Bayswater Avenue Traffic Calming Plan

As We Heard It Report

In the spring of 2020, an online survey was conducted to gather feedback on four alternatives to address traffic concerns along Bayswater Avenue between Somerset Street West and Gladstone Avenue. The ‘As We Heard It Report’ includes the results from that survey including summaries of the individual comments received.

As We Heard It Report [ PDF 569 KB ]

Final Recommendation

The Bayswater Avenue Traffic Calming Plan is not intended to fully redesign and/or reconstruct the entire street, but to address the previously approved recommendations for the intersection of Bayswater Avenue and Laurel Street that were never implemented. Based on the review of current traffic conditions, the context of Baywater Avenue and feedback from the community, a recommended alternative traffic calming plan has been selected.

Alternative 3 - Four Speed Cushions is recommended because of the following reasons:

• The speed reduction effects are expected to be the higher than the other alternatives.
• It will calm traffic for the entire section of Bayswater Avenue, while the traffic calming effects of two cycling-friendly bulb-outs at the intersection of Bayswater Avenue and Laurel Street will be mostly limited to the area near this intersection.
• It does not preclude future potential modifications through other programs (like potential cycling enhancements).
• It is the alternative most supported by residents of Bayswater Avenue and Laurel Street who will be impacted the most by traffic calming measures on Bayswater Avenue.

While public feedback is very important, the final recommendation is not made exclusively by public preference. Although two cycling-friendly bulb-outs is the most supported alternative by all survey respondents, the four speed cushions alternative is recommended considering the above reasons.

Beyond this review of potential traffic calming measures, on September 9, 2020, City Council approved the Transportation Committee’s recommendation to reduce the posted speed limit to 30 km/h on Bayswater Avenue between Gladstone Avenue and Somerset Street West. This change will proceed independently of the recommended traffic calming measures.

Next Steps

Once funding is confirmed, the design process will be initiated. Typically, the design process can be completed within a year and construction is undertaken the following year.

Traffic calming measures were previously recommended on Bayswater Avenue at Laurel Street to calm traffic along Bayswater Avenue in this vicinity. These recommended measures were approved through the completion of the Parkdale Area Transportation Study (in 1997), but never prioritized for funding and were therefore never implemented. The City is now reviewing these outstanding recommendations.

From the Parkdale Area Transportation Study, the original traffic calming recommendations at this intersection included bulb-outs which are horizontal intrusions of curbs into the roadway resulting in a narrower section of road surface area. As these recommendations are more than two-decades-old, they are being reevaluated. This includes a review of the current traffic conditions along Bayswater Avenue (between Somerset Street West and Gladstone Avenue) as well as an evaluation of potential alternative recommendations that may be more in line with the current conditions and applicable guidelines.

We want your feedback! Please review the potential alternative recommendations described below and then submit your feedback via the online survey. Public feedback is an important component to finalize the City’s recommendations.

The following is a summary of existing conditions of Bayswater Avenue between Somerset Street West and Gladstone Avenue and applicable guidelines from the City’s Traffic Calming Design Guidelines:

• Bayswater Avenue between Gladstone Avenue and Somerset Street West is designated as a collector road. Collector roads connect communities and distribute traffic between the arterial system and the local road system. Collector roads are the principal streets in urban and village neighbourhoods and are used by local residents, delivery and commercial vehicles, transit and school buses, cyclists, and pedestrians.
• The width of Bayswater Avenue is approximately 9.4-9.5 m.
• There are sidewalks on both east and west sides of the street.
• Bayswater Avenue is a local cycling route, as defined in the Ottawa Cycling Plan (2013). While currently there are no dedicated cycling facilities along Bayswater Avenue, it is anticipated that the City will at some point in the future undertake a cycling study for a longer segment of Bayswater Avenue, although there is currently no timeline for this cycling study and it would likely be several years out.
• Bayswater Avenue is not a transit route meaning this street is not used by public transit service (OC Transpo).
• Bayswater Avenue is a key emergency response street identified by Ottawa Fire Services. Key emergency response streets are shown in Appendix D of the Traffic Calming Design Guidelines. Because of the potential impact on Emergency Operations, it is recommended to avoid vertical traffic calming measures like speed humps and speed tables on key emergency response streets. Speed cushions however, offer a potential alternative to speed humps – while they are not as aggressive as speed humps in reducing speeds, they are considered acceptable speed management measures on key emergency response streets. Speed cushions are raised areas, similar to speed humps, but not covering the entire width of the road. They are designed to allow large vehicles to “straddle” the cushions, resulting in less delays to emergency response vehicles as compared to speed humps. Smaller vehicles, though, are vertically deflected and therefore are slowed down. An example of speed cushions can be found on Knudson Drive in Kanata.
• The Maintenance Class of Bayswater Avenue is 3B as defined by the City’s Maintenance Quality Standards . It is recommended to avoid roadway widths less than 7m on Maintenance Class 3B streets.
• The 85th percentile speed (the speed at or below which 85 percent of all vehicles are observed to travel) along Bayswater Avenue was 48 km/h in 2015, before the installation of flex-stake signs. After the installation of the flexible centerline signs, the 85th percentile speed was reduced to 41 to 47 km/h depending on the locations of survey.
• The daily traffic volume on Bayswater Avenue south of Somerset Street (estimated from an 8-hour turning movement count conducted in September 2016) is approximately 6,500 vehicles. This is approximately 53 percent more than an actual daily traffic volume count for a 24-hour period in June of 2002. Estimated traffic volume counts based on 8-hour counts are less accurate than an actual 24-hour traffic volume count.
• Parking is prohibited on the west side of Bayswater Avenue between Laurel Street and Gladstone Avenue, and on the east side of Bayswater Avenue between Somerset Street West and Laurel Street. Relatively high parking demand along Bayswater Avenue was observed during the fall of 2019.
• During the 11 year period from 2008 to 2018, most of the collisions on this section of Bayswater Avenue occurred at the two signalized intersections, Bayswater Avenue and Somerset Street West (28 collisions) and Bayswater Avenue and Gladstone Avenue (31 collisions). There was only one collision at the intersection of Bayswater Avenue and Laurel Street. There were four collisions along Bayswater Avenue between Gladstone Avenue and Laurel Street and six collisions along Bayswater Avenue between Laurel Street and Somerset Street West during this same 11-year period.

