At the risk of being that that guy, I want to foster a conversation about the speed at which people drive in Woodpark.
I walk my two dogs every day on the streets in Woodpark. Every day I see many people disregarding the 30 kph speed limit. As I reign in the dogs to keep them and myself safe, I wonder what can I do?
The City of Ottawa conducted a traffic study on April 5th and 6th with the capture device located on a No Parking post between 474 Woodland and the church on the west side of Woodland Avenue. Traffic in both directions was captured. The report and the source material for my analysis can be reviewed below. My observations are borne out by this study.
I have somewhat discounted the data from April 5th as that was the day an ice storm hit our city. Even with that storm, the data shows that 75% of the drivers on that slippery day were exceeding the 30 kph speed limit. The next day, traffic more than doubled and driving behaviours were even worse. A whopping 80% did not adhere to the speed limit and 7% of those were more than traveling at more than 40 kph. I think that the location for the capture device was badly planned. This location was just north of the recently installed speed hump and that speed hump almost certainly skewed the data lower.
Were you one of the speeding drivers? Some think that 30 kph seems to be too slow, however keep this in mind. “Pedestrians can typically survive impact speeds of around 30 km/hr, above which the chance of survival decreases dramatically.” Source: Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals
A long-time resident of Woodland Avenue, Greg Taylor worked with our Councillor’s office and obtained the study for us and says “It is time for Ottawa Police Service to address issues in Woodpark. For me the major issues are high speeds and vehicle drivers, bicycle riders and e-bike riders running stop signs. A secondary issue is to have pedestrians walk on the correct side of the street facing traffic.” I agree!
There was a time that I might have been able to deftly jump out of the way of a speeding vehicle. Not so much anymore and my dogs, well sometimes, they are just oblivious to traffic.
So back to my original thought… what can I do? Well, for one I can keep my driving to the speed limit. I usually do, but there have been occasions where I slip up. Next, I can write a blog post to foster conversation about the topic and hope that people read it and think about their own driving behaviours. Additionally, I think we need to request additional traffic studies in Woodpark on streets that will more accurately capture speed and traffic data. Perhaps the two main east/west streets, Lawn & Midway. Finally, we need to keep lobbying the City of Ottawa, through our Councillor, to implement more and better traffic calming measures.
What do you think? To add a comment click the rating stars below the title.
I would like to see more radar checks for speeds and volume on all the streets of Woodpark periphery. I like the idea of visual monitoring of Stop intersections to establish just how bad it is. I would have Flower and Ancaster as one and Woodland and Lawn as another. More could be added. I think we need to reach out to our councilor as the next step to bring about further change with the intent of improvement. I would like to see one side of Lawn designated no parking 24/7.
I appreciate this approach. i am unsure of the speed limit. i have not noticed signs(selective vision)? I drive and walk on the no-sidewalk streets all the time and the vehicles parked pretty much everywhere make it difficult to speed> At times on long stretches without stop ( byron) i drive at a speed i feel is safe.( it might not be) and this may exceed 30 kph. In any event, because of this note it will be paying more attention to speed and stops.
The combination of speeding, distracted driving and streets without sidewalks is a dangerous mix along Woodland and Lawn. I walk my son to Woodroffe Public School each day on these streets and have seen several close calls of drivers both speeding and distracted (usually on a phone)... Pedestrians have nowhere to go (it doesn't matter which side of the road you're on - especially if there are parked cars), and the lack of sidewalks or curbs means pedestrians are the first point of impact rather than a curb or post that might alert the driver. It seems only a matter of time until someone gets seriously injured or worse on Lawn/Woodland.
Honestly, I'd love to see speed humps throughout Woodpark, especially on the Richardson Avenue Speedway. I'd also like to see Stop Cameras at each stop sign as a pilot project. The city could recoup a lot of lost revenue just from these tickets alone. Overall, this is not just a Woodpark issue, but a societal issue. The entitlement of a lot of the drivers I see on the roadways is egregious!
Note: you have to click on the stars at the top to write a comment. Anyway, just want to comment that the survival rate of children and pets is worse (zero?) compared to that of adults at 30 kph. No one could survive being hit by a truck. I also want to mention that drivers have to weave around potholes and sunken edges of asphalt. Pedestrians can't always anticipate where a vehicle is going to be, making walking even more dangerous.