Category Archives: sidewalks

Rescue Bronson (part v): gas station flip flop

Several years ago, Suncor rebuilt the Petro-Can station at the corner of Gladstone and Bronson. It is on a fairly big site for a city. It has the conventional layout: gas pumps under a canopy out front where it can be seen, a convenience store and pay point in the rear. The whole station architecture is part and parcel of a “branding” exercise so we all know whose station it is without any signage actually being required.

Now, let’s look at the Petro-Can at Somerset:

When trying to rescue Bronson from the City’s original excessively auto-obsessed design, community members asked that the Petro-Can at Somerset and Bronson have its driveways reduced from four to two. After all, the modernized one at Gladstone has one entrance on Gladstone, one on Bronson. Why did Somerset need two entrances on each street, two curb cuts on each face, four sidewalk crossings, and dangerous exits and entrances to the street just fifteen feet from a already hazardous intersection, one of the ten most dangerous (for pedestrians) in the city?

The City came back telling us that it couldn’t be done. Now I doubt if they even tried to reduce it from four entrances to two.

Because Suncor came to the community last week with plans to reconstruct the Somerset Petro-Can station. And lo and behold, there is now one entrance on each street, not two. “Don’t like four”, came the explanation, “too dangerous. Much better with two.” Apparently, Suncor isn’t that unwilling to have two entrances rather than four after all.

Much more exciting was the revised site plan. Gas stations follow a time-honoured design from the nineteen forties, with pumps out front. Like strip malls and other front-yard parking commercial layouts, this blights the pedestrian environment and degrades the urban experience. It’s part of that “motorist-centric” planning model we are trying to move beyond. Back to the future, so as to speak, as we go back to the traditional mainstreet design of buildings close to the sidewalk.

The old station design has the kiosk under the centre island, with the back of the lot storage shed.

The newish Petro-Can at Gladstone has a more modern, much higher canopy, but still has the pumps out front, the kiosk pushed to back of the auto-dominated front of the lot. The kiosk and canopies are “standardized” components, modules put together pretty much the same way everywhere there is a station.

There is the usual pylon advertisement out on the curb, in case you haven’t noticed the station before, or missed the signage put high up on the canopy.

At the City’s suggestion — or maybe insistence? — the new station at Somerset will be reversed.

The convenience store will be right out front, set at the very corner of the intersection. It will have pedestrian doors facing the Bronson sidewalk (but not the Somerset one). And doors facing the pump islands. There will be sign pilons built up and out from the building, rather than freestanding.

This new design, and I congratulate whomever is responsible for it at Petro-Can or city planning, removes the “big hole” appearance at a major intersection, and puts some building fabric back onto the streetscape. It should also serve to calm traffic. And the single entrance on each street will definitely improve pedestrian and motorist safety. There will be room for more curbside landscaping, hopefully including trees (although that might be going too far, since visibility to speeding motorists is so important).

Petro-Can will use the same bricks for its pedestrian pavers as those being used in the new Chinatown streetscaping (hopefully they get this right and use the Chinatown pavers and not the Bronson pavers, since we are trying to prioritize Somerset which is rudely interrupted by Bronson). They were not willing to add some Chinoiserie to the design.

I don’t have a picture of the new station layout, but the only other station I know of in the city with a version of this design (let me know if you have seen others) is at Iris and Greenbank, near Ikea, but is has no pedestrian doors to the sidewalk:

(photo above from Google Streetview).

Rescue Bronson (part iv): how to plant trees in gravel

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It’s somewhat scary to look at the pictures of the Bronson reconstruction zone. One naturally wonders how trees could possibly survive in such little squares of space in a sea of asphalt and concrete.

The tree roots are underground, and it’s what’s underground that counts most for their survival (although the concrete curb around the planting hole also helps a lot but preventing the soil from being compacted, and deterring cars and other forms of abuse). Here is one method of planting trees in the hard-compacted gravel road base:

Plastic frames, very similar to those ubiquitous plastic milk cartons found on bike carriers and in student apartments everywhere. A large tree root zone is dug out and its gravel base compacted til it’s flat. It looks rather like the bottom of wading pool. Then the cells are placed down on it….

