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The City of Ottawa and Sparks Street Mall Authority are making their first big play to make Sparks Street a true pedestrian mall by installing vehicle-blocking bollards at the entrances.
Court Curry, the city’s manager of right-of-way, heritage and urban design services, said the steel bollards installed at each intersection will become a two-year pilot project. Workers are currently installing the footings and the actual bollards will be popped in around mid-July.
The 40-50 bollards have a total cost of $50,000. The mall authority, which collects a levy from property owners, is paying for the bollards.
The problem with Sparks Street today is it’s being used like any other street. Drivers cut across the pedestrian mall to access the other side of the block. Contractors park for free. Delivery trucks are simply part of the surroundings. The Sparks Street “pedestrian mall” is a capital misnomer.
Mayor Jim Watson has a renewed focus on the health of Sparks Street. Late last summer, Watson pledged to make the pedestrian mall a priority and followed up with a town hall earlier this year. Through an online questionnaire, which collected more than 500 responses, there were multiple calls for the city to get vehicles off Sparks Street.
(The no-car request wasn’t the only piece of feedback. People also suggested having more trendy retail stores, benches, greenery and a better nightlife on Sparks Street).
“The first thing we heard was to get cars off the streets. The second thing was to create more short-term parking spaces,” Curry said Wednesday.
The city is introducing 19 new loading spaces on Kent, O’Connor and Metcalfe streets to help enable deliveries to Sparks Street businesses. The spaces have 15-minute limits for all types of vehicles, which means motorists picking up a passenger or grabbing a quick coffee can also park there.
With the bollards come new vehicle access rules for Sparks Street.
Deliveries on the street will be initially permitted between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. Some of the bollards will be removable to allow vehicles into the pedestrian mall during the permitted delivery window or when emergency vehicles need access.
Curry said the plan is for the delivery window to gradually close as the city adds the loading spaces on the adjacent streets. Eventually, no delivery vehicles will be allowed on Sparks Street unless they have a permit.
Permits are $60 per day and available through the mall authority. “We administer them very conservatively,” Curry said.
It will be up to mall authority staff and bylaw officers to shoo motorists and vehicles off Sparks Street if they don’t have permits.
Curry, who’s also the chair of the mall authority board of directors, said more pilot projects on recreation and landscaping will be revealed later this month.
The city is considering options for handling cycling on Sparks Street. A bylaw currently bans it and there are “walk your bike” signs. Realistically, the city just hopes cyclists dismount during busy hours.
Momentum is building to a complete overhaul of Sparks Street. An ongoing public realm study, in partnership with Public Services and Procurement Canada and the National Capital Commission, will have a plan next winter. City staff are eying a funding request for design work as part of the 2019 municipal budget, with hopes of construction starting in 2020.
The Sparks Street bollards are part of a wider city effort to protect gatherings of people from vehicular attacks. City hall is also getting new security bollards, reducing the requirement to have cement barriers brought in during festivals and major events.
Curry said concrete blocks will be brought in for big draws on Sparks Street, like RibFest, for added safety. The new bollards will also complement the concrete planters at the entrances of the pedestrian mall, he said.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
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Court Curry, the city’s manager of right-of-way, heritage and urban design services, said the steel bollards installed at each intersection will become a two-year pilot project. Workers are currently installing the footings and the actual bollards will be popped in around mid-July.
The 40-50 bollards have a total cost of $50,000. The mall authority, which collects a levy from property owners, is paying for the bollards.
The problem with Sparks Street today is it’s being used like any other street. Drivers cut across the pedestrian mall to access the other side of the block. Contractors park for free. Delivery trucks are simply part of the surroundings. The Sparks Street “pedestrian mall” is a capital misnomer.
Mayor Jim Watson has a renewed focus on the health of Sparks Street. Late last summer, Watson pledged to make the pedestrian mall a priority and followed up with a town hall earlier this year. Through an online questionnaire, which collected more than 500 responses, there were multiple calls for the city to get vehicles off Sparks Street.
(The no-car request wasn’t the only piece of feedback. People also suggested having more trendy retail stores, benches, greenery and a better nightlife on Sparks Street).
“The first thing we heard was to get cars off the streets. The second thing was to create more short-term parking spaces,” Curry said Wednesday.
The city is introducing 19 new loading spaces on Kent, O’Connor and Metcalfe streets to help enable deliveries to Sparks Street businesses. The spaces have 15-minute limits for all types of vehicles, which means motorists picking up a passenger or grabbing a quick coffee can also park there.
With the bollards come new vehicle access rules for Sparks Street.
Deliveries on the street will be initially permitted between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. Some of the bollards will be removable to allow vehicles into the pedestrian mall during the permitted delivery window or when emergency vehicles need access.
Curry said the plan is for the delivery window to gradually close as the city adds the loading spaces on the adjacent streets. Eventually, no delivery vehicles will be allowed on Sparks Street unless they have a permit.
Permits are $60 per day and available through the mall authority. “We administer them very conservatively,” Curry said.
It will be up to mall authority staff and bylaw officers to shoo motorists and vehicles off Sparks Street if they don’t have permits.
Curry, who’s also the chair of the mall authority board of directors, said more pilot projects on recreation and landscaping will be revealed later this month.
The city is considering options for handling cycling on Sparks Street. A bylaw currently bans it and there are “walk your bike” signs. Realistically, the city just hopes cyclists dismount during busy hours.
Momentum is building to a complete overhaul of Sparks Street. An ongoing public realm study, in partnership with Public Services and Procurement Canada and the National Capital Commission, will have a plan next winter. City staff are eying a funding request for design work as part of the 2019 municipal budget, with hopes of construction starting in 2020.
The Sparks Street bollards are part of a wider city effort to protect gatherings of people from vehicular attacks. City hall is also getting new security bollards, reducing the requirement to have cement barriers brought in during festivals and major events.
Curry said concrete blocks will be brought in for big draws on Sparks Street, like RibFest, for added safety. The new bollards will also complement the concrete planters at the entrances of the pedestrian mall, he said.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
