Albert/Slater juncture as a gateway to downtown

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Mikeed

Although I'd also like to see some public space that stirs to mind Booth, the lumber barons and Canadian's history of being an industrial and enterprising nation.

Yes please! This is so appropriate given that this area had the largest sawmill in the world at one time.

People do not realize that the Ottawa Valley forest resource was one of the best in the world because it was not subject to periodic forest fires as most of the rest of North America typically is.

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Yes please! This is so appropriate given that this area had the largest sawmill in the world at one time.

People do not realize that the Ottawa Valley forest resource was one of the best in the world because it was not subject to periodic forest fires as most of the rest of North America typically is.

So should we put up a monument to the forest, or the men who depleted this resource?

[Richard Eade]

I sent in a suggestion for the road realignment:



It is similar to the City’s plan – except that it removes the section of Bronson between Slater and Albert and aligns the ‘Albert-Slater intersection’ with the existing Commissioner-Albert intersection. The City’s plan removed Commissioner and has the ‘Albert-Slater intersection’ in the middle of the block.

My plan was devised to simplify the ‘spaghetti-bowl’ of roads and maximize the areas of future development. Using Commissioner as the primary intersection also allows for much easier access to the future Central Library. There is room for a MUP on the northeast side of Commissioner, between Slater and Albert, next to the Future Lot that would likely be residential.

Another ‘feature’ of my plan was that the residential portion of Bronson, the northern end, was disconnected from the busier part of Bronson. Yes, the north part would have only Right-in-Right-out access to Albert, but I didn’t think that that would be a deal-breaker, since there is also Queen and Sparks for access. It turned out that the City said that it had suggested something like that during the Bronson rebuild and that it had been poorly received by the residents. I have not seen what was presented at that time.

[On a completely unrelated side note: The City is planning to convert intersections along Baseline Road into Right-in-Right-out, but it is, apparently, not a deal-breaker there.]

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

I sent in a suggestion for the road realignment:



It is similar to the City’s plan – except that it removes the section of Bronson between Slater and Albert and aligns the ‘Albert-Slater intersection’ with the existing Commissioner-Albert intersection. The City’s plan removed Commissioner and has the ‘Albert-Slater intersection’ in the middle of the block.

My plan was devised to simplify the ‘spaghetti-bowl’ of roads and maximize the areas of future development. Using Commissioner as the primary intersection also allows for much easier access to the future Central Library. There is room for a MUP on the northeast side of Commissioner, between Slater and Albert, next to the Future Lot that would likely be residential.

Another ‘feature’ of my plan was that the residential portion of Bronson, the northern end, was disconnected from the busier part of Bronson. Yes, the north part would have only Right-in-Right-out access to Albert, but I didn’t think that that would be a deal-breaker, since there is also Queen and Sparks for access. It turned out that the City said that it had suggested something like that during the Bronson rebuild and that it had been poorly received by the residents. I have not seen what was presented at that time.

[On a completely unrelated side note: The City is planning to convert intersections along Baseline Road into Right-in-Right-out, but it is, apparently, not a deal-breaker there.]

I don't know - I attended the first Baseline BRT consultation, and you would have thought the world was ending with the uproar over the right in right out and requirement to make a U turn if you were going the wrong way.

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by Catenary

I don't know - I attended the first Baseline BRT consultation, and you would have thought the world was ending with the uproar over the right in right out and requirement to make a U turn if you were going the wrong way.

Consider the recently approved development at Hunt Club & the Airport Parkway were the major objection from the local councilor was the right-in/right-out access and the requirement for u-turns.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

I sent in a suggestion for the road realignment:

That's a lot gooder than the overly-generous-to-cars geometry now being proposed by the city.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

Consider the recently approved development at Hunt Club & the Airport Parkway were the major objection from the local councilor was the right-in/right-out access and the requirement for u-turns.

IMO we need MORE left-turn bans and RIRO rules in the city. On streets like Merivale, St. Laurent, Carling, etc.. all driveways should be RIRO. Left turns should generally be banned in areas like Centretown where the road network is a grid (easy enough for drivers to go to the next block and do three-rights-make-a-left). Left turns block traffic and slow things down and increase potential for accidents.

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

I sent in a suggestion for the road realignment:



It is similar to the City’s plan – except that it removes the section of Bronson between Slater and Albert and aligns the ‘Albert-Slater intersection’ with the existing Commissioner-Albert intersection. The City’s plan removed Commissioner and has the ‘Albert-Slater intersection’ in the middle of the block.

My plan was devised to simplify the ‘spaghetti-bowl’ of roads and maximize the areas of future development. Using Commissioner as the primary intersection also allows for much easier access to the future Central Library. There is room for a MUP on the northeast side of Commissioner, between Slater and Albert, next to the Future Lot that would likely be residential.

Another ‘feature’ of my plan was that the residential portion of Bronson, the northern end, was disconnected from the busier part of Bronson. Yes, the north part would have only Right-in-Right-out access to Albert, but I didn’t think that that would be a deal-breaker, since there is also Queen and Sparks for access. It turned out that the City said that it had suggested something like that during the Bronson rebuild and that it had been poorly received by the residents. I have not seen what was presented at that time.

[On a completely unrelated side note: The City is planning to convert intersections along Baseline Road into Right-in-Right-out, but it is, apparently, not a deal-breaker there.]

I like this proposal a lot better than what the city's talking about.

A slight variant if for whatever reason that proposal is going to get everybody's knickers in a knot could be this:

[hwy418]

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

I like this proposal a lot better than what the city's talking about.

A slight variant if for whatever reason that proposal is going to get everybody's knickers in a knot could be this:

Interesting proposal, but the road grade of Commissioner from Albert to Bronson is about 8-9%, so not good for any vehicle (let alone buses climbing the hill in the winter) or people.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by hwy418

Interesting proposal, but the road grade of Commissioner from Albert to Bronson is about 8-9%, so not good for any vehicle (let alone buses climbing the hill in the winter) or people.

Good point. Hills in winter are a challenge at the best of times. Putting a traffic light or requiring a sharp turn in the middle of a hill is a recipe for disaster.

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by hwy418

Interesting proposal, but the road grade of Commissioner from Albert to Bronson is about 8-9%, so not good for any vehicle (let alone buses climbing the hill in the winter) or people.

Well, it isn't flat at the present, but according to GeoOttawa, the distance from Albert to Slater along Commissioner is 60 metres and the rise is just under 4 metres - so about 6.6% grade.

That said, I see no reason that the intersection of Albert-Commissioner could not be raised a bit either. Before any building is done in the local area, little would be affected. The section of Commissioner north-west of the intersection would get re-graded, as would the section of Albert/Slater west of the intersection to Empress. It's not like the City doesn't have thousands of cubic metres of fill available that could be used for road bed.