The cells are interconnected with spaces, although that is not readily visible in the photo above. A plastic frame or edge is put around the structure to hold the good dirt in, and the gravel roadbed out.

Some tubes are laid into the planting bed to encourage air exchange and oxygenation of the soil. I notice that the tubes used on Bronson are way smaller than those used in previous years and on other projects. A gap is left where the tree is to be inserted, marked in the picture above by the worker on the left.

The cells are filled with topsoil. The plastic frames keep the soil from being compacted. The gaps in the frames permit roots to roam in search of more good soil and moisture. Note that in the picture above the cells run right up close to the curb, so we can assume the concrete sidewalk will be poured on top, but the tree roots will be happy with space to roam under the walkway.

When filled with dirt, the perimeter is packed with gravel to hold everything together. A top sheet is laid over the cells, and then paved over with concrete sidewalk or asphalt driveway. The cells are strong enough to support vehicles, while keeping the topsoil underneath uncompacted.

An alternative method of planting in hard urban environments is “structural earth / soil”, covered in several posts a few years ago: http://www.westsideaction.com/structural-earth/

Rescue Bronson (part ii): why concrete is good landscaping

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Once the underground utilities are in, visible structures start to appear on the surface. The City necessarily puts a high value on the unseen stuff; as members of the public we relate more to what’s visible. And members of Rescue Bronson wanted a quality surface landscaping.

If the City merely restores what used to be there, we end up, after two years of construction mess, with an expensive landscape that facilitates front yard parking, dinky walkways to what were originally-built as celebrating building doorways, foot traffic that wears out the front foot (or more) or soft landscaping, etc.

A major step forward in urban landscaping, in my opinion, is the addition of a second concrete curb, this time behind the pedestrian walk. This keeps snowplows off the landscaping, discourages foot traffic on the growing media, and usually thwarts front yard parking. It gives trees and shrubs and even grass as fighting chance in a heavy mechanical environment.

Above: the old front yard has been dug up for new sewer and water connections. The space leftover after the road and other stuff is put in is pretty small. It needs all the help it can get to support landscaping.

Above: the curb protects the front edge. It is a battle to get the city to extend the curb back to the house foundation, but it is a worthwhile feature. It deters front yard parking. It defines the planting zone. The generous wide new front steps are proportionate to the size of the porch.

Above: curbed plant zone is separate from the driveway and front walkway. It will still be a struggle for trees and plants to survive if planted in road-building gravel which is designed to compact into an unshifting mass, but there are likely some hidden underground features which will be the subject of a subsequent story. The eight or so inches of topsoil will be enough to support most front yard plantings of shrubs or grass.

above: a number of buildings along Bronson had front yards paved in bricks or asphalt for not-necessarily-legal parking on the front lawn / city boulevard space. If the city restored the brick, car parking would resume, and the streetscape continues to be degraded. We asked for the planter shown above to extend right back to the front wall of the building, and all buildings along the street. The City originally demurred, saying they would require legal permission from every owner before they designed that. We encouraged them to go the “cablevision route”, ie design the curb all the way back, and see who objects, as it is hard for property owners to envision what the whole street could look like when pre-construction it is such an abused space. Obviously, this owner wanted the “low maintenance” bricks restored. But it looks like there will be three trees in these two planters, and the brick space may be too narrow to fit in a car.

Above: notice how the planter runs the full width of the building, so it is in scale. When there will be trees and shrubs, this building will look better, attract tenants easier, and offer a green buffer from the traffic, particularly for the first a second floor apartments which will look into leafy trees. A similar building isn’t as well done:

Above: this apartment building a bit further down the street has a much more minimal planter. What exactly is the amenity value of the gap between the planter and the front walkway? And worse yet, what is the gap to the left of the planter? It’s too small to park a car… I think this building is falling short of the benefits it could have had.

Above: Rescue Bronson specifically identified the Guytel building has having an excessively wide curb dip. Why does a small business with six or eight parking spaces need a 35′ wide driveway?The planter on each side is way shorter than the parking space beyond it.

