Traffic Overflow in the Neighbourhood

Excess traffic is annoying people in the neighbourhood, leading some to take action (there are a couple of rather hot posts in the Champlain Park Facebook Group, where rather than blocking the cars, submitting a request for service to the police was suggested). Our city councillor Jeff Leiper has written about it, here’s his text from https://kitchissippiward.ca/2024/10/07/cut-through-bridge-traffic-woes/

Cut-through bridge traffic woes

October 7, 2024

Good evening, Kitchissippi.

Residents of Westboro Beach and Champlain Park who live on streets like Clearview and Lanark have been writing to me tonight to let me know they’ve had another bad weekend. Cut-through traffic trying to reach the bridge, especially starting in mid-afternoon, has been rough this summer, backing up for blocks, most recently on Clearview and yesterday for a period as far as Northwestern. Residents have a hard time getting in or out of their driveways, traffic is idling and they’re fed up.

Today, a resident went to the length of physically trying to prevent traffic from illegally turning from Clearview and Lanark northbound. While the resident’s frustration may be understandable, those actions were dangerous and ill-advised. However, that seems to be the point where the neighbourhood is at.

I’m writing tonight to let residents know what discussions have taken place, who’s responsible for what, and what I have been doing and considering. The fact that people are taking vigilante action makes that more urgent.

First and foremost, many of the residents who have spoken with me have identified the National Capital Commission’s Bike Days as a key culprit. I recognize that when those had shorter hours I did not receive the same complaints. These days, I usually start getting mail around mid-afternoon on Saturdays and Sundays just as shoppers and errand-runners begin returning home to Aylmer. We know that Gatineau has grown significantly in the past few years, and I’m hesitant to lay all the blame on the westbound Parkway Bike Days, but it seems likely that is having at least some effect.

Some residents have asked me to advocate for the curtailment of Bike Day hours and I’ve been unequivocal that I will not do so. To be clear, the NCC is at liberty to open its parkways to pedestrians and cyclists as it chooses. Neither I nor City Council have any authority over it. I have invited residents who want reduced Bike Days hours to advocate directly with the NCC and to make their arguments directly to the decision-maker.

For thousands of people, the open Kichi Zībī Mīkan is a safe place to exercise and enjoy the outdoors. it’s likely the biggest open, bikeable, walkable space that can be reached easily on public transit – a linear Central Park.

I consider that the benefits to our city’s health and well-being from the NCC Bike Days outweighs the inconvenience to a very small number of this ward’s residents who, if they want to use their car during certain hours of the weekend, will have to plan ahead. I have seen some residents note that they park their cars out of the jam area when they know they’ll need to use them on a weekend afternoon. Given the benefits, I don’t think that’s an unreasonable outcome.

Of course, it’s not just driveway access about which residents are concerned. They don’t like the idling, the congestion on residential streets, or even the “loud radios”. I get that. It’s unpleasant. But it still doesn’t outweigh in my mind the benefits of Bike Days.

There are fluctuations in the volume of mail I get depending on what else is going on in the city – a bridge closure, a Queensway collision, a big protest downtown, construction closures – so I’m skeptical that Bike Days are entirely to blame for the cut-through traffic.

Whatever the reasons, it’s clear that something else needs to be done. Aylmer is not going to start shrinking, and cross-border traffic will only increase in the coming years. The Champlain Bridge is a chokepoint that will get worse over time.

I’ve asked the City for help on numerous occasions. They have adjusted the hours for turn restrictions, and the signs that I asked for last year on Scott indicating there’s no access to IPD from Clearview or Lanark were re-installed this year. It’s clear those aren’t working.

One measure that could help is increased police enforcement of the turn restriction, but I want to manage residents’ expectations of that. Island Park Drive is federal jurisdiction, policed by the RCMP, but I believe that the Ottawa Police Service can and should assist. In the past, they’ve agreed on occasion to do so. But this is one of dozens of persistent traffic issues across the city. Changing behaviours will not occur without persistent enforcement, and the resources simply aren’t there to do that. On a day like today, the Panda game and downtown protests would have been all-hands-on-deck for the cops. I’ll also note – again – that police respond best to resident requests for help. My encouragement to residents is to continue to report the problem of illegal turns to police. Council isn’t in charge of police – I cannot direct them to do anything, and there is no guarantee that they can put in the persistent effort necessary to stop illegal turns.

I’ve also been asked in past about “local traffic only” signs. I’ve long since stopped requesting those. Wherever they’re present, they’re ignored. This entire problem has arisen because people ignore “no access” signs on Scott, then large “no-turn” signs at IPD. More signage is not the solution.

Which leads me finally to what I think might be a solution, which is to block off Island Park Drive at Clearview, Sunnymede and Lanark, whether permanently or somehow just during Bike Days weekends. It’s problematic from a transit perspective since the 16 goes straight down Lanark and Clearview. It is likely being significantly delayed by having to get through all that traffic, though, which is why I’m entertaining it. There would need to be a re-routing to serve destinations such as the Island Park Towers. I’ve recently asked OC Transpo to run some of those numbers.

I am wondering whether temporary barriers could be erected from Saturday night to Sunday evening. Those would have to be beefy. When I’ve used temporary barriers in the past, those have occasionally gone walking. Not everyone is a fan. However, it would only take a few weeks of seeing the access barred to change the problematic behaviours we’re trying to address.

The other option if a temporary closure is too onerous is simply to block those streets off permanently. My first step is to understand whether an alternative transit solution might be found, a precondition for pursuing this any further.

I apologize for a long post. There is a significant background to this and people have been working to find a solution. Coming up with limited options so far doesn’t mean we can stop trying.