By Judy Trinh, CBC News Ottawa, May 5, 2020
Some downtown councillors and other advocates are putting pressure on the city to expand pedestrian space along Bank Street so residents can safely access essential services by foot or bicycle — but the plan is getting some pushback from local businesses.
Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard is surveying his constituents to see if they support blocking off the southbound curbside lane of Bank Street between Glebe and Third avenues. The three-block stretch includes a grocery store, pharmacy and hardware store.
It's a proposal Centretown resident Sandy Miller said she would support after a near miss Monday afternoon when she stepped off the sidewalk on Bank Street to avoid a group of people."Right about that moment a car was coming and [the driver] swerved. I don't think he would have hit me, but we both kind of jumped," she said. "I saw the look on his face and thought, 'There's not quite enough room here.'"
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-traffic-lane-closure-distancing-covid19-1.5555674?ref=mobilerss&cmp=newsletter_CBC%20Ottawa_727_25674