The Fourth Annual Citizens for Safe Cycling Family Winter Parade takes place on Sunday, January 25th starting at 11am. This year’s route follows a 4km elongated east-west loop through Centretown, beginning and ending at the south entrance to City Hall. Here’s how it goes.
Ottawa City Hall south entrance
Riders will head south on Cartier Street for a short block before turning left onto Cooper Street. Cooper is a one way that curves south just before it reaches Queen Elizabeth Drive and becomes The Driveway. There’s a stop sign where The Driveway meets Somerset Street. Traffic on Somerset doesn’t have a stop, so crossing Somerset requires a gap in traffic. I’ve hi-lited on the map where this occurs at other intersections along the route. Gaps in traffic were frequent and generous at all intersections on the two wintry Sunday mornings I tested out the route at 11am.
Just beyond Somerset the route veers right on to MacLaren Street. MacLaren is a calm one way heading west through Centretown.
MacLaren Street
There is a potpourri of interesting architectural styles to be seen along MacLaren, like this well preserved home built for lumber baron JR Booth in 1909 at the corner of Metcalfe & MacLaren.
Booth residence
Or this assortment of styles from various decades throughout the history of Centretown.
Architecture along MacLaren St
The parade will then turn north onto Bay Street beside Dundonald Park. There is a bike lane along Bay Street that unfortunately isn’t cleared in the winter, but it is a quiet street on Sunday mornings in January.
Bay Street
The tour will then turn right onto the Laurier Street Bike Lane which IS cleared and salted throughout the winter.
Laurier Bike Lane
After crossing Elgin Street the parade will turn onto the plaza on the north side of City Hall.
North side of City Hall
Riders will then follow the short path on the west side of City Hall to complete the loop.
Path beside City HallFINISH/ARRIVÉE
POST EVENT UPDATE: It was a big success! Around 50 riders showed up. A thorough description of the event can be found on the Citizens For Safe Cycling website by clicking here.
The 4th Annual Winter Bike Parade! (Photo : Hans Moor)
One of Ottawa’s finest winter assets is the the Rideau Canal Skateway. Walking there from most parts of Centretown is pretty good, but if you live on the western edge of the ward it may be more convenient to go by bike. Here’s how.
If your starting point is west of Bronson, find your way to Arthur street and head north (see blue line on the following map). There’s a traffic light to help get across busy Somerset. Turn right on Primrose, then left on Cambridge, which veers right and becomes Laurier. On the other side of the lights at the intersection of Laurier and Bronson is the start of the Laurier Bike Lane heading east, which is cleared and salted throughout the winter.
Laurier Bike Lane
If you are starting on the east side of Bronson, the safest road to follow to the Laurier Bike Lane is Bay Street, a one way heading north. It has a bike lane that is not cleared in the winter, but sections of it are often partially visible, depending on the amount of snow.
I follow the Laurier Bike Lane all the way to the plaza at City Hall, just east of Elgin Street. I then cross Laurier at the crosswalk in front of the plaza and cut through Confederation Park where there are stairs down to the canal skateway. You can lock your bike to the steel tube railing that runs pretty much the length of the canal.
Rideau Canal Access point at Confederation Park
The canal is void of skaters in the above photo because this section hadn’t opened yet, however when it is good-to-go it tends to be very busy, especially on weekends or during Winterlude, so I often prefer accessing the canal at the end of Somerset street. To do so, I cut through the plaza and around City Hall (purple line on above map). I then follow quiet side streets and cross Queen Elizabeth Drive at Somerset where there is a crosswalk to the canal pathway. There are some cleared stairs that bring you down to the ice, just to the right of the pedestrian bridge over the canal, like so.
Access to skate way at the end of Somerset St
The paths along either side of the canal are cleared, so you can bike to to most of the many access stairs.
On the way back I followed the canal path to and through Confederation Park (green line on map).
Path through Confederation park
This brought me to the corner of Elgin and Laurier, and back on the Laurier Bike lane heading west. The segregated & cleared portion unfortunately ends at Bay Street. There is a narrow non-segregated bike lane but it isn’t cleared. Laurier is a busy street. If the lane is full of snow I take to the sidewalk.
