The Gridlock

By Jesse Winter

Like wheeled Frankensteins, they roll across the city, flattening all in their path, unstoppable by even the coldest Ottawa winter.

Fat bikes. They’ve been spotted cruising across frozen snow banks or weaving between traffic. Their bulbous wheels, swollen like a Yeti’s feet, spinning through snow and ice with ease.

The fat bike craze has grown steadily across Canada for the past couple of years, but they’ve been slowly gaining traction in Canada’s snowiest regions for over a decade.

As Dave Macki, co-owner of Phat Moose Cycles explains, fat bikes were once relegated to the fringes along with other bizarre creations like tall bikes, recumbents and other freak bikes.

“Brands like Surly has been making their Pugsley for years. Salsa made one for a long time as well, but now everyone under the sun makes a fat bike,” he said.

Macki’s been in the fat bike business since 2003, when the high tech company he was working for got bought out. He founded Phat Moose Cycles, a small specialized bike boutique in Old Ottawa East with a friend and soon developed a loyal clientele.

Within that customer base, Macki said, was always one or two strange folk who wanted something weird, something outside the norm.

“We always had about one guy who wanted some sort of freak bike, so we’d build a fat bike for him,” Macki said.

Starting in about 2010, more people began to pick up on the trend. Sales of fat bikes climbed at Phat Moose, as people realized that having five-inch-wide tires (that’s 13 centimetres in road cycling speak) was perfect for battling winter riding conditions here. No longer would riders be forced to stable their steeds when snow started falling.

Macki’s shop has doubled the number of fat bikes it sells every year for the past three, to a high of about two-dozen last season. He’s hopeful that November’s brief snowfalls will help propel that number even higher this year.

The bikes have earned a cult following in many places, especially in Canada’s north. In Yellowknife it’s increasingly common to see fat bikes along the ice roads on Great Slave Lake, with hardy souls churning their pedals against the biting wind.

In Whitehorse, there are now dozens of fat bikes, and counting. In such extreme conditions, having wide, fat tires isn’t enough. Below -25 C, even high-end brakes can fail when the hydraulic fluid starts to freeze, so bike manufacturers have cast their eyes backwards for old-school tech to solve the problem.

Remember grip shifters, those sad excuses for bike shifting technology that thankfully went the way of the dodo in the early 2000s? Turns out they work much better in Canadian winters than the precision indexed and spring-loaded shifters that most mountain bikes now use.

And cable-powered disc brakes, which often invite scorn from bike snobs, have a hidden benefit: unlike their expensive hydraulic cousins, they can’t freeze.

Macki said most people in Ontario use fat bikes as stand-ins for mountain bikes in the snow – riding them on packed-down snowmobile trails like the Osgoode multi-use pathway. Even some groomed ski areas like Mont St. Marie allow them.

But they are equally at home plowing through the snowdrifts on Ottawa streets. If another polar vortex descends on Ottawa this winter, it’s likely that fat bikes will emerge victorious once again.

By Shannon Moore

Carleton students could soon be getting their summer bus rides on the cheap.

The university’s student associations and administration are considering the summer U-Pass option as they re-negotiate their contract with OC Transpo. Their current agreement is up for renewal this academic year.

“We’ve had our first meeting with OC Transpo and we’re starting to re-negotiate,” said Maddy Porter, the vice-president of student issues at the Carleton University Students’ Association.

“We’re in the process of asking if it’s a possibility, how much it would cost, and how many students would actually benefit,” she said. “We’re fighting for it, because students have approached us saying that it’s a really good idea.”

Students currently pay $376.00 for the U-Pass, which is included in their student fees and allows them to travel on OC Transpo from September to April. When the school year ends, students who are enrolled in summer classes are required to pay for a full-price monthly pass, costing $100.75 per month.

There is a discounted “student” monthly pass costing $80.25 per month, but it is only available to students between the ages of 13 and 19.

“I think that the summer U-Pass is a great idea,” said Carleton graduate student Mary Ritchie. “I’ve spent three or four summers now in Ottawa as a student, and haven’t had a discounted bus pass.”

“We have to pay full price rates and it costs way more money than students can afford,” she said.

easel.ly

Kaitlin Milroy is a vice-president for CUPE 4600, a union that supports teaching assistants and contract workers on Carleton’s campus. She said the school has a responsibility to provide affordable options to students, considering the high cost of the regular monthly pass.

“Ottawa has some of the most expensive transit in Canada,” she said. “Good transit systems need public investment, not greater individual-per-ride costs. These can be prohibitive and cut deeply into the pockets of those who depend on accessible transit the most.”

As for the summer U-Pass, she suggested providing students with different options based on their individual needs.

“A 12-month pass is an excellent idea. In fact, I think there should be two options for students: semester passes and year passes, and they should all be cheaper than they are now,” she said.

Porter could not provide information as to the potential cost of the summer U-Pass, or confirm whether or not it would be included in the annual fees that Carleton students pay.

However, some students are stressing the importance of an opt-out alternative for those who do not travel to campus during the summer months.

