December OSCAR - Old Ottawa South

Page 12 The OSCAR - OUR 38 th YEAR DEC 2011
Bridges of OOS.... Cont’d from page 1
swing bridge remained in service
until 1938 when it was replaced by a
new electrically-powered steel plate
girder swing bridge with a wider
deck to meet increasingly heavy
traffic demands. The new bridge
was erected on the same alignment,
and on widened piers,” wrote Robert
Passfield. The Dominion Bridge
Company of Montreal built both
the 1903 and 1938 Bronson Avenue
Bridges.
“The new reinforced-concrete
bridge was erected in 1959 on a
straight alignment, beside the existing
plate girder swing bridge which
served as a pedestrian bridge until
February 1961 when it was removed,
“ added Mr. Passfield.
In 2008 and 2009 the City of
Ottawa rehabilitated the bridge
to upgrade the structure for code
compliance and extend its service life.
The Bronson Avenue Canal
Bridge and the George Dunbar bridges
are connected by a 1.2km stretch of
roadway that moves vehicular traffic
from 80 km/h to 50 km/h.
The City’s collision database
reveals that, “for the years 2002 to
2004 inclusive, there were a total of
177 collisions along Bronson Avenue
from the south end of the George
Dunbar Bridge to the north end of the
Canal Bridge. Of the total number of
collisions, 56 resulted in injuries and
one fatal incident.”
“Further evaluation of the City’s
collision database also revealed that,
between 1990 and 2005, there were
four fatalities on this corridor. Two
of these were on the George Dunbar
Bridge itself (car occupants), one was
at the Brewer Park Road (pedestrian)
and one was between Sunnyside
Avenue and Brewer Way (pedestrian).
Over that same period from 1990 to
2005, there were seven collisions
resulting in serious injuries, including
three on the George Dunbar Bridge
(vehicle occupants), two at Brewer
Park and Bronson intersection (one
bicyclist and one car occupant) and
two in the vicinity of the Canal Bridge
(one bicyclist and one pedestrian).”
“As a result of these serious
collisions, the consulting firm of
Synectics Transportation Consultants
Inc. was retained in March 2005 to
conduct an In-Service Road Safety
Review (ISSR) of Bronson Avenue
between the Rideau River and the
Rideau Canal. An ISSR is an indepth,
independent engineering study
of an existing road using road safety
principles to identify cost-effective
measures to improve road safety.”
George Dunbar Bridge (runs
along Bronson Avenue and over the
Rideau River) is the youngest bridge
that touches our neighbourhood. Built
in 1996, it is made of concrete prestressed
beams. McCormick Rankin
Corporation designed the bridge, and
the general contractor was Dilorio
Construction of Montreal.
The bridge is named in honour
of George Harrison Dunbar who was
born on April 11, 1878 in Richmond,
Ontario. In 1892, he married Lucy
May Coxford, was a teacher, and
served as a captain during World War
I. He represented Ottawa South in the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario as
a Conservative and then Progressive
Conservative member from 1937
to 1959. Dunbar was controller for
the city of Ottawa, and he served in
the provincial cabinet as Minister of
Municipal Affairs from 1943 to 1955
and Minister of Reform Institutions
from 1946 to 1948. Mr. Dunbar died
on February 28, 1966 and is buried in
the Beechwood Cemetery.
The Dunbar Bridge carries the
most traffic of the five bridges in our
community.
According to a traffic study
undertaken for the Lansdowne project,
the Bronson Avenue corridor has, on
average, significantly higher traffic
volumes than the other two primary
north-south corridors -- 1,920 vehicles
per hour (vph) southbound during the
p.m. peak and 1,720 vph northbound,
compared with about 1,000 vph in the
peak direction in each of the other two
corridors.
Under the bridge are legal
graffiti walls. The colourful backdrop
provides space for the House of Paint
Hip Hop festival each August.
Bank Street Canal Bridge also
started its life as a timber swing bridge
in 1866.
“It was only the second bridge
crossing of the Rideau Canal within
the city limits, the other being
Sappers’ stone arch bridge on the
Wellington-Rideau streets alignment.
The Bank Street Bridge was replaced
by a second timber swing bridge in
1882, and by a steel through truss
swing bridge in 1898,” writes Robert
Passfield.
