Changing gears

Hello and welcome to the last week of Ottawa 3 Speed, at least for a while. 

I’m happy to announce that starting next week, I’ll be working for Councillor Glen Gower (Stittsville Ward) as a Councillor’s Assistant. I’ll be his planning and communications lead, and I’m very excited to begin.

I had considered continuing the newsletter, but ultimately decided to put it on pause. I’d like to spend some time adjusting to and focusing on my new job, while also mapping out the best way for me to keep bringing light to cycling issues and pushing to make Ottawa a better city for bike riding. I may still drop into your inbox from time to time.

Before I press pause, I’d like to try and convince you to be a cycling advocate (if you’re not already) and show you why it’s worthwhile.

Two things stand out to me as recent examples: Holland Avenue and Elgin Street. 

In summer 2018, planned temporary bike lanes on Holland (designed as a detour route) were cancelled after residents with driveways objected to losing on-street parking. Instead of bike lanes, the city installed “super sharrows”. Cycling advocates drew attention to the inadequacy of this dangerous design on twitter and in the media. A large group ride in protest of the change clearly demonstrated to the city that people wanted bike lanes on Holland as a safe detour route. I was glad to be a part of these efforts. Following this, the City changed its mind: they removed the sharrows and put in the bike lanes—but only on a temporary basis.

What was contentious in 2018 ended up not being contentious a couple years later. Yesterday, Wednesday November 25, 2020, City Council carried a motion to make the bike lanes on Holland permanent.

The other example is Elgin. The need to replace Elgin’s underground infrastructure led to an opportunity to improve the surface as well. Cycling advocates and residents wanted safe cycling infrastructure in the designs, but those didn’t come. The big problem was on the south end of the design, where the speed limit increased by 20 km/hr, traffic calming elements disappeared, and cyclists were told—with super sharrows and signage—to hold drivers behind them in single file. For years, cycling advocates (including myself) argued that the City was not only creating a danger to cyclists, but was in fact breaking their own rules on road design. We told the city that Elgin needed protected cycling facilities on the south end of the street. We were told it couldn’t be done. Then, only a few weeks after Elgin opened, a woman riding a bike was struck by a driver in a truck and seriously injured—right in the spot we warned would be a conflict area. Another group ride in protest drew attention to the issue again. In August, the City installed temporary bike lanes (with pylons) south of McLeod.

Again, what was contentious in 2018 ended up not being contentious a couple years later. Again, yesterday, Wednesday November 25, 2020, City Council carried a motion to create semi-permanent bike lanes on the south end of Elgin, piloting new quick-build infrastructure.

These are the successes that advocacy brings. It wouldn’t have happened without years of effort by hundreds of people. Everybody who pushed for this made a difference.

Back when bike lanes on Holland were contentious, CBC News used me for a few quotes in a piece about it. The article said, “As for Moffatt, he remains optimistic that the city will respond to cyclists' concerns.” These two recent case studies, on Elgin and Holland, prove that there is a reason to be optimistic.

But are there also reasons to be cynical? Yes! Of course! The City moves slowly, and often waits until someone gets injured or killed before taking necessary action. Some cycling advocates have been waiting decades for follow-through on plans, and are understandably distrustful of more promises. On balance, from a day-to-day perspective, it can feel that there are more setbacks than steps forward. But if you look at how far we’ve come in the last ten years—and how far we’re expected to go in the next ten—it’s clear that we are moving the ball down the field. Ottawa is a better city to ride a bike in than it used to be. Bike infrastructure will continue improving, and the number of people getting around by bike will keep growing. 

There’s still a long way to go, and the work never ends. The improvements we need won’t come automatically. We will need more engaged citizens actively working, publicly advocating, researching, attending consultations, emailing their councillors, attending protests, organizing demonstrations, arguing, debating, making a fuss etc. to make this vision a reality.

I still remain optimistic that the City will respond to cycling concerns. And I’ll continue trying to do my part—now in a different way—to not only help the city respond to concerns, but, more importantly, act on them.

Thanks for reading Ottawa 3 Speed.

-Jordan