Carleton University and the Hartwell Locks. There should have been a signalized crosswalk here a long time ago. I'm afraid nothing is going to be built until a serious accident happens. Even a pedestrian tunnel would work - or the yellow flashing signs like they have at York University in Toronto.

[DubberDom]

A beach in the Rideau Canal??? Ewwwwww!!
Ever been to Paris in the Summer? sure they have a beach along the Seine, but it's always too freaking cold to ever swim!
Our summers are too hot and the stagnant & weed infested water in the Canal would a bacterial nightmare, plus the boat traffic?? Never mind

NCC should look at San Antonio's Riverwalk, it would be nice to have restaurants & patios along the canal (ie. create a section called the Canalwalk)

[jaydog0212]

Originally Posted by DubberDom

A beach in the Rideau Canal??? Ewwwwww!!
Ever been to Paris in the Summer? sure they have a beach along the Seine, but it's always too freaking cold to ever swim!
Our summers are too hot and the stagnant & weed infested water in the Canal would a bacterial nightmare, plus the boat traffic?? Never mind

NCC should look at San Antonio's Riverwalk, it would be nice to have restaurants & patios along the canal (ie. create a section called the Canalwalk)

This type of beach is is some what new you don't swim off it its more of just a place to relax.

[DubberDom]

If that's the case, it would be better at Dow's Lake

[Harley613]

a beach like the one in paris on the seine is a brilliant idea for the canal. a few truckloads of sand, some umbrellas, and a tiki bar and bob's your uncle. i have been wondering for a long time if this concept would ever come to ottawa.

[McC]

Speaking of the banks of the Seine:

Paris to return Seine to the people with car-free riverside plan

City mayor behind Paris Plages wins fight to pedestrianise large sections of 1960s expressway on left and right bank


It's the latest battle in Paris's war on the private car: a pedestrian "reconquest" of the banks of the Seine.

After a slanging match with the right, the city's Socialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoë has won his quest to break up the two-lane urban motorway that has run along the edge of the Seine since the 1960s, and return Paris's riverside world heritage sites to walkers and cyclists.

From next month, a stretch of more than 1km (0.6 miles) on the right bank near the Hôtel de Ville will see the first narrowing of the road to make way for pedestrian corridors, riverside walkways, bars and cafes. Then in the spring the final promised masterpiece of pedestrianisation will be unveiled: a 2.5km car-free zone on the left bank, between the Musée d'Orsay and the Pont de l'Alma, with a riverside park, pedestrian promenades, floating botanic gardens, flower-market barges, sports courts, restaurants and even perhaps an archipelago of artificial islands.

The pedestrianisation of one of Europe's most picturesque urban riversides means the death knell for the Seine's non-stop riverside expressways. These were the pride of Georges Pompidou in the 60s when France's love affair with the car was at its height. Opened in 1967 by him, under the slogan "Paris must adapt the to car", the dual carriageway with perhaps the best view in France allowed a speedy crossing of Paris from west to east. But environmentalists have long complained it was a dreadful, polluting waste of architectural heritage.

Delanoë promised his new scheme would "give Parisians back their river", "profoundly change" the city and provide "an opportunity for happiness" for residents. But the mayor, who will not stand for re-election in 2014, also has an eye on his legacy, seeking to be remembered as the man who finally ended Parisian reverence to the car. He has expanded cycle routes and introduced the city's famous short-term bike-hire and car-hire schemes.

The limiting of cars along the river was foreshadowed by his Paris Plages project, an annual "urban beach" along the Seine which began a decade ago and has been much imitated across Europe. It sees the expressway closed for a month in summer while Parisians reclaim the riverside to put their feet up on giant deckchairs along an artificial stretch of sand with potted palm-trees.

But the pedestrianisation has not been without controversy. This year, the then right-wing prime minister, François Fillon, who was im the running to become a Paris MP and reportedly harboured mayoral ambitions for 2014, announced the state was vetoing the project on the grounds that it was badly thought-out. Delanoë hit back at what he called an electorally inspired, government "diktat" that went against Parisians' interests. Motorists also complained that traffic in Paris would be hugely upset, with drivers forced to clog alternative routes across the city. Around 2,000 cars an hour use the left-bank expressway during rush hour, according to City hall which argues that motorists would see only six minutes added to their journey under the plans.

The €40m (£31.4m) project was given the go-ahead last month after the new Socialist prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, lifted the block imposed Fillon.

http://guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug...d&type=article

[KHOOLE]

Originally Posted by McC

Speaking of the banks of the Seine:


http://guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug...d&type=article

Now, if Ottawa could have a socialist mayor? Paul Dewar?

[McC]

Originally Posted by KHOOLE

Now, if Ottawa could have a socialist mayor? Paul Dewar?

It was only a matter of time before you and I agreed on *something*

;-)

[RTWAP]

Originally Posted by McC

Speaking of the banks of the Seine:


http://guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug...d&type=article

I'd love to see some of those changes in Ottawa, but the NCC isn't very good at innovation, or pedestrians.

Can you imagine a floating weekend market in Ottawa? Have some barges set up at Dow's Lake from 9-11 then just south of the Pretoria Bridge from noon to 2 and then at Corktown Bridge from 3-5pm.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by RTWAP

I'd love to see some of those changes in Ottawa, but the NCC isn't very good at innovation, or pedestrians.

Can you imagine a floating weekend market in Ottawa? Have some barges set up at Dow's Lake from 9-11 then just south of the Pretoria Bridge from noon to 2 and then at Corktown Bridge from 3-5pm.

But that would clash with the sacred UNESCO World Heritage Designation! Fie!