NOTEBOOK: Bike lane on Carling, electric buses update, plus step 3 reopening

A few brief updates today…

Temporary bike lane opens on Carling Avenue

Back in early June, three city councillors announced that an approximately 1-km stretch of seasonal bike lanes on Carling Avenue, between Sherwood and Cambridge, would be coming this summer. Those lanes are now open, providing a route for cyclists separated from other traffic with cones. The lanes were paid for with ward traffic-calming budgets between the councillors Shawn Menard, Catherine McKenney and Jeff Leiper.

Despite Carling Avenue’s utility as a major arterial, it does not have much in the way of separated cycling facilities. According to Bike Ottawa, Carling is considered an LTS-4 facility, meaning it exhibits the highest level of traffic stress for cyclists.

Electric bus preview

OC Transpo tweeted this pic of one of four new electric buses that will be delivered to Ottawa this fall. The buses are still in production.

The buses will begin service this year and by 2023, 74 more of the battery-powered buses will enter the fleet.

More, more more weed shops

A few hours after I had read the Ottawa Business Journal’s report “Legal cannabis sales in Ottawa flat as stores continue to multiply” (linked here) the OttawaStart mailbox dinged with news of yet another:

“High Tide Inc … a retail-focused cannabis corporation enhanced by the manufacturing and distribution of consumption accessories, announced today that its Canna Cabana store located at 111 Rideau Street in Ottawa, Ontario, has begun selling recreational cannabis products for adult use.”

So there ya go.

Ontario in Stage 3

As of Friday, Ontario entered stage 3 of reopening, five days ahead of schedule. Stage 3 allows the opening of many services closed during the last two stages, including gyms, museums and indoor dining. You can see all the details at the province’s website. As the first day of stage 3 came to a close, the City of Ottawa announced that 82% of Ottawa residents had received one vaccine dose, with 62% having gotten two.