Above: the muffler shop beside Guytel. Another too-wide entrance. That planter could have been at least the depth of the parking space, as the asphalt area is now just left-over paved space.

The curbed planters line up from house to house, adding some regularity to the streetscape, helping to define the walkway. A row of bricks against the roadside curb will help define the junk zone where the city drops in hundreds of sign posts, locates the street lighting, and hopefully contains the dead tree trunks supporting overhead wiring.

Rescue Bronson makes lemonade (part i)

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Long-time readers will recall the bru-ha-ha about Bronson reconstruction. The City rather high handedly announced it was rebuilding Bronson through the west side of the downtown, was going to widen it by 2′, and do precious damn little for pedestrians, cyclists, and residents.

The Rescue Bronson led a valiant two year battle against the current dysfunctional and dangerous road design that blights the community. Efforts to put Bronson on a road diet failed. The City opted for a faithful remake of the 1950′s roads-are-sacred movie (best seen at a drive-in, of course).

Within the Rescue Bronson group and community at large, there were some who maintained the struggle for a long time, fighting a rear-guard action against the steam-rolling city. That’s a useful strategy, as sometimes the City changes course. At various times, other members realized that the big battle was lost, but if the City is going to spend a bazillion bucks re-creating the 50′s, then at least grab some of that money to make the project better. I’m generally a member of the opportunistic school.

When life hands you lemons … make lemonade. Never accept a municipal defeat (of a rezoning, road or other project…). Regroup, and seize the opportunity to get some local improvements. Get ‘em while they’re feeling guilty.

When the City reconstructs roads they tear up a lot of front yards. Their policy is to “restore” the property to its prior condition. But if that road and City has been blighting the neighbourhood for decades, then the landscaping and conditions might well be … well, Minimal. Neglected. Dysfunctional Choose your adjective, they come to mind easily when walking Ottawa’s roadside disaster zones.

The City tried to greenwash the project, drawing huge green circles around paved intersections and declaring them “greenscape zones” and similar such rot. * In reality, they were putting a few trees and shrubs on the side streets where they met Bronson because there was “no room” left along the city-owned Bronson boulevard.

(above: houses are not too close to the street. They used to have lovely front yards. Trees. The city blighted space, leaving only what it couldn’t pave for cars. The road is too close to the houses. How can we make it better?)

We let the City know in no uncertain terms that a few token trees on sidestreets, and ”restoring” ugliness wasn’t acceptable. New front sidewalks should be as wide as the stairs up to front porches. Front lawns and gardens needed protection from snowplows, garbage, errant feet. Any space bigger than 12″ x 12″ had to be planted. We had to end front yard parking. While the City generally won’t “improve” private properties as part of road reconstruction they can be pushed into implementing a common streetscape design that blends into private properties. In my view, that blending occurs over 100% of the frontage, right up to the foundation.

After all, if they can bring the road bed and sewers up to the latest standards, suitable for the next century, why can’t they fix the side boulevards too?

The Rescue Bronson membership included experienced hands from the Preston and Somerset traditional mainstreet rebuilds, so we knew the features that make for a liveable street. We started a list, and reiterated it over and over. We demanded more meetings, more face time with the planners, til they were sick of us. We wanted protected, in-ground planters. Trees. Planters that sit on the surface, if utilities underneath prevented digging.

We ridiculed the City’s suggested planting and landscaping as pathetic, underachieving, uninspired. We demanded a walkabout with the landscape architect, planner, consulting engineers, and city’s supervising engineer. The Councillor came, and gave a voluble public dressing-down to staff along the lines of it not being a game to see who can do the least, that they weren’t listening, that we expected a lot better. More senior staff starting showing up, attracted by the stink.

Rescue Bronson members had written to the project team saying what features we wanted all along the street, but then we kicked it up a notch. We took a picture of every front yard, every house, and every business frontage along the reconstruction zone. We prepared a report. Each page had picture of a house or cluster of properties, and the text underneath specified exactly how our general wish list could be applied to each location. This was necessarily repetitious, for property after property, but we felt it necessary to spell it out, so the city wouldn’t cheap out. No excuses.

Tomorrow: we start checking out the rebuilding process on Bronson.

