We need your help! Safe Streets Update & Prioritization exercise

UPDATE: The map is now embeded, please click on the button in the top left hand corner to view all the map locations.

The streets of our community are definitely on the minds of Kitchissippi residents and with that in mind, The Safe Streets Working Group was established after the first Kitchissippi Forum in January 2015. Since the first call for input went out on 6 February, almost 700 emails offering detailed reports of locations that threaten the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers along our streets have been received. More than 90 problem locations have been documented, many of them with potential solutions. We are fortunate to be a part of a place with such great heart!

Locations ranged from specific intersections, such as Rosemount and Gladstone Avenues, where there is concern about a dangerous mix of school children and drivers neglecting to heed stop signs, to the entire length of Scott Street. Issues on this east-west corridor connecting Kitchissippi to downtown Ottawa include car speed, narrow sidewalks, misuse of left-hand turning lanes, illegal turns onto side streets, and, dangerous intersections for pedestrians such as at Parkdale Avenue and Scott Street. Unfortunately, a pedestrian was hit at this very intersection just last week.

If there was seemingly endless number of problem locations, there were also many thoughtful suggested solutions. Sometimes a good old shrub trimming to improve visibility, like at the intersection of Keenan and Westminster Avenue, is all that is needed. Advanced pedestrian indicators were the most common suggestion and residents felt that intersections such as Holland Avenue & Scott Street and Churchill Avenue & Richmond Avenue could benefit from them. Other suggested physical improvements included bollards, four-way stop signs, traffic lights, zebra walks and speed bumps.

Thank you to all of the residents, community associations, business owners and crossing guards who care about our neighbours and took the time to submit problem locations to the Safe Streets Working Group inventory. Members of the working group include community associations, local business owners and interested residents.  While there are currently no funds to use towards solving these road issues, Jeff anticipates using this inventory as a tool during discussions with the City and developers for how improvements can be made in the future. Furthermore, where there were suggestions that do not involve funds, such as shrub trimming, Jeff and his team will be working with City staff to action these where appropriate.

The next part of the Safe Streets Working Group project will be to prioritize the submitted problem locations, keeping a holistic, ward-wide approach in mind. And here, we need your help. Residents are now invited to fill in the following survey to help the working group with their prioritization exercise. You can look at the map below to see where some of these spots are, and you can continue to submit feedback directly by emailing safestreets@kitchissippiward.ca.  

Prioritization Survey: https://docs.google.com/a/kitchissippiward.ca/forms/d/1qaA1zVPoWV8fdyQSxAG1WHootJYi0ZQzAr292cqTFkg/viewform
Map link: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zT8mEm4yd1dc.kVLZDnDWWbr0