Laurier west of Lyon
If you are staying on the east side of Bronson, the best street to take south is Percy. It too has a bike lane, but similar to the one on Bay, it isn’t cleared in the winter. I live west of Bronson, so I continue straight along Laurier and cross at the traffic lights at Bronson.
Canada is home to one of the largest populations of bears in the world. I have yet to come across one on my cycling exploits (like these guys) however there are some fine sculptural interpretations of members of the family Ursidae throughout the nation’s capital. So, if you are a lover of bears, or sculptures of bears, this tour is for you!
We begin at the intersection of Sparks Street and Metcalfe Street where stands this big bronze statue of a fishing grizzly by artist Bruce Garner (for tours of other sculptural works by Bruce throughout the capital, click here).
Territorial Perogative
I then rode along Sparks to Elgin Street, then past the WarMemorial and down around the National Arts Centre via the ramp off Elgin Street. I then cut through Confederation Park to the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument, sculpted by Lloyd Pinay. A life sized bear is one of four animals depicted in the base of the bronze sculpture, each representing spirit guides. The bear symbolizes healing powers.
National Aboriginal Veterans Monument
Our next stop is located in the Jeanne d’Arc Courtyard in the Byward Market. To get there I cut through the plaza in front of City Hall, then along quiet residential streets to the bike & pedestrian bridge over the canal at Somerset Street. I then rode along the Rideau Canal, and crossed Colonel By Drive at Daly Avenue. The stretch of Colonel By/Sussex St between Daly and George where it intersects Rideau Street does not have a bike lane and most times of the week it is filled with cars, trucks and buses jostling their way through this busy intersection. The safest time to try this tour would be early Sunday morning when biking through this area isn’t so dangerous.
To access Jeanne d’Arc Courtyard from the south requires walking along the York Street sidewalk just off Sussex for a short distance. Within the courtyard you’ll find Dancing Bear by Inuit sculptor Pauta Salia.
Dancing Bear
Our last destination is Green Island located in the middle of the Rideau River. To get there I made my way from the Jeanne d’Arc Courtyard over to St Andrew Street which crosses busy King Edward at a signalled crosswalk. I then took Rose Street to the path through Bordeleau Park.
The path through the park pops out onto Union Street and over the white bridge onto Green Island. The Old City Hall covers most of Green Island, and in the central open space sits this sculpture of a polar bear perched on a metal pyramid engraved with star constellations. It is one of a grouping of three sculptures by Catherine Widgery titled Objective Memory. The pieces are surrounded by water in the summer months.
Objective Memory
As I was riding home snowflakes started to fall. Unless we experience another freak thaw such as the one we just had between Christmas and New Year’s, this tour may have to wait until Spring. No worries, lots of great winter riding to come. All very bear-able.
UPDATE 2017 – This extension is now out of commission as it was only temporary until the Booth Street Bridge was completed. Unfortunately the Booth Strret Bridge has awful bike infrastructure. Promises have been made to improve them.
Preston Street has been extended between Albert Street and the Sir John A Macdonald (SJAM) Parkway. That’s because Booth Street north of Albert will be closed for two years while they build the Light Rail Transit. The new extension of Preston includes a multi-use path which will provide winter bike access to the Canadian War Museum. This is an improvement as the section of Booth it is replacing was treacherous to ride along even in the best of snowless conditions. Because this shared pathway also provides pedestrian access to bus stops along it’s length, I am confident it will be cleared all winter (to be confirmed after the next big snowfall). Today I went and tried it out. Blue line is my ride there, orange line is the way I should have gone to get to the start of the extension, and purple line is the way I rode back to access the Laurier Bike Lane.
I approached from the south along Preston starting at Primrose Avenue. I chose Preston because Albert is very dangerous to cross or ride along and there are traffic lights where Preston and Albert intersect. Preston has always been a busy street and promises to become more so now that it is a main north/south artery towards the Chaudière Bridge over to Gatineau. Apart from the new extension, there are no bike lanes along the length of Preston, which in the winter becomes even narrower with the snow, so I took to the sidewalk for the block between Primrose and Albert. In retrospect I should have taken the cleared O-train path under Albert and accessed the sidewalk on the north side of Albert, as suggested by the orange line on the above map. There’s a short section of sidewalk to follow heading east before it joins the path that runs along the north side of Albert.
