(Posted 5:30 p.m., Oct. 15)
St. Joseph roundabout gets mixed reviews at public open house
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Plans to build a roundabout at the intersection of Jeanne d'Arc Blvd. and St. Joseph Blvd. were met with mixed reviews during a public open house at the Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex on Thursday, where residents got to meet and talk to the architects of the planned project.

The roundabout is being promoted by the Heart of Orléans BIA which voted to proceed with the project at a meeting in early December after receiving $2.5 million from the province, the federal government and the City of Ottawa for streetscaping improvements. The funding is part of the larger infrastructure stimulus money the city received last May.

The BIA, which represents businesses along St. Joseph Blvd. decided to spend $1.7 million of the money on the roundabout and use the remaining $800,000 for aesthetic improvements at St. Joseph and Orléans Blvd. and St. Joseph and Place d'Orléans Dr.

The traffic circle is designed to vastly improve the capacity of the intersection while acting as an attractive gateway to the "Heart of Orléans," but opponents of the project see it as a recipe for disaster.

Several people who got their first look at the proposed roundabout on Thursday predicted that it would result in a flurry of accidents and injuries, while one gentleman forecast that it would become a "demolition derby".

The fears of doom and gloom and twisted metal were countered by the architects of the roundabout who said they were unfounded, and in almost every case where a roundabout or traffic circles was installed, the opposite was true.

Artist's rendition of the roundabout proposed for the intersection of St. Joseph and Orléans Blvd.

According to the city's senior engineer on the project, Roch Fortier, roundabouts reduce collisions by up to 40 per cent, collision severity by up to 90 per cent, and personal injury including pedestrian collisions, by up to 75 per cent. That's because once cars enter a roundabout they are going at a much lower rate of speed than if they were driving through an intersection.

Fortier believes local opposition to the roundabout is based on fear of the unknown more than anything else. He points to the 10 existing roundabouts in the city, including the two most recent roundabouts in Barrhaven, where similar concerns were raised, but never materialized.

"Until you see them in action, it's difficult for most people to wrap their heads around the idea," says Fortier.

In the Waterloo Region where 11 roundabouts have been built since 2204, there has only been one accident. By comparison, the region experiences roughly 65 pedestrian collisions a year at its 475 traffic control signals.

Approaching a roundabout is much different than approaching an intersection, explains Fortier. When drivers approach an intersection they're usually oblivious to other factors when the light is green and then when it turns yellow, or the crossing hand is flashing they tend to speed up.

When you approach a roundabout, because you are turning right and having to look left for oncoming traffic the tendency is too slow down before merging. It forces drivers to be more conscious of what's going on around them. Most traffic circles are also built with a slight bulge in the road as you approach them which also forces drivers to slow down.

As for pedestrians, the crosswalks will be fully marked, however, the design does not call for crossing lights. Instead, the approaches to the roundabout will have medians on all four sides where pedestrians will be able to pause for oncoming traffic before continuing across the street.

The medians, which are referred to by the engineers as "central refuge islands", also allow for pedestrians to only have to look one way when crossing to the median and then the opposite direction when continuing across the street.

Another advantage to roundabouts which isn't often considered is that they are more environment friendly, says Fortier, as they cut down on starting and stopping and eliminate the need to idle for extended periods of time as traffic lights do.

Heart of Orléans BIA chair Peter Stewart has placed his trust in the engineering and the statistics and believes the roundabout will accomplish the intent which is to act as an attractive gateway to the rest of the street and cut down on the number of accidents at the intersection. However, he does understand that there are a number of people who don't share his confidence that a roundabout is the right way to go.

"People are concerned and some of those concerns are valid which is why we're trying to address them here tonight. The other thing that's important to remember is that no one has rejected it as a feature," says Stewart, who also notes that Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder was initially against building a roundabout in her ward, but now supports them.

“It has worked out fantastically,” Harder was quoted in a recent edition of the the Barrhaven Independent.

St. Joseph business owner Rob Gardiner is another person who was initially against the idea but is now supportive.

"I wasn't for it at first, but if it's safer than what we have know I don't see anything wrong with it. It's going to be beautiful at this end of Orléans," says Gardiner who owns Unlimited Fitness in the Cora's strip mall at the northeast corner of the intersection.

City staff will now review all the comments they received during the open house, as well as comments that have been sent to them by e-mail, and prepare a report for the planning and environment committee. They will then either make a recommendation to proceed with the project or not, which will be debated by city council before a final decision is made.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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