“I would love a U-Pass during the summer,” said Carleton graduate student Emilie Hurst. “Maybe an optional one, though, because I know that a lot of people aren’t here during the summer, and couldn’t actually take advantage of it.”

While the current objective is to extend U-Pass coverage for students enrolled in summer classes, Porter doesn’t discount the possibility of also making it available to students who are living in Ottawa but not enrolled during the summer months.

“Right now, we’re looking at students who are enrolled in classes, because we don’t know how many students stay in the city,” she said. “But if there were enough students that came to us and said they want one, even if they aren’t going to school, then we would fight for that too.”

“We’re the ones that advocate on behalf of it. We want to make sure that everyone has it,” she said.

Algonquin College students recently voted in favour of implementing the U-Pass on their campus. That contract provides students with a full-year pass.

By Laurene Jardin

A memorial for a pedestrian killed at the intersection of Baseline Road and Rockway Crescent, in early November. Pedestrians and cyclists are concerned after a chain of collisions killed two people and left others in serious condition, last week. (Photo © Laurène Jardin)

Pedestrians and cyclists questioned their safety on Ottawa roads after two people were killed and two are in critical condition in a series of motor collisions across the city last week.

Many felt their lives were in jeopardy when walking along Ottawa’s streets.

“Honestly, I don’t feel very safe at all,” said Michael Prince, who walks to the bus stop on Baseline Road and Rockway Crescent every day with his young daughter Abigail.

Michael Prince speaks on the dangers of traffic in his area

• A male pedestrian, 24, was left in critical condition and a female pedestrian, 21, was left in serious condition after both were struck by a vehicle on Navaho Drive and Baseline Road on Wednesday.
• A male cyclist was struck and killed by a garbage truck on Merivale Road early Thursday morning.
• An 80-year-old man, with a walker was hit by a school bus, at a crosswalk. Friday evening. He remains in critical condition.
• A 20-year-old male pedestrian was killed after being struck by a car at the intersection of Innes Road and Cyrville Road, Saturday.

On Tuesday, Ottawa Police Const. Marc Soucy said police were not ready to issue a statement because the causes of the collisions were still under investigation.

“This is a tragedy,” said former city council candidate Martin Canning, in response to the deadly accidents last week.

“But I hear it every year,” he said. Canning is an active pedestrian and cyclist advocate. He does not own a car and travels almost everywhere by foot.

Canning, a runner up in the 2014 municipal election for Somerset Ward, blamed “poor design and poor policy” for last week’s incidents.

In the wake of the accidents, people took to Twitter to express their frustration. Before the onslaught of accidents, Canning posted tweets showing chained stair access of Dundonald Park and Corktown Footbridge. In his tweet, he said that pedestrians had been ‘closed out’ of their city. And then, last week Canning tweeted at Mathieu Fleury, councillor for Rideau-Vanier Ward, asking him not to “lock up” the Corktown Footbridge.

While the pedestrian bridge stair access had been chained, the ramp path was still accessible.

Fleury responded with a tweet saying that he’d look into it.

In a phone interview Monday, Fleury said there were places in Ottawa that were “Missing safety links, signage or missing lanes.”

“When the infrastructure was done they did not look at it from a pedestrian’s or a cyclist’s point of view,” said Fleury. He explained that when the city was originally planned, its transportation routes were done from a motorist point of view.

“It’s not excusable,” Fleury said. “But now it’s about recognizing when these infrastructures were implemented and looking at how we can improve them.”

While important, poor infrastructure alone cannot be held responsible for pedestrian deaths.

According to a 2011 report by the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario, 28 per cent of pedestrians who died, had consumed alcohol, drugs or both.

Mike Tyshenko, a new resident to Vanier he said there were specific times that he felt unsafe on the road.

“In the winter, when it gets dark really early, there are still a lot of people walking. It can pretty be dangerous,” said Tyshenko, who was picking up groceries on Beechwood Avenue and Springfield Road.

Tyshenko’s concerns are legitimate.

The Coroner’s report explained that winter was the most dangerous time for pedestrians and cyclists. According to the report, that 55 per cent of deaths examined in 2010 occurred throughout the darker months of January to March.

Ottawa’s 2009-2013 Road Safety Report also indicated that the most dangerous time of the day for pedestrians was during rush-hour, between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

“It’s not just a number or figures,” said Canning. “It’s a matter of health and security.”

easel.ly

By Karen Henderson

Megan Leah had no idea that roughly 140 transport trucks travelling through her neighbourhood every day contain dangerous goods.

“We don’t tend to think about what’s in the trucks, we just think of the trucks,” said Leah. “We don’t think about the dangers on the street.”

Leah works at the Champagne Fitness Centre on King Edward Avenue and deals with complaints from frustrated customers trying to access their parking lot, cross the road, or cycle down the street.

Every day, an average of 2,600 transport trucks travel across Highway 417, through Lowertown on King Edward Avenue and across the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge to Gatineau. One hundred and forty of those trucks carry dangerous goods, according to the 2007 Interprovincial Roadside Truck Survey.

