In September 2025, I hosted a Kidical Mass family bike ride through Convent Glen North with Bike Ottawa and my community association. The goal wasn’t just to have a fun ride, but to use the ~3-kilometer loop we rode as a case study. The video embedded below and accompanying article are a detailed, narrated ride-along, using both first-person and bird’s-eye views to highlight the specific, targeted design changes our community needs to become truly safe and accessible for our children.
There’s no negativity here. This is a constructive analysis that highlights where things could be improved, moving beyond “this could be safer” to “here is exactly why this is dangerous, and here is how it could be safer.”
Ride Breakdown (Summary of the Video)
Starting Point: Father Richard Ward Park [0:43]
We began our ride at Father Richard Ward Park, a perfect staging ground. The playground and open space gave kids a chance to play, decorate their bikes, and get excited before we set off. This park is also the launch point for our weekly “Pedal and Play” rides, an event I ran from April to September. Those weekly rides were an incredible experience, building the confidence of my own kids and many others in the community.
We intended this Kidical Mass ride to be a capstone for that season—a way to bring a big group together and celebrate a full season of family biking. The park’s role as a community hub underscores the importance of having safe and accessible public spaces for families to gather.
The Schoolyard Desire Path [2:25]
Right at the start of the ride, as we leave the schoolyard, we encounter our first piece of evidence. A prominent sandy desire path cuts a direct line from the schoolyard to the main paved path. The official, paved route is an inconvenient detour around the MIFO play area.
This desire path is clear proof that the existing infrastructure could be improved and doesn’t reflect how people actually want to move. When the official route is the long way around, people will create their own, more efficient one. A simple, paved connection here, worked out between the school and the city, would be a small, common-sense fix.
Narrow & Deteriorating MUP [3:23]
The multi-use path (MUP) running alongside the school is in desperate need of an upgrade. It’s visibly falling apart, excessively narrow, and weeds are encroaching on what little space there is. The ride experience is wildly bumpy and uncomfortable.
This path is part of a larger route running from the river to the 174 highway, and its poor condition is a major barrier. It’s not just unpleasant; it’s a genuine hazard for less-experienced riders, especially children.
Sewer Line Delaying Path Upgrades [4:07]
Why hasn’t this critical path been fixed? The main reason is a sewer line running underneath it. The city remains in a state of indecision, weighing a full, expensive tear-up against a less-invasive upgrade. While they wait to make that decision, this leaves the community with substandard infrastructure.
Because of its condition and width, the city cannot properly winter-maintain this path, making it unusable for a large portion of the year. This is a critical failure, as we need paths that are safe for walking and cycling year-round, not just on sunny summer days.
Bumpy Ride & Tree Roots [5:49]
Even on slightly newer sections of the path, the ride quality is poor. Trees planted too close to the asphalt have caused the path to buckle and heave, creating a bumpy, uncomfortable ride. This is another example of poor long-term design and maintenance that detracts from the safety and appeal of using the network.
Proposal: Continuous Sidewalks at School Parking Lot [6:14]
As the path crosses the entrance to the school’s parking lot, it simply disappears, forcing pedestrians and cyclists to navigate a car-centric space. This is a perfect opportunity to install a continuous sidewalk. This design raises the sidewalk and path above the level of the road, forcing cars to drive up and over it.
This simple change does two crucial things: it physically slows cars down, and it visually communicates that pedestrians and cyclists have the right of way. It’s a design that prioritizes the safety of children and people pushing strollers over the convenience of drivers.
The same principle applies where the path meets the road. A continuous path, or raised crossing, would make this transition significantly safer. These design changes are what give parents the confidence to say, “Yes, you can go ahead,” fostering the independent mobility that is so crucial for children’s development.
Proposal: “School Streets” Concept [9:03]
While we’re at the school, we should discuss a more transformative idea: School Streets. This concept involves closing the road directly in front of the school to through-traffic during the peak 30-minute periods at drop-off and pickup. We can implement this cheaply with a few staff members in high-viz vests.
This small change has a huge impact. It gives kids more room to play and socialize safely. It can transform the grassy, ornamental front lawns of schools from traffic-adjacent buffers into genuine community spaces, reducing the stress and danger that car-choked school zones create every day.
Existing Measures: “Kiss and Ride” & Daycare Parking [11:04]
The school has already taken steps in this direction, implementing a “kiss and ride” system to manage car queues and blocking off parking spots near the daycare, as per new provincial rules. The clear intent is to minimize car traffic and maximize safety. A School Street is simply the next logical and most effective step in achieving this goal.
Navigation Error: Highlighting Wayfinding Issues [12:56]
On my ride-along, I made a mistake: I went straight across Voyageur Drive to the multi-use path when I was supposed to turn right. This is the exact same error one of our ride leaders made during Kidical Mass. This wasn’t just a personal lapse; it was a design failure. The network has zero wayfinding. There are no signs to indicate where paths lead, making the system confusing and un-intuitive for anyone who doesn’t already have the route memorized.
“Dire Straits” of Alternate Path [13:47]
The path I accidentally took is literally falling apart. The asphalt is literally falling off the side of the embankment. For a child on training wheels, this path would be an absolute nightmare, with one side of the path dropping off at a steep angle. Even though this path provides a great connection to the river, its abysmal condition makes it unusable. City crews have patched some of the worst spots this past year, but it’s a stopgap and even these sections are becoming an issue again.
No Path Lighting (Nighttime Safety) [15:09]
A recurring and critical failure of this entire network is the complete lack of path lighting. I find this section pretty scary to walk at night, even for me. For a high school student or anyone feeling more vulnerable, it’s a non-starter. This makes the paths inaccessible for large parts of the day, especially in the winter when it’s dark by 5 PM, and severely limits their utility.
