by Kathryn Hunt
When the Laurier segregated bike lane was constructed in July of 2011, it encountered some opposition, and it seems that nearly a year later, the concerns of some residents and businesses along Laurier Avenue have not gone away. In May, a coalition of residents and business owners, the Bay/Bronson Residents’ Action Group for Fair Access to the Road (BBRAGFAR,) began to raise the question again of whether the bike lanes are fair to all users of Laurier Avenue.
BBRAGFAR say they represent 3,000 residents of the residential section of Laurier West. (A count at ottawacondos.com of the condo units on Laurier west of Bank comes to 1,124 units.) They are in favour of reinstating parking on their end of Laurier, citing the needs of caregivers, service providers, delivery trucks, residents and their visitors to have access to streetside parking.
While a number of concerns around access for emergency vehicles were raised both in the initial phases of the project, and now by BBRAGFAR, the City maintains, on their website, that “measures have been established to ensure access and response times are not compromised.” They stress that the City is monitoring and regularly surveying businesses and traffic along the corridor to gather accurate information about the impact of the lane.
As well, while the group says that four condos at the west end of the lane don’t have legal stopping rights, impacting the elderly and people with disabilities, the City says that “Para Transpo vehicles and vehicles with accessible parking permits are permitted to do pick-ups and drop-offs in loading zones, no parking zones, and no stopping zones along the corridor (without impeding traffic.)”
Cyclists are largely in favour of keeping the lane as it is, citing increased ridership on the street since the lane was first opened for use. A bike counter installed on the street tracks the numbers of users, and posted a year-round total of more than 300,000 early this month. Alex de Vries, of Citizens for Safe Cycling, said, “Before this pilot there was no safe or comfortable route to get into or across the downtown core in an east/west direction. These lanes address that problem and feedback to Citizens for Safe Cycling suggests that it is attracting new cyclists. Building a cycling route through the core, with many intersections and narrow streets, is difficult, and there is no perfect solution. We think that there are tweaks that will make them easier to use and we’ll work with City staff to identify those and find solutions.”