Glebe Neighbourhood Cycling Plan – Fifth Avenue

Dear Glebe Annex residents,

The City of Ottawa has provided its responses to resident comments regarding the Glebe Neighbourhood Cycling Plan. The table of comments and responses can be read below:

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Dear Fifth Avenue residents (and interested members of the public),

Thanks for your interest in the Glebe Neighbourhood Cycling Plan. We delivered an informational flyer on June 17, 2016 (see attached) to approximately 230 households on Fifth Avenue.

The flyer illustrated the conceptual changes being proposed as part of the Glebe Neighbourhood Cycling Plan specifically to Fifth Avenue. The June 30, 2016 comment deadline has passed and we have heard back from 9 individuals for an approximate 4% response rate. A summary of the comments received along with the City staff response is included below:

*Comment / Inquiry*	*City Staff Response*
When will we know what is proposed at the Craig / Percy / Fifth intersection?	An update with regards to the Craig / Percy / Fifth design will be communicated by email and on the project website,Ottawa.ca/glebecycling later this month.
For the no parking zones on Fifth, consider changing to “no stopping” zone at Craig / Percy / Fifth and Bank / Fifth intersections to prevent people from parking or stopping.
While the Craig / Percy / Fifth intersection may be confusing and non-traditional, it’s still relatively safe and there haven’t been any serious collisions.
Consider a raised intersection to help improve stop compliance but consider impacts to drainage.
All-way stop control at Craig / Percy / Fifth is not respected
Please confirm whether existing permitted parking zones, particularly with its chicane effect on Fifth, will not be affected.	There were proposed alternatives that called for removal of on-street parking to allow for the implementation of bike lanes. However, those options were screened out earlier on in the study process and as such there will be no changes to on-street parking on Fifth Avenue [the alternating parking arrangement along Fifth was originally implemented to help calm traffic along the street and there was a high level of support to maintain this arrangement.]. As such, sharrows were included in the preferred concept to better highlight the street as a shared use facility and help further validate the existence of cyclists on Fifth Avenue. These sharrow markings will not be placed in adjacent parking lanes, but in the middle of the shared travel lane. No street parking is required to be removed as a result.It should also be noted that an existing no-parking zone on the south side of Fifth Avenue between Bank Street and O’Connor Street will be converted to a no-stopping zone to accommodate an eastbound bike lane.
The shared use lanes being proposed on Fifth Avenue do not account for parked vehicles on the side of the road. If Fifth Avenue is to be a shared use facility, there should be no street parking allowed.
How will street parking be affected by this plan?
Will the “no truck” route designation of Fifth Avenue continue to exist?	Yes.
Consider using temporary traffic calming measures such as the flex posts placed in the middle of the road.	Requests for temporary traffic calming can be made through your Ward Councillor’s office.
Lansdowne development has generated more traffic in neighbourhood and on Fifth Avenue.	The way people choose to travel to and from Lansdowne is beyond the scope of this project. That said, this project was one of many approved through the Transportation Master Plan to improve options to travel by non-car modes (including cycling) for residents in the city. [For the detailed rationale as to why the City is seeking to improve conditions for cycling and reduce the impacts of vehicular traffic, please refer to the City’s Transportation Master Plan].Fifth Avenue is just one cycling route identified within the community. Through the Glebe Neighbourhood Cycling Plan (GNCP) study process, a concept has been developed for Fifth Avenue to help meet overall policy objectives while still remaining sensitive to other competing demands for the road. In general, the plan does not call for significant changes, but instead a series of cycling supportive measures that should improve cycling conditions. Regarding enforcement of regulations, please contact Ottawa Police Services at 613-236-1222 extension 7300.
There are no problems on Fifth Avenue and this proposal is unnecessary and not good use of taxpayer money.
We need to consider the needs of cyclists to greater extent.
The City treats motorists unfairly in comparison to cyclists – both from a policy, regulatory, and enforcement perspective. This is inappropriate.
Vehicle speeds are fine, consider removing speed humps from proposal.	In the locations where speed humps are proposed, the 85^th percentile speeds (48km/hr) and 95^th percentile speeds (54km/hr) on Fifth Avenue are above the posted speed limit. That is, 85% and 95% of motorists are driving at or below 48km/hr and 54km/hr respectively. The proposed speed humps are intended to encourage reduced motorist speeds which can improve conditions for all road users.
The proposed plan makes operations more difficult for school buses, pedestrians, garbage trucks, and emergency services than the existing design.	The proposed plan does not incur any significant changes to the existing roadway operations. The two speed humps proposed at the westerly end of Fifth Avenue will result in nominal delays to the occasional emergency service responders. All other proposed changes will have nominal impact on their operations. The only other operational change is the at the westbound approach to Bank Street where the left turn and through-right turn approach lanes will be converted to a single shared left-through-right lane and a westbound bike lane. This will result in some changes to the signal timing plan.
The proposed placement of the speed humps needs to be explained. Consideration should be given to placing the speed hump between Gordon and Muriel closer to Muriel to calm westbound motorists attempting to make the green light at Bronson.	The speed humps are intended to encourage low vehicle speeds within the community – particularly for motorists coming off (and heading to) Bronson Avenue. There is potential for the placement of the speed hump between Muriel and Gordon to be closer to Muriel (this will be reviewed at the detailed design stage). There are some concerns however. In general, the guidelines provide by the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) call for a speed humps to be placed 75m from uncontrolled intersections (although there is some flexibility depending on context). There is also a catch basin on the southeast corner of that intersection. Lastly, it is generally undesirable to place a hump that is immediately in front of a residential driveway. We understand the rationale for placing the speed hump closer to Muriel, but there are other considerations that have to be balanced as well. Again, this will be reviewed at the detailed design stage to see what is possible.
The eastbound stop sign at Chrysler needs to be made more visible.	We will ask our Traffic Services department to place the stop sign closer to the roadway if possible to help the sign be more visible to motorists.
Removing the westbound left turn lane at the Bank / Fifth intersection will increase delays to vehicle traffic to an extent that will outweigh the benefits to those cycling on the road.	The intent of the Glebe Neighbourhood Cycling Plan is to improve conditions for cyclists through the Glebe. That said, monitoring will be conducted once the plan is implemented to determine if there are any elements which need to be adjusted to mitigate significant negative impacts. In this specific case, we are simply making changes to pavement markings which are easy to change if necessary.
Will there be additional consultation on this file?	There will be no further public consultation on this item.
This plan will be an improvement on the existing situation.	Staff will conduct monitoring once the plan is implemented and make adjustments if necessary to ensure the plan operates as intended.