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*greenwashing takes many forms. Notice that the remaining route options for the Western LRT have been assigned colours. Guess which one is the “green route”?

Celebration New Town: the residential villages

So, as shown yesterday, they did a good job of downtown Celebration, building in flexibility, growth, and finely mixed uses. But every city is more than its downtown or mixed use mainstreet. These commercial places are backed up by the primarily residential hinterland. Are these simply more traditional suburbs or can new urbanism successfully mimic the more naturally evolved pre-1940′s neighbourhoods urbanists love? Over the next few posts, lets look at several residential neighborhoods in Celebration.

The first neighbourhood is Sienna, part of the South [quadrant] Village. Once again, let’s talking about pictures (and video links too !):

Above: Sienna neighbourhood is close to the freeway and one of the entrances to Disney World (in the opposite direction from Celebration), and this tower reminds us of who rules the Kingdom.

Above: along the busy collector street Waterside Drive the houses are set back from the busy local road, there being a boulevard, sidewalk, another boulevard, and local sidewalk in front of the townhouses. These towns have a room on the ground floor by their front doors, but most of the house is on level 2 and 3. The closest thing I have seen to these in Ottawa is the new Minto development opposite Centrepointe Hall. Around the back …

Above: somewhat less Arcadian the backs of these houses is all garage and short driveways opening off courtyards. These courtyards, however, were well populated by kids playing … hockey (well, it was midwinter) and skateboarding. I’m in a minority position here, but I feel urban parkland is vastly over-rated and we need to make better use of the spaces closer to home, and that kids prefer paved surfaces to grass anyday. Celebration is very intensively landscaped; no area looked “leftover”.

Celebration has abundant parkland, and these fingers of land while pleasant and green, also serve to cut off neighbourhoods from each other and make distances less attractive to walk except for recreational purposes. That’s the same reason Barrhaven might have the same density as the Glebe, but will never function as well because too much of the space separates places rather than connects them.

Above: Low rise apartment buildings are closely interspersed with ground-oriented town houses, making for a varied streetscape and increasing the population while building-in a variety of housing types and family sizes. Census data reveals that there are even some low-income households in Celebration.

Above: is this two houses (ie semi detached)? Or is it three, with the third front door on the left end of the building? Or is it apartments, with a door to an upstairs corridor?

above: more of that fine mix of housing types. Each neighbourhood has a selection of related architectural styles, these being Georgian (Federal), Colonial, and Spanish As the streets go on, the styles change, so blocks didn’t feel all the same, but were related. Much like our older neighbourhoods where similar styles and materials predominate and there are subsequent infills and modifications made. But in Celebration, there is never a Kariouk-moment.

Above: its hard to tell again how many units are here. There is a front door on the left centre to the ground floor unit, and deeply recessed is another front door, presumably for an upper unit. But there might be more doors…

Above: Many of the streets are kept narrow. In this case, there are rows of houses on a one-way-pair that goes away from the viewer and swings around the centre park space and up the other side, a bit like a crescent but easier to read. Note curbs on one side only.

Above: this one-way street has recessed parking bays, and houses close to the road surface which isn’t much more than a lane. The City of Ottawa is rebuilding a series of short dead end streets in Dalhousie (Lorne, Perkins, Empress Streets running off Albert). I’ve tried to interest them in doing something different than two-lanes+parking+curbs+sidewalks standard street, but alas, to no avail even when I point out that alternate designs might be cheaper to construct and maintain. There is a standard street design and one size must fit all.

Above: the wing wall masks the tell-tale slope of garages. This satellite dish, on a portable mount, was a rare sight.

Above: not all streets in Celebration are finished the same way. This one is curb-free, thus informal, with recessed parking bays and a single central catch basin a tried-and-true design from the medieval days.

Here’s a video link to a 43 second panorama shot taken in Sienna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuHdxb-TW2g.