The original recommendation of bulb-outs is over two-decades-old so the City initiated a review of potential alternative designs based on current traffic conditions, community opinions, and potential conflicts with other related projects which were not foreseen at the time of the original study. This review could lead to different recommendations based on current conditions.

For instance, the originally recommended bulb-outs may not be compatible with potential future cycling facilities along Bayswater Avenue.

Based on the review of current traffic conditions and the context of Bayswater Avenue, the following four alternatives, which are consistent with the City’s Traffic Calming Design Guidelines, have been developed:

Alternative 1 – Two Cycling-Friendly Bulb-Outs

Alternative 1 is two cycling-friendly bulb-outs on the northwest and southwest corners of the intersection of Bayswater Avenue and Laurel Street, as shown in the following two figures. Cycling-friendly bulb-outs are horizontal projections of curbs onto roadways resulting in narrower sections of road surface area but which provides space for cyclists to ride over or through it. A ride-through cycling-friendly bulb-out includes a bicycle lane within the bulb-out at the same elevation as vehicles but is separated from vehicular traffic by a traffic island. An example of a ride-through cycling-friendly bulb-out can be found on MacLaren Street at O'Connor Street.

Unless parking is prohibited on both sides of Bayswater Avenue, a future bicycle lane could only be added on one side of the street, if it is recommended. The west side of Bayswater Avenue would be preferred to the east side for a single bicycle lane because it is in the uphill direction for cyclists, which requires more efforts for cyclists to maintain their lateral position. Alternative 1, was therefore developed as such so that it would not preclude a potential future bicycle lane on the west side of Bayswater Avenue.

Alternative 1 would be compatible with the existing flex-stake signs or any potential future modifications to the temporary traffic calming measures including additional delineators.

The width of the short bicycle segment within the bulb-outs would be 1.8m to allow road maintenance vehicles to pass through and the width of traffic islands would be approximately 0.7m – resulting in an adjacent roadway width of approximately 7m. A few parking spaces north of the bulb-outs may need to be removed to allow cyclists access the bicycle segment within the bulb-outs.

The advantages of Alternative 1 are:

• improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists
• reduced exposure of pedestrians to vehicular traffic at the intersection
• improved visibility of pedestrians
• better defined parking areas
• reduction of speed of turning traffic

The disadvantages of the Alternative 1 are:

• increased maintenance between the curb and the traffic island
• relatively lower speed reduction effects
• loss of parking spaces

The estimated cost of the implementation of Alternative 1 is in the order of approximately $10,000

Alternative 1 Two cycling-friendly bulb-outs [ PDF 906 KB ]

Alternative 1 Two cycling-friendly bulb-outs detail [ PDF 145 KB ]

Alternative 2 – Two Speed Cushions

Alternative 2 is two speed cushions, one each in the section of Bayswater Avenue between Gladstone Avenue and Laurel Street, and between Laurel Street and Somerset Street West. As described above, speed cushions are raised areas, similar to speed humps, but not covering the entire width of the road. They are designed to allow large vehicles such as emergency service vehicles to “straddle” the cushions, while smaller vehicles are vertically deflected. The spacing between the speed cushions and the adjacent intersections would be approximately 85 to 128m. A distance of 80m is recommended to achieve higher speed reduction effects. While it is difficult to assess the effects of this alternative accurately, it is expected that Alternative 2 would likely reduce the 85th percentile speed (the speed at or below which 85 percent of all vehicles are observed to travel) on Bayswater Avenue to somewhere in the low to mid 40s, while delaying emergency response vehicles by a few seconds.