Preston between Primrose and AlbertThe new extension and multi-use path begins on the north side of Albert.The paths weave behind bus shelters located along the path.Where it runs adjacent to the road, the path is separated from the traffic with low concrete curbing and attached fiberglass tabs
Getting across the SJAM Parkway intersection to the museum first requires crossing to the west side of Preston. The SJAM consists of multiple lanes of speeding traffic, and Preston has a large merging turn on to SJAM. This creates the type of intersection where drivers anxiously rush the light as they transition from one busy street to the other. I had to make eye contact with a driver before he halted suddenly and let me cross, even though there are multiple no-right-on-red signs.
Crossing the intersection at Preston and SJAM Parkway
Once arrived safely on the other side of SJAM I rode along the quiet service road to the entrance to the museum.
Entrance to the Canadian War Museum
On my return trip, after taking the new path back to Preston and Albert, I continued east along the path on the north side of Albert. It ends at the corner of Commissioners St and Albert. Plans are afoot to introduce multi-use path links between Albert and the Laurier Bike Lane, as described here. Until such time the best way to get to the Laurier Bike Lane is to push your bike up the side walk on the west side of Bronson. Unless traffic is very light, I suggest taking to the sidewalk not only because it’s a steep little hill up to Laurier, but cars really roar around the corner and up the hill, often clipping the edge of the sidewalk at the corner of Slater and Bronson.
Members of the community surrounding Bayshore Park came up with a great idea – to build a brick oven for people to come together and cook. On Saturday I packed up some prepared bun dough and biked over to the park to attend one of their scheduled oven lightings, and it was fantastic.
The blue line on the map below describes the route I followed to get there. Purple lines are deviations I took on the way back.
Our adventure begins at the base of the hill leading up from the O-Train path to Somerset St, both of which are cleared of snow! If anyone needs a bike route to get to this starting point, send me your cross street and I would be pleased to figure it out.
Hill heading up from OTrain path to Somerset
I crossed Somerset and followed the cleared bike lane to the west side of the bridge. UPDATE: On January 5th this bike lane and the one on the opposite side of street were not cleared of snow, and it is uncertain when or if they will be plowed. When they aren’t cleared I take to the sidewalk, as cars tend to speed when heading up and over this bridge.
Over Somerset Bridge
The bike lane ends suddenly on the other side so I took the short set of stairs to the right, down to Breezehill Avenue.
Steps down to Breezehill from Somerset
I then wove my way along quiet streets through the Hintonburg and Wellington Village neighbourhoods, all the way to the intersection of Scott Street and Carleton Avenue where there are lights to safely cross speedy Scott Street. I then followed the cleared multi-use path that runs along the north side of Scott.
Multi-use path along Scott Street
The path continues to be cleared beyond Churchill where Scott ends, as far the parkway along the river. The path that runs along the south side of the parkway isn’t cleared, however there is a very well trampled desire-line path to Fraser Avenue that was easy to follow, especially with my studded front tire.
Trampled desire-line path over to Fraser Avenue
I biked up quiet Fraser and across Richmond road at the lights to access the multi-use path that runs between Richmond and Byron all the way to New Orchard Avenue.
Multi-use path between Byron and Richmond Road
I crossed back over to the north side of Richmond at New Orchard Avenue where there are traffic lights. The bike lane heading west along Richmond starts at New Orchard, however the level of snow clearing varied. Between New Orchard and the bridge it wasn’t great, however the lane heading over the bridge was cleared.
Bike lane before the bridge heading west along Richmond ….. and over the bridge
Once over the bridge I turned onto Regina Lane that runs parallel to Richmond for a short spell. There’s a great mural part way down the lane. More detailed photos of the work can be found here.
Regina Lane mural
I continued along residential streets through the Lincoln Heights neighbourhood, and took advantage of a small opening in the fence along Greenview Avenue to access Farrow Street.