Dangerous goods, as defined by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, are substances that “could cause harm to people, property or the environment” such as petroleum, crude oil, or chemicals.

Kate Carradine, manager of the Andrew Fleck Child Care Services located at the intersection of George Street and King Edward Avenue, is concerned about how a potential spill could harm the children she cares for daily.

“If these goods are toxic then this is obviously a huge concern due to the fact that we have over 85 children in attendance at the centre and this could pose a serious safety risk should there ever be an accident of any kind,” said Carradine in an email.

A 2013 study by the Fraser Institute found risk of an oil spill is higher during road transport than it is when rail, marine or pipelines move oil products.

On Tuesday the federal standing committee on transport, infrastructure and communities met for the fourth and final time to review dangerous goods transport regulations. The committee examined transportation safety guidelines and regulation of dangerous goods transport for rail, air, sea and road across the country.

This review was spurred by federal Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt in 2013, shortly after the Lac Mégantic rail disaster.

Mathieu Fleury, city councillor of Rideau-Vanier Ward, said that a truck tunnel built downtown could relieve 93 per cent of truck traffic and possibly 100 per cent if the tunnel “is engineered properly” to accommodate transport trucks carrying dangerous goods. The City of Ottawa has hired Parsons Engineering to complete a feasibility study on the proposed truck tunnel. The study will be completed in 2015. Previously, the City had partnered with the province to assess building a bridge to reroute the truck traffic, but the province pulled support from the plan in 2013.

Some Lowertown residents have reservations about the efficacy of the truck tunnel and the probability of it being built in the near future.

Nathan Davis, co-chair of the King Edward Avenue Task Force and an ocean engineer employed with the Department of National Defence, said “I’m skeptical about the ability of the tunnel to solve the trucking problem.”

Davis called the current truck situation on King Edward Avenue “an urban planning absolute fail.”

Davis said many trucks have overturned in recent years at the northern end of King Edward Avenue and that speed was a factor in these crashes.

Davis said a dangerous goods spill near the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge would be “an absolute disaster” due to the high residential population in that area and the nearby waterway.

An accident in this region of the city would be of particular concern because of the high population density. The population density of Lowertown is four-times the Ottawa average, according to the 2011 Ottawa Neighbourhood Study.

Transport Canada statistics show that Ontario has the highest number of emergency dangerous goods spills in Canada, with 308 reported emergencies in 2013. Road-related spills constituted 204 of the reports.

Fleury confirmed the feasibility study for the truck tunnel would not be completed until 2015 and estimates that the tunnel will be approved no earlier than 2017. The approval of the truck tunnel will be dependent on funding and support.

By Eddie Ameh

 Students from Ebola-stricken countries feel Canada’s recent ban on issuing new visas stigmatizes them.

“Banning visas from these countries is unfair especially to the international students who want to come and study here,” said Aissatou Bah, a Guinean student, Friday.

Bah’s home country has been ravaged by the deadly virus. “I don’t think banning people is going to help anybody,” she said. Bah said the ban is “stigmatizing people from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.”

Bah’s father, who is in Guinea, will not be able to attend her graduation should the ban be in force next year.

Last month, Canada banned the issuance of visas to people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the move violates the spirit, if not its International Health Regulations, which proscribe travel and trade bans by its 196 member states without WHO’s approval.

Bah, president of the University of Ottawa West African Youth Association said the best way to address Ebola is for Canada to help the countries fight the disease.

Jennifer Humphries, vice-president of the Canadian Bureau of International Education said her organization is concerned about the ban, but said not many students will be affected, particularly during the upcoming January admissions, since there is usually a small intake of international students during this period.

“We hope the ban will be reviewed and eventually lifted after May,” Humphries said. While the number of students coming to Canada from the region has never been high, it has been rising lately, according to the Canadian Bureau of Education’s annual report on international education in Canada.

In the meantime, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa have advised students to avoid travelling to Ebola affected countries if it is not necessary.

Christopher Cline, media relations officer at Carleton in a statement said “If you are travelling to certain parts of western Africa over the holidays, it may be difficult for you to re-enter Canada or you may face screening measures.”

Marie Simone Biaye, a third-year University of Ottawa student from Guinea said she understands some of the measures taken but, is frustrated by the visa ban.

“It is as if they are telling us that we should deal with our own problems. This is a global issue,” she said.

Biyae and Bah plan to visit Guinea next summer to solicit support from a number of NGOs to raise awareness on Ebola in Ottawa and raise funds. They intend to volunteer in Guinea to help in the efforts to fight against the virus.

Not every student from western Africa is following the recommendation to stay put in Canada over the winter break. Though his country is not currently subject to any bans, Carleton student Michael Obi from Nigeria plans to go home for the Christmas break.

Obi is confused by the different warning and bans.

“What happens if there is another case reported in Nigeria?” he said.

Nigeria was declared Ebola-free in October by the WHO. However, the Government of Canada advises people to avoid all non-essential travel to Nigeria at this time. Obi thinks coming back from Nigeria might be “complicated” if Nigeria reports a case while he is there.

“It is a big risk I am taking,” he said. “This is the only time I can visit my family.”