The City of Ottawa asked residents to pinpoint transportation problems that need fixing, and they didn’t hold back their frustration.
Residents placed more than 4,000 pins on a map of the city, highlighting nightmarish intersections, congested roundabouts and sluggish transit routes.
The map is part of the public consultation process for Ottawa’s transportation master plan, a guiding document for infrastructure investments across the city.
Of Ottawa’s three major suburbs, Orléans gets disproportionate attention with roughly 1,000 pins. Barrhaven has about 600, while Kanata-Stittsville is far behind with just 250.
Here’s a list of some of Ottawa’s top problem spots, according to the non-scientific survey. Highways 417 and 416, both provincial routes, were not included.
Brian Coburn Boulevard, Orléans
This south Orléans corridor attracted 266 pins, with residents reporting “horrendous” congestion and “woefully terrible” infrastructure.
The worst spots were the roundabout at Mer Bleue Road and the intersection at Tenth Line Road, which was variously called a “disaster,” “treacherous” and “extremely congested.” Several residents reported that they have to wait through several light cycles before getting through.
Others suggested Brian Coburn should be widened. It’s now just a single lane in each direction.
Nearby residents who spoke to CBC weren’t surprised to hear Brian Coburn got so much attention in the survey. Danielle Courchain said she’s often stuck in traffic there.
“People don’t know how to use roundabouts,” she said. “Put some lights in.”
Ashley Macdonald said she’s afraid to bring her kids to the corner of Tenth Line and Brian Coburn.
“I can hear the honking or the screeching of an immediate stop, or even the bangs when an accident happens,” she said. “I can hear it from my house.”
Greenbank Road over Jock River, Barrhaven
This narrow bridge spans the Jock River, with tight corners on both sides. Comments called it entirely inadequate for the steadily mounting traffic from the growing Half Moon Bay neighbourhood to the south, and marked it with 50 pins.
They called the bridge “a hazard” and the sharp turns “perilous.” One comment noted the bridge seems to have been “built by our forefathers to accommodate horse and buggy.”
Someone is going to get killed here eventually.– Comment about Greenbank Road
“How this is the main entrance to one of the busiest and fastest growing areas in all of Ontario is absurd,” it continued. “Someone is going to get killed here eventually.”
The comments urged the city to realign Greenbank Road and build a new bridge over the river, a major investment at the top of Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill’s priority list. He called it “a really important safety issue” that should have been fixed 10 years ago.
“That bridge was not designed for the volume of traffic that uses it now,” he said.
Hill said investment is on the way, with $20 million set aside to fund design work. He said work will happen in stages, though completing it will take years.
“It’s critical. there have been accidents after accidents on that bridge,” he said. “There are large vehicles that are simply unable to cross that bridge because of the tightness of those hairpin corners.”
Bank Street transit backups
Bank Street was one of the main targets of residents’ ire, with more than 70 complaints about buses inching so slowly along the congested artery that it’s sometimes faster to walk than it is to ride.
One comment called Bank Street bus service “borderline unusable.” The Glebe was a major epicentre for complaints, especially around Lansdowne Park.
Numerous posts called for dedicated bus and bike lanes along Bank Street.
Carling Avenue and Baseline Road also have high numbers of transit-related pins, with most saying bus rapid transit is urgently needed along both corridors.
Bronson Avenue
From Carleton University all the way downtown, dozens of pins mark spots riddled with potholes or seized up with daily traffic jams.
Several comments focused on the section along the Glebe where left-turning traffic blocks lanes for long stretches.
One said the section is “badly in need of resurfacing,” while another called it “one of the worst in the city, both for traffic flow and road quality.”
Strandherd Drive, Barrhaven
After Greenbank Road, Strandherd Drive was another target for Barrhaven drivers, especially approaching Highway 416.
The comments called several intersections leading up to the highway dangerous and poorly designed. They complained of frequent speeding along that stretch. Others noted that the road is congested and Barrhaven is desperately in need of another connection to the 416 to relieve the pressure.
Earlier this year, the province announced funding for design work on an interchange to the south, at Barnsdale Road.
“That’s going to be massive,” Hill said. “I can’t overstate the significant impact that having that interchange will have on traffic patterns in Barrhaven.”
Innes Road, Orléans
Even if it didn’t approach the level of opprobrium visited upon Brian Coburn Boulevard, Innes Road racked up nearly 100 pins in Orléans alone.
Many of the complaints pushed for better traffic signalization. The corner with Lamarche Avenue was a frequent focus of complaints, with comments citing “dangerous situations” from left turns.
Other posts faulted the entire road, saying a significant traffic buildup has left the stretch congested throughout the day.