Overview
The City of Ottawa is undertaking a local traffic calming study for North Bluff Drive and Owls Cabin Avenue to address raised traffic safety concerns and to recommend solutions to reduce the negative impacts of motorized traffic on these community streets. The main focus of the study is to explore localized solutions to help address speeding and pedestrian and cyclist safety concerns without adversely impacting vehicular access.
Online Consultation 1
An online survey was undertaken from Monday, May 22 to Friday, June 9, 2023, to confirm support for this study and to gather public feedback on traffic concerns and level of support for potential measures along North Bluff Drive and Owls Cabin Avenue. The majority of the survey respondents supported traffic calming along North Bluff Drive and Owls Cabin Avenue. Among the presented potential measures, speed humps, speed cushions and curb radius reductions were supported by the majority. More detailed results of the survey are summarized below:
Online consultation 2
The City of Ottawa has developed a recommended plan in response to residents' traffic concerns. The study examined the road conditions from the perspective of all users, including pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and adjacent residential property owners. The recommended plan was developed in consideration of effectiveness, cost, and the feedback received from the first survey. The following is a summary of the recommended plan:
- Two speed humps are recommended on Owls Cabin Avenue to reduce speed. Speed humps are a type of vertical deflection measures and effective in speed reduction, but in comparison with other measures, they have higher impacts on emergency response vehicles and response times.
- Seven speed cushions are recommended on North Bluff Drive to reduce speed. Speed cushions are another type of vertical deflection measures similar to speed humps. They are designed to allow large vehicles (such as emergency response vehicles) to “straddle” the cushions while smaller passenger vehicles are vertically deflected. Speed cushions are less effective in speed reduction than speed humps, but they have significantly less impacts on emergency response vehicles and response times.
- At the intersection of North Bluff Drive and Canyon Walk Drive, curb radius reductions are recommended to reduce speed of right turning traffic. Also, it is recommended to add two crosswalks on Canyon Walk Drive with depressed curbs and tactile walking surface indicators to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility.
The recommended plan is shown in the links below:
Recommended Plan (1/2) [ PDF 5.879 MB ]
Recommended Plan (2/2) [ PDF 4.797 MB ]
Monday, February 26 to Saturday, March 16, 2024
The City of Ottawa is hosting a second online consultation for the North Bluff Drive and Owls Cabin Avenue Neighbourhood Traffic Calming study. The purpose of this consultation is to seek public feedback on the recommended plan.
We encourage interested members of the public to fill out the online survey below. It should only take about five to 10 minutes of your time and is available online until Saturday, March 16, 2024:
Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will help us develop potential solutions to address your traffic concerns.
Please do not hesitate to contact the project manager below if you have any questions or require clarification.
Accessibility is an important consideration for the City of Ottawa. If you require special accommodation, please contact the project manager below.
Contact
Wook Kang
Project Manager, Neighbourhood Traffic Calming
Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1
613-580-2424, ext. 19285
Fax: 613-580-2578
Email: wook.kang@ottawa.ca
Contact
Wook Kang
Project Manager, Neighbourhood Traffic Calming
Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1
613-580-2424, ext. 19285
Fax: 613-580-2578
Email: wook.kang@ottawa.ca