Alternative 2 would not preclude a future bicycle lane (with cyclists choosing to either proceed between the curb and the outermost cushion or riding over it).

Alternative 2 would not be compatible with the existing flex-stake signs but may not preclude other types of temporary traffic calming measures if considered in the future.

The advantages of Alternative 2 are:

• improved safety for pedestrian and cyclists
• higher speed reduction effects in comparison with Alternative 1

The disadvantage of Alternative 2:

• speed cushions may slightly affect emergency vehicle response times.

The estimated cost of the implementation of Alternative 2 is in the order of approximately $12,000 to $15,000.

The locations of the speed cushions shown in the following figure are approximate locations where the speed cushions could be, but exact locations and configuration would be reviewed further during the detailed design stage and based on public feedback.

Alternative 2 Two speed cushions [ PDF 906 KB ]

Alternative 3 – Four Speed Cushions

Alternative 3 is four speed cushions, two each in the section of Bayswater Avenue between Gladstone Avenue and Laurel Street, and between Laurel Street and Somerset Street West. The advantages and disadvantages of Alternative 3 are principally the same as those of Alternative 2, but as the speed cushions would be more closely spaced, the speed reduction effects are expected to be higher than Alternative 2. It is very difficult to predict, but the 85th percentile speed is expected to be reduced somewhere in between the high 30s to the low 40s.

Similarly, the delay to emergency response times would be more than Alternative 2. While the delay to emergency response vehicles at each speed cushion is expected to be only a few seconds, the total delay for these vehicles increases if there are many obstacles that they have to maneuver over on their emergency response route.

Similarly to Alternative 2, Alternative 3 would not preclude a future bicycle lane (with cyclists choosing to either proceed between the curb and the outermost cushion or riding over it).

Alternative 3 would also not be compatible with the existing flex-stake signs but may not preclude other types of temporary traffic calming measures if considered in the future.

The estimated cost of the implementation of Alternative 3 is in the order of approximately $20,000 to $25,000.

The locations of the speed cushions shown in the following figure are approximate locations where the speed cushions could be, but exact location and configuration would be reviewed further during the detailed design stage and based on public feedback.

Alternative 3 Four speed cushions [ PDF 904 KB ]

Alternative 4 – No Permanent Measures

During non-winter season, there are currently two flex-stake signs each in the section of Bayswater Avenue between Gladstone Avenue and Laurel Street, and between Laurel Street and Somerset Street West. With sufficient parking demand, these existing temporary traffic calming measures are effective in providing some speed reduction without permanent traffic calming measures. Under this alternative existing flex-stake signs would remain. Modifications to their placement, or additional measures (such as additional delineators) could be considered in the future. These types of measures are coordinated directly through the Ward Councilor’s office.

The advantages of Alternative 4 are no additional costs and no additional delay to emergency service vehicles. The disadvantage of Alternative 4 is lower speed reduction effects in comparison with the other alternatives.

 Alternative 4 No permanent measures [ PDF 896 KB ]

Comparison of Alternatives

Advantages and disadvantages of the alternatives are summarized below.

Alternative 1

• Speed reduction effects - medium
• Emergency vehicle delay - lowest
• Reducing turning traffic speed - yes
• Improved pedestrian safety - high
• Compatibility with cycing facilities - yes
• Cost - low

Alternative 2

• Speed reduction effects - medium high
• Emergency vehicle delay - medium low
• Reducing turning traffic speed - no
• Improved pedestrian safety - medium high
• Compatibility with cycing facilities - yes
• Cost - medium

Alternative 3

• Speed reduction effects - highest
• Emergency vehicle delay - medium
• Reducing turning traffic speed - no
• Improved pedestrian safety - high
• Compatibility with cycing facilities - yes
• Cost - medium high

Alternative 4

• Speed reduction effects - medium
• Emergency vehicle delay - lowest
• Reducing turning traffic speed - no
• Improved pedestrian safety - medium low
• Compatibility with cycing facilities - yes
• Cost - none

The City’s recommended option is Alternative 2 because it offers a balance between the objective for speed reduction, the need to minimize impacts to emergency operations and cost effectiveness. That being said, public feedback is important to confirm and finalize any recommended plan.

Public feedback is an important component to finalize the City’s recommendations. We would encourage interested members of the public to fill out the Bayswater Avenue Traffic Calming Plan Online Survey before June 30 2020

Please do not hesitate to contact the project manager identified below if you have any questions or require clarifications about the information presented above before providing your feedback.

If you prefer to have a hard copy of the survey please contact:

Wook Kang
Project Manager, Area Traffic Management
Transportation Services
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1
613-580-2424, ext. 19285
Email: wook.kang@ottawa.ca