By Marc Dorgeville, Ottawa Citizen, April 10, 2019
(...)In North America, cities have been built around cars for decades and Ottawa’s sprawl is the result of car-centric transportation. While knocking on doors over these past nine weeks for the Rideau-Rockcliffe byelection, I met drivers frustrated by the fact traffic is slower today than it was along the main arteries of the ward: Beechwood, Montréal, MacArthur, Donald. One irate driver believes that the city de-synchronizes light signals to slow traffic on purpose.
But I also met many more residents concerned about the safety and speeding issues linked to cars going through our neighbourhoods. All expect the next city councillor to increase traffic-calming measures for a more pedestrian- and business-friendly experience.
Car travel times inside Ottawa are bound to increase in the future. First, because of safety concerns and residents’ desire to improve the quality of life in their neighbourhoods. The advance signal for pedestrians or the “no turn on red“ in some intersections slow down traffic of course, but these measures also reduce the number of car-pedestrians incidents and are necessary for the safety of the most vulnerable users: pedestrians.
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/dorgeville-ottawa-drivers-need-to-start-changing-their-expectations