Opening in the fence along Greenview Avenue
UPDATE: March 2020 – they have paved this little link and it gets cleared.
Paved link from Greenview to Fallow
The final challenge was to get to Bayshore Drive without having to ride along busy Carling Avenue. This required following a couple of short, well traversed but not cleared, pedestrian paths between Kempster to Wylie avenue and Oakley to Birchdale avenue.
Path between Kempster and Wylie avenues
Then it was across Carling to Bayshore Drive, along Woodridge Crescent, and into Bayshore Park where sits the communal oven. When I arrived there were a whole bunch of wonderful people cooking and sharing an assortment of dishes. Tom, the head baker of the day cooked up the little buns I had prepared and they turned out perfect! Everyone was very pleased.
To know more about how the oven came to be check out this CBC interview with John McDougall the oven builder and Mete Pamir, one of the community organizers. They also have a Facebook page with more history.
Bayshore Park Community Oven
Success! Tom the baker, et les petits pains maison!
Time to head home. On the return trip I couldn’t ride back along Regina Lane because it’s a one way heading west. Closer to Centretown, I avoided Breezehill because it’s hard to see cars coming when crossing Bayswater heading east, as the two streets meet on the inside of a curve. Crossing Somerset at the top of the Breezehill stairs to get to the bike lane heading east is a bit tricky as well, as it’s hard to see cars coming over the crest of the bridge.
A fellow cyclist is in need of a winter bike commute route from Barrhaven to the corner of Merivale and Baseline. That’s because the bike path along Greenbank which he follows on his summer commute is full of snow. The green line on the map is his regular summer route. Here’s a description of a winter route I plotted and tested a couple of days after this season’s first big snow fall, identified by the blue line on the map. I started from Merivale & Baseline. The purple line is a slight variation I took on the return trip.
Our journey begins in the parking lot at the end of Granton Avenue that fronts onto Clyde. Granton is accessible via a short, well trodden path to the left of this photo.
looking west down Granton Ave
I wove my way along quiet residential streets to always-busy Meadowlands Drive. There isn’t a traffic light where Meadowlands intersects Sullivan Avenue, however there is a cross signal half a block east in front of the school which I took advantage of on my return trip as there was no let up in traffic. I also had to use the sidewalks along Meadowlands to get to and from the crosswalk.
View of Meadowlands signalled crosswalk in front of St Gregory School seen from Sullivan Ave.
I continued down Sullivan and turned west on Novice towards Woodroffe Avenue.
The biggest obstacle to commuters heading south of Ottawa are the two sets of east/west railway tracks. It’s a challenge to choose which of the minimal number of places to get across are the safest. On this route the crossing of the first set of tracks happens along the busy six lane Woodroffe underpass. There are bike lanes along Woodroffe, which were mostly cleared, except for one spot heading south where it suddenly was filled with snow for a short stretch. Up until that spot the sidewalk wasn’t cleared, but now it was, thus the snow in the bike lane. There are bus lanes beside the bike lanes and there weren’t any buses coming up behind me so I managed to bike around the short section of snow filled bike lane. If there were buses roaring up behind me I probably would have chosen the sidewalk.
Bike lane along Woodroffe. Cleared most of the way…. then filled for a short stretch.
I continued along the Woodroffe bike lane which was mostly cleared, however the crossing at Hunt Club Road was pretty treacherous with six lanes of impatient traffic meeting six other lanes of impatient traffic. I chose to avoid this intersection on the way back (see purple line on map) which I’ll describe in more detail further down the post. I’ve also been told by a local cyclist that the Woodroffe bike lane between Knoxdale and Hunt Club is often filled with snow due to the limited space between the road and the concrete sound barrier. The purple line detour avoids this as well.
Woodroffe bike lane heading south between Knoxdale and Hunt Club
I was pleased to get off of Woodroffe at the entrance to the Nepean Sportsplex, and onto the CLEARED multi-use path that runs along the east side of Woodroffe all the way to Fallowfield Road. And it’s a pretty spectacular ride too. There’s a section that floats through a tall pine wooded area, while the rest is mostly farmland.