[On my computer the video link isn't in blue, so I cannot click and go there instantly, but I can highlight it, right click, and go there that way]

Now at the end of the street shown above was a fenced enclosure. Hmm. Closer inspection revealed…

Yup, it’s the self-serve garbage compactor point. Somehow it comes out a lot better looking than those in townhouse complexes (especially if OCH houses) in Ottawa. The dumpster point was on a busy pedestrian and dog-walker path than led to the adjacent village, but it looked as if the planners envisioned it being mostly used by residents as they drive out of the community and drop off their trash via the convenient pull over zone.

Below: Clusters of houses also shared a rec building and outdoor pool complex.

above: view from the ungated tot lot through the gate to the enclosed pool area and clubhouse that serves the Sienna cluster.

If you made it this far, you might be interested in this additional youtube clip also made in Sienna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C485jU3fg4w. At the 8 second mark you’ll see two freestanding garages and gateway from the community out onto the arterial running parallel to the freeway.

Pedestrian links in Ottawa are begrudged rather than celebrated, don’t you think?

There was an awful lot of nice features in Celebration that I wanted to take home to Ottawa. They might need some modification for our climate, but they were adaptable. Next up, another neighbourhood.

Building a liveable Ottawa

So, on Tuesday night I trotted off to the City’s launch of its OP (official plan) and TMP (Transportation master plan) tweaks.

My, so many fine words. So many nice drawings. Lots of display boards. Mind you, there are some pretty fine words in the last plan too, like the promise that public spaces would be designed for pedestrians first, cyclists, transit, then motorists. To those fine words, every neighbourhood has their own response. Ours is: Bronson Avenue !

Some observations:

