This newspaper also received a telling email from a teacher. “It would cost $6 million and it’s like a path to nowhere.” (The newly designed crossing would have an island in the middle and beacon lights to stop traffic.)Īs is, he added, the city’s plan doesn’t make the right linkages - its path crosses Jockvale, then peters out. That location, Bartraw said, would better serve school children and residents of the 41-unit Steepleview Crossing, home to some with mobility issues. The association would first like a proper pedestrian crossing of Jockvale near two OC bus stops - which are not up to standard - about 100 metres on the opposite side of the tracks to the city’s plan. During our visit with Bleeks, it took several minutes to find a safe gap between cars.) (Jockvale is, absolutely, tricky to cross. He said the city should have pedestrian paths on both sides of the street (not one) and the current crossing in the city’s preferred plan is in the wrong place. His main concern, at this point, is not the train underpass but improved crossing of Jockvale period. The entire project would cost about $6 million, mostly for the underpass, with a second at-street crossing pegged at about $300,000.ĭarrell Bartraw is president of the West Barrhaven Community Association.
The underpass is just one part of improvements the city is examining and the community is grappling with how best to proceed. “It’s just a matter of time before another accident happens. The noise of the traffic, the overhead aircraft on a flight-path to the airport, the young people wearing earbuds, roaring buses and trucks - it all contributes to audible distractions for pedestrians, Bleeks said. Photo by City of Ottawa / Handoutīleeks would like the city to proceed with a plan for an underpass that would allow pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchairs, strollers or scooters to safely go under the tracks. The community association believes this level crossing should be on the other side of the tracks. In the area where the tracks cross Jockvale, there is a path on only one side of the road, the last at-grade pedestrian crossing of its kind in Barrhaven.Ī City of Ottawa graphic shows a proposed underpass at Jockvale Road in the middle of frame, under a new bridge, with a new, signalized pedestrian crossing to the right. The pedestrian infrastructure, meanwhile, is a hodgepodge, a sore point for about 20 years. With all those people come shops, and schools, churches, parks, community centres and transit routes - and even more trains. “I’m always feeling anxious crossing there.”Īs a child, Bleeks remembers nothing but farm fields along this stretch of Jockvale, which is now a busy arterial surrounded by subdivisions. “At first we thought, ‘who was it?’ and then the conversation kind of turned into, ‘that could be us,’” the father of two young children said. Visually impaired, he uses a guide dog to walk to shops and visit family on the other side of the tracks, which he crosses frequently, alive to the “ding-ding” sound of dropping barriers and approaching trains. His mother was also just recalling the 1992 fatality and the February death gave him chills. He nearly took OC’s Route 76 that fateful morning in 2013 to his desk at Tunney’s Pasture. Stacy Bleeks, 50, grew up in Barrhaven and has been touched by it. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.National Capital Region's Top Employers.
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