Path along Woodroffe through the woods
There’s a bit of an obstacle course where the path crosses the second set of tracks, but it’s very manageable and safe if navigated slowly.
Crossing train tracks along Woodroffe
I crossed at the intersection of Woodroffe and Fallowfield over to the cleared bike path that runs along the north side of Fallowfield to Via Park Place.
Towards path across Woodroffe along Fallowfield.
At Via Park Place I crossed at the lights over to the very well cleared path that continues along Fallowfield before veering south alongside the Transitway and train tracks.
Path between new Barrhaven housing and the Transitway
I got off the path at Berrigan Drive and followed it across Greenbank Road. Greenbank is a busy street, and when there are signs warning drivers about a red light camera as you approach, one can imagine what a frantic intersection it promises to be. I didn’t find it too crazy or dangerous, but I did consider the sidewalk.
Approach to Greenbank Road
I then rode along Wessex and Exeter Road to the round-about at Jockvale Road. I was very pleased to notice a cleared path running along the south side of Jockvale Road, which I followed over the train tracks.
Cleared path along Jockvale Road
I was impressed to see Barrhaven United Church thriving on another form of heavenly energy – large sections of their roof are covered with solar panels.
Barrhaven United Church
Not far beyond the train tracks I turned off the path along this short cleared link that brought me to Pickwick Drive.
Path link to Pickwick Drive
I then wove my way along quiet residential streets to my final destination – the corner of Flanders St and Peacock Crescent, deep in the heart of Barrhaven.
Flanders & Peacock
Now I had to get back before it got dark! Here’s a view of the farm along the Woodroffe path.
Farm along Woodroffe path
Here’s a description of the detour I took to avoid the crazy Woodroffe/Hunt Club intersection (purple line on the above map): I turned onto the path that runs parallel to the entrance to the Nepean Sportsplex.
On the left: Looking north along Woodroffe Ave. ………. On the right: The bike path heading in to the Nepean Sportsplex. I chose right.
The bike path ends at the edge of the parking lot. I biked through the expansive lot to the north/east corner where the path continues for a short distance to a signalized crosswalk that is MUCH more civilized than attempting to cross Hunt Club along Woodroffe.
Safe way to get across Hunt Club
I then rode along residential streets, popping out onto Woodroffe at Medhurst Drive. Once again the bike lanes were partially cleared. The sidewalk was completely cleared.
Woodroffe bike lane under the train tracks heading north
Once beyond the train tracks I turned off Woodroffe onto Norice, and retraced my route all the way back to the little path at the end of Granton Avenue that leads to the building at the corner of Baseline and Clyde. Ta-dah!
The much anticipated Airport Parkway Bridge officially opened on Saturday, creating a safe pedestrian and cycling link between communities on either side of the busy parkway. It also now provides cyclists easy access to the Sawmill Creek Pathway and a fine bike commute towards downtown.
The blue line on the map below is the route my friend Peter and I followed to get to the bridge starting from the Arboretum. It includes a recently added stretch along the Sawmill Creek Pathway, described in more detail here. Green line is how we got back. The red bit is the bridge.
Approaching the bridge along the Sawmill Creek Pathway
Here’s a video of what it’s like heading east over the bridge.
The raised and segregated bike track that runs along both sides of Churchill Avenue between Byron and Carling recently opened to the public. There’s a very good description of it right here. This morning I went and tested it out. The video below the map follows its chemin heading north from Carling.
I found it to be a very civilized form of bike infrastructure.
There used to be a railway that ran between Ottawa and New York City. It was in operation from 1898 to 1957. In 1979 the Township of Russell purchased a 7.2 km section of the line between the villages of Embrun and Russell and turned it into the New York Central Fitness Trail.
i found myself in Embrun with a bit of time to kill (my son was playing in a hockey tournament and there was a gap between games) so I went and tried the trail. Here’s what it’s like.
The Embrun Arena Is a convenient place to start. There’s room to park should you choose to drive there, and Blais St has a nice wide shoulder you can follow to get the start of the trail. Or you could park just beside the trailhead.
