{"id":2746,"date":"2010-06-04T13:52:33","date_gmt":"2010-06-04T17:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingottawa.ca\/?p=2746"},"modified":"2013-01-21T09:08:08","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T14:08:08","slug":"city-plans-to-widen-centretowns-great-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2010\/06\/04\/city-plans-to-widen-centretowns-great-divide\/","title":{"rendered":"City plans to widen Centretown’s great divide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The always-excellent West Side Action is two parts into a 5-part series<\/a> on Bronson Avenue. Bronson was designated as an arterial in the 1970s as part of the Centretown plan, and bears the brunt of north-south automobile traffic in a wide swath of\u00a0 Centretown,\u00a0 from Kent\/Lyon in the east to Booth in the west. Factors like noise, dust, narrow sidewalks, and limited pedestrian crossings make Bronson a real barrier for foot and cycle traffic, separating Chinatown from points east and discouraging development along Bronson itself.<\/p>\n

Bronson is slated for reconstruction in 2011, and, astonishingly, the City presented a plan to the neighbourhood that would see engineers actually widen the roadbed, facilitating even greater traffic speed along the road.<\/p>\n

Here’s West Side Action’s Eric Darwin on the issue:<\/p>\n

The problem with the City’s current approach is that it assumes Bronson is a four lane street. And that it is congested. And therefore, the solution is to widen it.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

I don’t think Bronson IS a four lane street, and there is a whole pile of traffic engineering literature to support my view. Bronson only LOOKS like it has four through lanes. In fact, what it has is a right turn lane, a left turn lane, and through traffic that alternates from lane to lane to get through. Because the street looks wide, it encourages faster movement. The pace is set by the fastest car, which is the guy who passes on the right and changes lanes frequently. All this lane changing makes for fender benders. Cars find it hard to get on or off the street, because of the two lanes of opposing traffic to cut across. Pedestrians and transit users find it really unsafe to try to cross the street. It is not a pleasant street to live along or have a business on.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you are not familiar with Bronson at rush hour, the video above helps illustrate what Eric means about traffic behaviour. It is one green light cycle of the northbound lane at Somerset and Bronson, and in that one change alone you can\u00a0clearly see examples of lane-changing and drivers putting their foot down to accelerate along what they are trained to believe is a four-lane arterial. It is shot from the perspective of a pedestrian wishing to cross Bronson at Somerset, which is not a enjoyable place to be. Eric goes on:
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Consider this analogy: Bronson is a patient with clogged arteries. The City’s doctor (engineer) sees the constricted artery, and suggests we pump the patient with more fat and gunk since not all of it is getting through. Surely a more reasonable approach is to put the patient (Bronson) on a diet, so that the artery can handle the appropriate amount of traffic safely and without killing the residents, businesses, and adjacent communities.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With a gorgeous landmark feature soon to added to the Chinatown streetscape — the stunning royal arch, also covered in detail by Eric at the Chinatown Arch<\/a> site, and sure to become a tourist destination from the moment it is unveiled — the time is right to evaluate Bronson in light of\u00a0 what can be done to make the western sector of Centretown more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. But if the present plans\u00a0for Bronson go unchallenged, the City will moving to cut Chinatown off, even as it is poised for a rebirth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The always-excellent West Side Action is two parts into a 5-part series on Bronson Avenue. Bronson was designated as an arterial in the 1970s as part of the Centretown plan, and bears the brunt of north-south automobile traffic in a wide swath of\u00a0 Centretown,\u00a0 from Kent\/Lyon in the east to Booth in the west. FactorsContinue reading “City plans to widen Centretown’s great divide”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5066,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5297,5299,341],"tags":[444,628,1923,345,338,1521,919,1922,348],"class_list":["post-2746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-civic-engagement","category-community","category-urban-design","tag-centretown","tag-chinatown","tag-chinatown-arch","tag-civics","tag-community-development","tag-engineer","tag-eric-darwin","tag-lyon","tag-transportation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCity plans to widen Centretown's great divide - Spacing Ottawa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2010\/06\/04\/city-plans-to-widen-centretowns-great-divide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"City plans to widen Centretown's great divide - Spacing Ottawa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The always-excellent West Side Action is two parts into a 5-part series on Bronson Avenue. 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