Motorists and active users are divided over the closure of Queen Elizabeth Driveway, according to a new survey commissioned by the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association.
The survey, which received input from more than 5,300 individuals, found that those who use the QED regularly for active use and those who never do have completely opposing views on the National Capital Commission’s decision to close it.
As part of its active use program that began as a pandemic measure in 2020, the NCC closed a stretch of the driveway on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Fifth Avenue to Somerset Street from Canada Day to Labour Day. The road was also closed to vehicles on weekends and holidays from May 13 to June 25, as well as Sept. 9 to Thanksgiving Monday.
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The active use program is designed to reserve parkways for biking, walking and other car-free transportation methods from May to October.
The initiative has been subject to significant opposition, including from Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, who has repeatedly criticized the decision over concerns about its impact on traffic flow.
According to the survey, which was conducted by Nanos, 80 per cent of respondents who have never used the QED for active use want to see it reopened for driving year-round.
The same percentage of active user respondents want the opposite: for the QED to close 24-7 to vehicle traffic.
“Competing visions for Queen Elizabeth Driveway leads to a very stark split between those that are never active users and those that are regular active users,” said chief data scientist Nik Nanos.
The individuals who never actively used the QED were most likely to say they experienced negative impacts from the closure.
That includes difficulties accessing events at Lansdowne Park, driving to work, and visiting businesses downtown.
In July, business leaders told OBJ that businesses along Bank Street were following the effects on congestion caused by the closure.
“The QED is just a route that a lot of people use, whether they’re travelling through the city or incidentally,” said Patrick Burke, executive director of the Glebe BIA. “When it’s closed, there are more cars on Bank Street. It makes the trips slower and it takes longer for people to get to the front door of a local shop or restaurant. I think that just causes frustration for people who support local businesses here.”
Tim Tierney, councillor for Beacon Hill-Cyrville, said the survey “really speaks to what the general public really feels about this. I think those numbers are going to reflect that people see this as a very big arterial route.”
Tierney also criticised how the NCC handled the controversy over the road’s closure over the summer, and called for more collaboration between the organization and the city.
“It’s unfortunate that the NCC wont sit down with us and discuss this in a professional manner. There’s (been) no discussion,” he said. “People want us to sit down and have a discussion because it’s becoming a very serious conversation . . . When I hear a full closure and ripping out a road, I don’t think that’s a solution.”
Impacts increase as volumes return to pre-pandemic levels: city staff
On Thursday, city staff presented a report to the city’s transportation committee, detailing how closing a section of the QED from Fifth Avenue and Somerset Street impacts vehicle traffic in the surrounding areas.
According to the report, the closure had very little impact in its earliest days, with traffic volumes dropping 65 per cent during the pandemic.
But with traffic now approaching pre-pandemic levels, city staff said congestion issues are becoming more apparent, especially in the area south of the Pretoria Bridge.
The report found a 54- to 57-per-cent increase in vehicle volume at the O’Connor Street and Fifth Avenue intersection because of the closure. It estimated that up to 3,450 additional vehicles per day were driving in the area.
O’Connor Street, which is classified as a local residential roadway, saw a 67-per-cent increase in vehicle volumes, reaching a daily average of 3,000 vehicles. According to the report, residential roads are built to support a capacity of 1,000 cars per day.
In other areas, the impacts were less severe. The intersection of Bank Street and Isabella Avenue saw an increase of about eight to 11 per cent. Several intersections also showed significant decreases, like the QED and Fifth Avenue intersection, where volumes decreased 68 per cent, and the QED and Princess Patricia intersection, which experienced a 50-per-cent decrease.
Phil Landry, director of traffic services, told councillors Thursday the impacts are most significant at peak weekday hours in the morning and afternoon, as motorists commute to and from work.
“We have no concerns on the weekend,” he said. “The concern is during the week, in the rush hour when you have that volume of traffic that’s trying to get in. There’s very limited arterial roads to get in and they’re all at capacity. So by taking this one away, you’re basically forcing traffic to go down a street that was never designed for that.”
According to Landry, there have also been more reports of unsafe driving and speeding in neighbouring communities, including on residential roads.
“There are multiple stops along O’Connor Street where we see people not stopping, or slowing down and not coming to a complete stop,” he said. “This is probably because of driver frustration because of the congestion and additional traffic in the area.”
He added that there are also more tour buses passing through residential neighbourhoods, which he said are not typically meant to support buses. They also received complaints from residents about added noise from the additional cars.
The city also collected active user data, to see how much pedestrians and cyclists were using the QED during the closure.
The report found that cyclists were its primary users, with two-thirds using the roadway instead of the existing pathway. An average of 104 cyclists and 30 pedestrians used the roadway per hour on weekdays, and 165 cyclists and 55 pedestrians did so on weekends.
CitySHAPES director Neil Saravanamuttoo said during a public delegation to council that opening the roadway has made space for more active users.
Current volumes could not be supported on the pathway alone if the roadway were opened to vehicles again permanently, he said: “Anything more than that, you start getting into conflicts. Those pathways are more than double the capacity we have.”
Somerset Ward Coun. Ariel Troster said she’s heard opinions across the board from residents in her area, which is directly impacted by the closure, but also benefits from the added space for safe outdoor activities.
She said the issue was complicated, but had so far been a net benefit to local residents.
“The QED is a really essential active transportation link between the ward that I represent and the rest of the city where we have very few options,” she said. “I will never put my bike on Bronson; Bank Street is terrifying. It’s just very tough. So I understand we have a collision of interests here but 40 per cent of my residents don’t own a car.”
In response to a delegation from the Centretown Community Association, which advocated for the benefits of the QED closure, Bay Ward Coun. Theresa Kavanaugh said the main point of contention is not necessarily local residents, but commuters outside of the city centre.
“This doesn’t appear to be about people living in the area,” she said. “It appears to be about people who want to come, but they want to come by car. To make the argument that this is hurting the local residents, that’s clearly not the case.”
Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower expressed frustration with how the issue has been handled by the NCC.
“We’re in a weird position here where it’s not up to us letting the NCC do this,” he said. “It’s their property, they can do whatever they want. The problem is, I’m not convinced they’ve done the consultation they should be doing.”
