Whose lane is it anyway?
Beechwood Avenue repainted lanes hard to see in winter, leaves drivers confused
By Michelle Nash Baker, Ottawa East News
Jan 13, 2017
Snow, ice and multiple new and old painted lines along Beechwood Avenue have made driving along the street confusing this winter,.
The street was recently repainted to make room for cyclists as part of the East-West Bikeway plan in September.
The redo involved taking the four-lane street and reducing it to two traffic lanes with two bike lanes running east and west between Charlevoix Street and Springfield Road and Putman and Marier avenues.
The new configuration includes bicycle lanes, alternate-side parking and changes to some bus stops. The changes were made by the city repainting the lines on the road.
The painting, admits Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Tobi Nussbaum is confusing some drivers, as the former lanes were simply covered over with tar as opposed to removing them completely by scraping the pavement. The councillor admits that this process has left many drivers wandering along the street
“I think there was some confusion before the snow,” Nussbaum said.
The councillor said the lines will be repainted in the spring and he would like to see the former lines scraped completely, but until then, Nussbaum added he believes there are important tweaks that could happen to the street before then.
“I have noted that there is trouble coming in and out of the community, and I will ask staff to look at, the left turn on Springfield — you can’t see the lane is a turning lane.”
Nussbaum is talking about the change that was made to the Beechwood and Springfield intersection.
What was once two lanes with the option to turn left onto Springfield became a left-turn-only lane. A large arrow on the pavement is the only indication that the lane has changed. Add snow, Nussbaum said, and it could make it very hard for visitors in the area to know what is going on.
“I don’t know the answer yet, but I am hoping that there can be signage above ground,” he said. “You might say that this is a problem at every intersection but the difference is here we just made a recent change. It’s hard for people coming there for the first time.”
Aside from confusion at Springfield, there is also some confusion about where — and if — there are in fact bike lanes still along the street during these winter months.
Currently, the bike lanes are not getting cleared. Nussbaum said he is aware of the problem and is looking into it.
“I need to make sure that staff are aware that it’s a part of the snow removal budget,” he said.
In the spring, those lanes too will be repainted, Nussbaum added.
The spring will also bring the second phase of the changes along the street which will include more repainting and changing of the lines and lanes to make room for bike lanes and a cycle track on Beechwood between the Vanier Parkway and Charlevoix and Springfield.
PARKLET
Aside from new road configurations, Beechwood also welcomed a large wooden structure known as a parklet this summer.
Placed on the street in an existing parking space in front of Auturo’s restaurant at 49 Beechwood, the parklet called the Water Garden was removed late fall before the first snow.
The parklet was an initiative brought to the street by Quartier Vanier, the business improvement area, and throughout its time on the street, received some mixed reviews from area-residents about impeding traffic, cycling and safety on the street.
A report will be going to the city’s transportation committee this winter. The report will look at its success as well as recommendations on whether to proceed with the program.
Whether it will return to the same location, or along the street is up to the BIA, but Nussbaum said he is hoping that he can discuss with the BIA about potential other locations.
“One of the questions is, 'are there other locations where we can see greater success?'"
"My impression was residents loved the parklet, but had concerns about the location, the bend in the road,” Nussbaum said.
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