“In 1910 the City of Ottawa
approached the Department of
Railways and Canals for permission
to construct a new bridge on Bank
Street to carry electric trolley lines,
as well as motor vehicle traffic, over
the Rideau Canal to serve the growing
area of Ottawa South. Thereafter,
the City Engineer, Newton J. Ker,
designed a high level reinforced
concrete arch bridge having six arch
spans, with the central two arches
spanning the canal, and the northern
arches spanning two lanes of the
recently completed Driveway of the
Ottawa Improvement Commission.
The new Bank Street Bridge was built
in 1912-1913 by the City of Ottawa,
with a federal government financial
contribution.”
“As originally constructed,
the Bank Street Bridge carried two
electric trolley lines, and two lanes
of road traffic, as well as sidewalks,
and was adorned with concrete
balustrades and iron lamp standards.
Subsequently, the bridge was altered
with the removal of the trolley lines
to accommodate four lanes of road
traffic, and the installation of modern
steel railings and lighting standards.
In 1993, the Bank Street Bridge
underwent a restoration in which
the concrete facing was refurbished,
and the concrete balustrades restored
with replicas of the original lamp
standards.”
Historic picture of bridge:
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nbr=3358916&rec_nbr_list=3300918
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anal%2C+Bank+Street.+&ecopy=a0
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In mid-November 2011, a mini
bike turning shoulder was added to the
north right side as you leave the bridge.
Designed by David Chernushenko, it
allows cyclists to avoid turning left at
Wilton and cross three lanes of traffic.
Instead, the shoulder allows cyclists
to make a U-turn, circling back under
the bridge and around to access
the dedicated bike lane at Monk.
Also new is “the bike ‘pocket’ at
Holmwood and Bank where cyclists
wait for the green signal to proceed to
an easier way to a quieter route from
Old Ottawa South to the Glebe,” adds
Mr. Chernushenko.
Traffic data from May-June 2007
and 2009 shows the peak-direction
hourly volume on the Bank Street
Canal Bridge has more than 1,200
vehicles per hour (vph) northbound
during the AM peak hour, and almost
1,100 vph southbound during the PM
peak hour on the approach to Aylmer
Avenue. These figures were published
in the Lansdowne traffic study.
Billings Bridge (Bank Street
over Rideau River) was built in 1915
and named after Braddish Billings,
a pioneer who settled and farmed
nearby in 1812. It replaced a previous
bridge, called Farmers Bridge, built
over the river in the same place in
1830.
Billings Bridge has a five
steel beam through plate girder
construction, and is listed as a
heritage structure. According to city
documents, the bridge is supported
on only two lines of girders, parts of
which protrude above the traveled
deck surface. The bridge was last
rehabilitated in 1986.
The Bank Street South
Community Design Plan suggests
adding cycling lanes in both directions
on the bridge. Brendan McCoy, cochair
of OSWatch, wrote to Jillian
Savage, City Project Manager on
October 26, 2011 and said the group
is pleased with the idea. “It supports
the need for improved pedestrian and
cycling safety and access. We feel
strongly that a vital component of
that is the proper rehabilitation of the
Billings Bridge at the northern end of
this CDP. The rehabilitation of this
bridge presents a unique opportunity
to improve both the safety and quality
of pedestrian and cycling activity
over this historic bridge, which forms
the southern gate to our community.”
Unfortunately the upcoming
interim repairs slated for this bridge
will not be an opportunity to add
additional bike lanes at this time said
David Chernushenko, Capital Ward
Councillor. “The interim measures
will be for concrete, welding and
resurfacing,” said Mr. Chernushenko.
He is looking at making the bridge
safer for cycling by having lane
markings and signage asking
motorists not to overtake cyclists in
the lane.
George McIlraith Bridge
(connects Smyth Road and Main
Street, over the Rideau River) is made
from steel girders and was built in
1964.
The bridge is named in honour of
George James McIlraith, Born on July
2, 1908, he studied at Osgoode Law
School, and practiced law in Ottawa.
He married Margaret Summers in
1935. He was first elected as a Liberal
Member of Parliament in 1940, and
was re-elected nine successive times.
Mr. McIlraith joined Lester Pearson’s
cabinet when the Liberals formed
government following the 1963
federal election. He was Minister
of Transport, and from 1964 until
1967, and he was Government House
Leader in charge of the Pearson
minority government’s parliamentary
strategy for much of its tenure,
including during the Great Flag
Debate and parliamentary debates on
the introduction of Medicare. He also
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