the traditional traffic analysis uses “level or service”, rated A thru F, for motorists. No measure of pedestrians, cyclists. New measure will include pedestrians in a “level of comfort” measure. Good, but separate does not equal Equal. I’d rather have a pedestrian and cyclist level of service directly comparable to the motorist one, using the same A thru F scale, and a combined “liveable street index” also rated A thru F.
the cyclist presentation made a valiant first attempt at showing that roads of different speeds could have / require? different cycling facilities. This was a big deal in the presentations given by guest speakers we have had for the last few years from cycling nations in Europe. Except, I think they would be appalled at the continued expectation in our standards that cyclists will continue to share the roads with fast moving vehicles. I’d love to see our proposed facilities compared to Dutch facilities for each roadway speed. For example, the Dutch demand that cyclists be on a separated path once road speeds hit 50kmh. So, no bike lanes on Scott. Or Albert. Or Carling.
Alas, the typology of cycling facilities related to road size and speed was not carried over to pedestrians, who are supposed to be satisfied with a 5 or 6′ concrete sidewalk glued to the curb, even if the adjacent road has a speed of 70kmh and is major truck and bus route. Who exactly wants to walk in those conditions? Walls of noise, dirt, pollution slush and spray … Would you let your 8 year old walk to school in those conditions? Where is the index that says a glued-to-the-curb works for 30kmh residential streets, but a 40, 50, 60, or 70kmh requires a physical setback, buffer zone, or elevation difference or safety wall between the walk and the speeding vehicles? Do any of our Councillors actually walk anywhere? (kudos to Hobbs who continues to be car free).
i failed to notice any distinction between “greenfield” new road locations where there is often plenty of room for cycle paths and walks to be set back from fast roads, and existing urban conditions where it is expensive or challenging to achieve that result. Will future Bronsons be rebuilt with sidewalks, then bike paths, then reduced numbers of traffic lanes, to fit into the available space, or will we continue merrily on with the car-has-already-ruined-this-place-just-carry-on mentality that characterizes Watson’s Ottawa and its 1970′s car-first priorities. In short, the principles need a “shall” statement preceding them.
After a lengthy opening address on the evils of car dependent urban form on human health, I didn’t notice any bold measures to curb the car and its unhealthy effects on Ottawa residents. We don’t need advertising campaigns, bus ads, and other proactive feel-good stuff. We need concrete action. Where are bold measures, such as mandating parking charges for all land users (ie, an end to “free” parking)? The City could start today by ending free parking at all its facilities. Get those pay-and-display machines out to Plant Bath and Nepean Sportsplex now! Might even make a profit, too.
I did notice and appreciate a semi-promise to avoid double-left-turn lanes at intersections.
I did notice and appreciate a higher target level for modal split. At the same time, promises of ever more spending on more roads and more greenfield development following the same models we now use, that increase density but don’t make Barrhaven or Riverside South genuinely walkable. Our new suburban neighborhoods like like a collection of garage doors with backyard-facing housing behind them.
I remain unconvinced that density targets alone will increase walking and healthy outcomes and active transportation and complete communities. Density may be a feature of successful neighbourhoods from the first half of the twentieth century, but they are not the only factor. There is urban form, the age and income mix, etc. Will building $700,000 condos on the 30th floor of an infill generate the same happy results as the 1920′s built form?? All evidence I see says NO.
Hume insists that within a few years zoning will match the plans. That will be helpful. What does that do to the Centretown plan and the Bayview-Carling plan, both of which have Dark-inspired key features of having the zoning mismatched to the OP and CDP so that Sec 37 monies can be extorted from the builders (and thru them, lest anyone be so naive, from the buyers of those units who have been deliberately excluded in our fair city from buying ground-based housing, supposedly to reduce sprawl but also to protect existing neighbourhood voters from low-rise intensification).
Hume also promised a development charge review. I’d like to see those predictable charges replace Sec 37. And the City could appease a lot of neighbourhood opposition to change by promising that the first year or two of additional revenue earned from any development would be spent in the immediate vicinity of the project. Then the city gets to keep the remaining 99 years of revenue all for itself. Yup, I’ll take a bribe today.
Ottawa boasts of its urban boundary. And its huge size is supposed to bring all of the surrounding area into one comprehensive urban planning zone. But just as for the greenbelt, the city-boundary has already been jumped by commuters and government road building to permit motorists to commute from ever-farther distances. Drive till you can buy that single family home! We are now exporting the worst forms of low-density suburbia to surrounding towns like Kemptville and Arnprior. The short-term greenfield economics seduces those small towns that every day look more like Barrhaven c1979. The best way for Arnprior or Kemptville to have live-work-play complete communities is to have a $5 or $10 toll on the road to Ottawa at the City boundary. Live in Arnprior if you work there, but not if you are then going to drive all thru my city.
the city is going to change the measure by which is provides roads from the current sizing of asphalt lanes to the peak hour (7.30 to 8.30am) to sizing them for the average of the peak period (ie, the three hour window). This will reduce the amount of road by 15%. And I have a bridge for you to buy, cheap. Many urban roads are so over-capacity that I don’t think it will make any change at all. This might have an effect on new roads to Bradley Estates, but for the rest of us, I think this is fine words with no real impact.
there was no acknowledgement of the world-wide trend to reducing speed limits (and thus reducing the road widths and geometry required to sustain high speeds) to make cities liveable So Mr Hume thinks we will all be happy living in denser housing adjacent speeding traffic and or congested traffic (yes, the two do go together) on narrower roads with minimal standard sidewalks glued to the curb?? Waiter, the reality cheque please !

Smokin’ hot bike racks

A reader kindly supplied this picture of the many innovative ways that bike racks can be used.

This one is on West Wellington, just west of Holland.

In this case the bike rack is still OK, abeit with a damaged ashtray box. I’ve noticed everywhere I walk in the city that bike posts are falling victim to plow damage.

I do wonder how this conflicting use of a post will work out in the spring when more cyclists try to use it. Or maybe the adjacent restaurant wood prefer to cater to smokers rather than cyclists.

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Category Archives: sidewalks

Rescue Bronson (part v): gas station flip flop

Rescue Bronson (part iv): how to plant trees in gravel

Rescue Bronson (part ii): why concrete is good landscaping

Rescue Bronson makes lemonade (part i)

(above: houses are not too close to the street. They used to have lovely front yards. Trees. The city blighted space, leaving only what it couldn’t pave for cars. The road is too close to the houses. How can we make it better?)

Celebration New Town: the residential villages

Building a liveable Ottawa

Smokin’ hot bike racks

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(above: houses are not too close to the street. They used to have lovely front yards. Trees. The city blighted space, leaving only what it couldn’t pave for cars. The road is too close to the houses. How can we make it better?)

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