Old Embrun train station and the start of the trail
The entire path is paved, rolling past farmland and backyards. At times it runs alongside roads, but never without a good buffer of trees.
The The New York Central Fitness Trail in the Fall
There were lots of little foot bridges from back yards to the path, which suggests it’s well used by the locals. I did come across a number of friendly dog walkers, bike riders and joggers.
Petits ponts to the path
Street crossings are well marked and felt safe, including the round-about at the intersection of Notre Dame St and St Guillaume Rd.
Path crossing at the Notre Dame St round-about
The trail ends in the town of Russell when it reaches Forced Road. That’s where the paving stops, however there’s a path that continues west along the old trail line. This link claims there are plans to continue the trail to Ottawa, which would be great!
Old rail line beyond Forced Road
At the end of the trail I turned south down Forced Road. It’s a quiet country road.
View down Forced Road
I had planned on doing a loop back to Embrun along side roads, even managed to cross the Castor River through Russell, but when I found myself white-knuckle-riding along narrow two lane roads with no shoulders and speeding traffic (not included on the above map) I decided to take the trail back.
I’m glad I did, because near the south end of Forced Road I discovered Sherwood Trail that runs through the J Henry Tweed Conservation Area, that eventually joins up with the New York Central Fitness Trail. Go figure! I’ve marked this section in red on the above map.
Start of the Sherwood Trail on the edge of Forced Road
Sherwood Trail is a magical meander through a combination of deciduous and coniferous trees.
Sherwood Path along the stream….. and through the trees.
I rejoined the New York Central Fitness Trail and headed back to Embrun.
Many Centretown and Hintonburburg residents shop at Produce Depot on Carling. Here’s a safe way to get there by bike. This route begins on the border of both neighbourhoods, on the crest of the Somerset Bridge heading over the O-Train tracks.
There’s a bike lane over the Somerset bridge but it disappears once traversed. To avoid having to merge into busy traffic, especially dangerous a bit further on when Somerset turns into Wellington, I walked down a short set of stairs to the right that takes you to quiet Breezehill Ave. It has a ramp to avoid having to carry your bike.
Ramp at Breezehill
Breezehill crosses Bayswater then continues for a short quiet stretch as Wellington. Just before it reaches the aforementioned dangerous section along Wellington I turned right on Garland, then left on Armstrong. This is my favourite safe-bet way to cut through Hintonburg.
I continued west along calm streets as shown on the above map, as far as Carleton St.. I turned north on Carleton and crossed Scott St at the lights. Riding along Scott St one can choose from a bike path along the north side of the street separated by a grassy meridian, or a bike lane on the edge of the road. I feel comfortable riding either, although the bike path is a safer bet. Here is a photo taken earlier this Spring describing the options.
Choice of Scott St bike path vs bike lane heading west
I rode to the end of Scott, crossed Churchill Ave, and continued straight along the bike path that runs parallel to the transit way. This path intersects another path that runs along the south side of the Sir JAM parkway. I turned left and continued west.
Bike path along the south side of the parkway
I turned off the paved path onto a short dirt path that took me to Fraser Street.
Exit onto dirt path to Fraser St
The dirt path isn’t signed, so if you miss it there’s another paved connection just a bit further with a sign that points to Mansfield St, which you can take instead and ride back a block to Fraser.
Signed exit to Mansfield St
I then rode south along quiet Fraser St to where it ends at Sherbourne Road. I approached Produce Depot from the back by turning onto Bromley Road from Sherbourne. The signs onto Bromley say no exit, but many drivers were entirely oblivious to this and cut through so watch out for them. Produce Depot shares the parking with a Beer Store.
Bromley to get to the Produce Depot parking
Produce Depot on Carling
I followed the same route on the way back except for a short section in Hintonburg as indicated by the green line on the above map. I avoided Breezehill because it’s hard to see cars coming when crossing Bayswater heading east, as the two streets meet on the inside of a curve. Crossing Somerset at the top of the Breezehill stairs to get to the bike lane heading east is a bit tricky as well, as it’s hard to see cars coming over the crest of the bridge.
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