[caption id="attachment_7692" align="alignnone" width="601" caption="Ottawa Sun headline when new signage was put up for the Laurier Segregated Bicycle Lane pilot."][/caption] Here's the golden rule that is applied whenever a municipal project is being planned: No change can come at a cost to drivers. Here's how this breaks down: 1. Travel time can't ever get worse. 2. Taxpayer-subsidized parking is sacred. 3. Drivers can never be inconvenienced in any other way, and change is inconvenience.   We're blessed in Ottawa with having a somewhat sane Transportation Master Plan. It says the goal is to reduce auto dependence by making walking and cycling more attractive. So why do countless city projects not follow the city's own guideline? Working around the rule We can and do improve bike facilities, but we always need to work around this axiom. Adding a bike lane is acceptable as long as you don't remove a driving lane (unless you have proof that Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) isn't lowered). Bike paths far away from roads are celebrated. Politicians herald these to mark how they support sustainable transportation.

Over the last week, on my own blog I've been writing about details of the cycling aspect of the Lansdowne transportation plans. Those five articles are all pretty deep; this one will summarize the situation. This is all relevant for tonight's open house on the topic. The Lansdowne Park stadium in Ottawa is scheduled to be reconstructed over the next few years. The location in the Glebe, just south of downtown, makes it impossible to build new transportation infrastructure, yet the commercial success of the park depends on there being ...