f you're wondering about all the new signs installed along Cameron Avenue west of Bank, it's because the newly designated bike lane has finally been created.
According to Ottawa's alternative transportation planner Daphne Hope, this part of Cameron now has a legally-defined westbound "contra-flow" lane only for bicycles. A yellow line separates this new 2 metre lane from the rest of the street which will continue to handle traffic moving east toward Bank Street.
This specially designated opposite -flowing bike lane on a street which is one-way only for cars, is new in Ottawa. According to Ms. Hope, a one-block section of Stewart Street was changed last year and several more locations are scheduled for the next few months.
The recommendation for this traffic arrangement came to city staff from the Ottawa Cycling Advisory Group who wanted to help students and others travelling west toward Brewer Park and Carleton U.
Before this, most cyclists crossing Bank at Cameron or coming up from Linda Thom Park were in violation of traffic laws as they rode down Cameron the wrong way. Plans for this newly designated bike lane were discussed last year in a fall issue of OSCAR. The proposal was supported by both OSCA and Councillor Inez Berg.
Most local residents were, at first, unclear what the changes meant, but soon come to understand the new layout. According to a Seneca Avenue resident, "this is the best way to have it, from a safety point of view."
She frequently needs to drive up and down Cameron on her motorized scooter and has an interest in identifying and improving blind spots and other hazards for users of alternative means of travel.
To date, the only reported complaint about this new traffic arrangement on Cameron has come from the Regional road crew who had to put up all the new signs.