07-19-2018, 04:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-19-2018, 04:51 PM by clasher.
Edit Reason: trim
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(07-19-2018, 03:41 PM)robdrimmie Wrote:Quote:And to avoid the Ottawa/H-W intersection one could head over to Westmount and then take the trail through Concordia & Lakeside parks
During construction of the roundabouts I took exactly that detour, though I took it to Stirling not to the Iron Horse. The routes through the parks were wonderful, but Ottawa's asphalt is garbage along that stretch and Westmount is one of the streets I consider far too unsafe to ride on (along with Weber and Homer Watson and most of King). Coming back along that route is especially unpleasant, crossing to the proper side of Westmount at the trail head at 5:30ish is very difficult, and turning left onto Ottawa immediately after increases the complexity. Now that the roundabout construction has settled I feel much safer crossing at Homer Watson and Ottawa and either taking HW up to Stirling, or continuing along Ottawa to Mill.
I appreciate both suggestions, thank you.
It's one of the few areas I regularly ride on the sidewalks. I also snake through the townhouse on Chandler that has a path to their parking lot to avoid the Westmount/Ottawa intersection. I was riding through there today going up to the sunrise centre and even during midday it is hard to find a gap in traffic to cross Westmount. Shoulders are so wide on Westmount between the expressway and the hydro corridor trails they could just put in a MUP along there so we wouldn't have to sidewalk ride.