Winter cycling route expansion expected in 2015
By Allison McNeely and Sarah Trick Ottawa cyclists will have to wait until at least 2015 before they see more pathways and bike lanes cleared in the winter. City council voted unanimously Tuesday to pass the 2013 cycling plan, part of the city’s transportation master plan for the next five years. The plan proposes to nearly double the amount of winter-maintained cycling lanes from 21 kilometres to 40 kilometres. The cost of expanding the winter cycling network is $200,000 per year for maintenance, according to the plan. ‘Winter is a key to get more people cycling and the easier we make it to get people on their bikes in the winter, the better.’ – Michael Napiorkowski But the current council isn’t committing any funding. Instead they are leaving funding up to the 2014-2018 council term and have not set aside any funding in the 2014 budget for the cost. Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury introduced the motion to push funding to the next council term at the Nov. 15 transportation committee meeting. The motion also included a recommendation for more public consultation on the network. Fleury said the details of winter maintenance need to be worked out before the plan can be put in place, such as coordinating snow plows for the road, bike lane and sidewalk. “It takes more than saying ‘Let’s plow this, let’s fund it.’ Before we do it and fail at it, we need to come up with a plan,” Fleury said. “We got into a tough spot last year where the lane was plowed and then the road plow would come and plow onto the cycling lane.” Consultation will include speaking with cycling groups around town to finalize which routes should be plowed, Fleury said. The plan currently suggests expanding the winter cycling infrastructure to Beechwood and Lees Avenues leading into downtown, along the O-Train line from Carling Avenue to Scott Street and other connection points to the existing winter network. The routes have not been finalized. Cycle route information courtesy of the City of Ottawa. Michael Napiorkowski, co-founder of the Ottawa Bicycle Lane Project, is disappointed winter maintenance won’t be expanded sooner but said the more segregated bike lanes there are, the more options winter cyclists will have, since the lanes are automatically cleared. “We’re pushing to have a network of protected lanes and from our perspective if we had more protected lanes then this would automatically be part of the package for snow removal, like the Laurier bike lane,” Napiorkowski said. “You’re establishing it as a real piece of infrastructure. You can’t just leave them in the winter.” Snow buildup at the edge of...
Winter activities in the works for popular Centretown Park
By Brett Throop and Kyle Duggan A Dundonald Park working group is urging people to come out and play in the park during the winter months. The park, a century-old Centretown landmark on Somerset Street at Bay Street, is a hub for community activities in the summer and one of the most trodden parks in the city. But when the mercury plummets, the visitors dwindle, a 2012 report by a Toronto-based urban consulting firm found. The report researched use of the park and how to improve it. Among other things, it found the park sees about six times fewer visitors in winter. “We are really encouraging people to keep using their community park,” said Christina Marchant, director of Community Health Promotion at Centretown Community Health Centre. The centre works closely with the Dundonald Park working group, which is in charge of getting more visitors to the park based on recommendations from the report. The working group is looking at activities such as cross-country ski and show-shoe lessons, Chinese New Year celebrations and a winter carnival. The carnival could include a snowman making competition, roasted-chestnut vendors and a park-lighting celebration. During summer, the park’s calendar is filled with daily tai chi classes, children’s music programs, line and folk dancing and movie nights. But there is only one listing for November and December on the park’s online calendar of events: a free weekly community meal held by Food Not Bombs. “When it gets to be winter we all want to cocoon a bit more and then our physical activity levels can go down,” Marchant said. “That’s not very healthy for us.” Marchant said that social isolation is greater in winter when people spend more time indoors, and that isolation is a year-round issue for many in Centretown who face language and income barriers. “Getting people out into the park in the winter is a way to break some of that isolation, maybe make some friends and basically support people’s mental health,” she said. Since new activities aren’t expected on the calendar this year, Marchant said the focus is currently on getting people to make their own fun. A group of Algonquin College students is working with the health centre to develop posters to encourage people to enjoy classic winter activities like making snowmen and snow angels in the park. “Once you’re moving and running around and having fun, you don’t feel the cold anymore,” said Mary O’Reilly, one of the students who designed the posters. “We don’t get enough sunlight, so having access to sunlight at all is very beneficial for your mood and getting out and being with...