Narrow Booth Street bike lanes aren't really bike lanes after all, city says

Hastily installed bike lanes on the new Booth Street bridge in Ottawa aretoo narrow to meet provincial guidelines, but that's OK they're not "legally" bike lanes anyway, according to a top city official.

Book 18 of the Ministry of Transportation's Ontario Traffic Manualsuggests bike lanes should measure 1.8 metres wide, and no less than 1.5 metres.

But the marked bike lanes on the Booth Street bridge, which opened Sept. 4 after two years of construction, measure on average just one metre wide.At one spot on the west side of the bridge the lane was found to be just 90 centimetres wide, or half thethe width recommended in the manual.

AmitabhMukerjibikedon the lanes Tuesday andsaidhe immediatelynoticed they'renarrower than what he's come to expect in Ottawa.

"This is a joke. Just painting a line does not mean a bike lane," saidMukerji.

While somecyclists using the bike lanes onWednesdaysaid they were happy to have at least some dedicated space, many more saidthe narrow lanes leavevery little room for error.

The lanes are adjacent to a large curb and are not physically separated from traffic, including large trucks and OC Transpo buses rumbling along the four-lane road.

'Legally' not a bike lane

The City of Ottawa added the bike lanes following an outcry from cyclists and safety advocates, after they learnedthe new bridge would not include dedicated cycling infrastructure.

By then, construction of the bridge was almost complete and too far along to add segregated lanes. Mayor Jim Watson and members of city councilhave since acknowledged it was a mistaketo omitsegregated cycling lanes.

Booth Streetwas closed for twoyears of constructionto build the overpass to accommodate the city's light rail system.

Reached for comment Thursday,SteveCripps,director of Ottawa'sRail ImplementationOffice, acknowledgedthe lanes are narrower than the provincial guidelines.

Legally it's not a bike lane ...It is an area that has been identified as a space for cyclists.- Steve Cripps, Rail Implementation Office

Crippssaid that's OK though, because technically they're not bike lanes.

"Legally it's not a bike lane as per Book 18," said Cripps. "It is an area that has been identified as a space for cyclists.It's really an interim measure given the widths available on that bridge."

Cripps saidthe decision to install the painted lines and markings was made following consultationswith the Ottawa's cycling community, who preferred the measureover painted sharrows in the traffic lane.

"What we looked at with the cycling community was what improvements could we make given that width," said Cripps.

Over the coming weeks, said Cripps,city staff and members of the cycling community will be observing traffic patterns and adjustments will be made as required.

'It's false advertising'

GarethDavies, president of the Ottawa advocacy groupCitizens for Safe Cycling, was part of those consultations.

"It's not the standard of what we expect for bike lanes in Ottawa," said Davies. "I don't really think there's a place for painted bike lanes that are a metre wide."

Whether it's a legal bike lane or simplya"space for cyclists,"Mukerjisaysthe city should never have painted lanes that are below standard.

"It's false advertising, and it's extremelypoor planning," saidMukerji.

He vowed never to use the lanes again, and instead will ride on the bridge's sidewalk. The city is in the process of making it legal for cyclists to ride on the sidewalk, as long as they yield to pedestrians.

The city said the long-term plan for cycling on the Booth Street bridge is to install segregated bike lanes by 2018,at a cost of $2 million.