Back on Route [15:50]
Getting back on the correct route requires a sharp right-then-left jog, crossing one street and riding along another. This entire sequence is a missed opportunity—a clumsy and disconnected link between two key pieces of active infrastructure.
Analysis: The Difficulty of Connecting Paths [16:15]
This brings us to a fundamental problem: the difficulty of connecting the network. To get from the path we were just on to the next one, we expect a child to cross a fairly busy street, navigate onto a residential road (Arrowhead), and then cross another busy street.
This seam in the network is a massive barrier. It’s a moment of potential stress and danger that makes the route feel disjointed and unsafe. How do we expect a young child to navigate this? We don’t. And that’s a problem.
Approaching Voyageur Drive (Blind Corner) [18:33]
At the other end of the residential street, we hit Voyageur Drive, a fairly fast (40 km/h) and winding road. The corner is effectively blind for cyclists and drivers, forcing me to pull far out into the intersection just to see if traffic is coming. It’s another point of unnecessary risk.
Proposal: Continuous Sidewalk at Voyageur [19:03]
The solution, once again, is a continuous sidewalk. This would connect the path to the sidewalk on the other side in a safe, meaningful way, clearly telling drivers to yield to the people walking and biking.
Lack of Signage to Amenities [19:30]
Here, we’re less than a kilometer from a grocery store, pharmacy, and restaurants. It’s an easy 5-minute bike ride. Yet, there is absolutely no signage to indicate this. This is a critical failure of wayfinding. If you don’t already know these amenities are accessible by bike, you’d never find them. This hidden network is a huge barrier to encouraging a lifestyle with less driving.
On the Park Path: Playground & Connections [20:07]
The next path is a great community connector, linking a playground, basketball court, volleyball court, and a splash pad. People use it often, and it has several connections into the surrounding neighbourhood.
But, like the others, it has zero lighting. When flagging the route the night before, we came across people sitting on benches in literal pitch blackout, invisible until we were five feet away. This is a severe safety and accessibility issue. If we are serious about winter-maintained paths, we must also be serious about lighting them.
Path Analysis: Old, Narrow Paths [21:23]
These paths are also a legacy of old design standards. They are pretty narrow, a legacy of being designed as simple walking paths, not as modern, bidirectional multi-use paths that can comfortably accommodate cyclists, walkers, and strollers simultaneously.
My Local Riding Style: Advocating for Slower Speeds [22:12]
On this ride, I’m deliberately going slow, simulating the speed of a ride with kids or a family. But it’s more than that: the more I ride and the less I drive, the more I prefer going at a slower, calmer speed. It’s quieter, more pleasant, and makes it easier and safer to navigate around pedestrians. It challenges the car-centric obsession that speed equals efficiency, when in reality, it often just equals stress and danger.
Approaching Orléans Boulevard (High School Traffic) [23:01]
Now I transition to riding on the road, approaching Orléans Boulevard next to a high school. This four-lane road is a perfect candidate for a road diet (converting to two lanes with bike lanes). Many high schoolers end up driving or being driven to school, not necessarily because they want to, but because they have limited other good, safe transportation options.
Orléans Blvd is Too Wide [23:55]
The outer lane here is way wider than it needs to be. This is a classic stroad design flaw. Excessively wide, straight lanes make drivers feel safe driving at speeds (60, 70, 80 km/h) that are completely inappropriate for an area next to a school. The road’s design actively encourages unsafe speeds, regardless of the posted limit.
Road Noise & A Close Pass [27:00]
The two things I notice immediately on the road are the noise—it’s way louder than the path—and the danger. Despite being on a wide, four-lane road with almost no traffic, a driver close-passes me for no reason. This demonstrates the subjective discomfort and objective danger that keeps people, especially families, off their bikes.
Major Intersection: Orléans Blvd & Jeanne D’Arc [28:03]
This is the busiest part of the route: a massive, four-lane-by-four-lane signalized intersection. For our ride, the route we chose uses the intersection, but only making a right turn. This entire intersection is slated for redesign, and it’s a critical opportunity. We are advocating for a road diet, reducing it from four lanes to two, and installing a modern, protected Dutch-style intersection to make it safe for all users.
The Speed Camera Debate (24/7 Safety) [29:28]
Turning onto Jeanne d’Arc, I enter a school zone with a speed camera. People complain about this camera, with many arguing it’s a cash grab that should only be active at bell times. This argument is fundamentally flawed and, in my view, very unfair. It implies that kids only deserve to be safe on their 15-minute walk to or from school, but not at 5 PM when they want to go to a friend’s house.
This school-hours-only safety mindset is a key driver of social isolation, forcing kids to go straight home and stay there. It reflects a lack of imagination from a purely car-centric worldview, failing to see that our streets should be safe for people all the time.
A 30m+ Wide Road [32:43]
Jeanne D’Arc is another absurdly over-engineered road, literally 30 m wide or more. There is plenty of room for two car lanes, sidewalks, and fully protected bike infrastructure. However, it also does not need to be four lanes.
Confusing Speed Limits [33:12]
In just a 5-kilometer stretch, the speed limit on this road jumps up and down between 60, 40, and 50 km/h. This, combined with a camera that’s only active part of the year, creates mass confusion. The road’s design encourages high speeds, but inconsistent policing for lower speeds satisfies no one and creates an unpredictable environment.
Inefficient Traffic Lights [34:39]
I arrive at an intersection where cars are backed up, not from traffic volume, but because the light timings are far too long for how quiet the street is. The traffic light itself isn’t helping here; it’s actually making things less efficient. These beg buttons and long light cycles are bad for everybody—drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike.
Proposal: A Low-Cost Roundabout [35:39]
The solution is simple and cost-effective: a cheap roundabout. It doesn’t need to be a multi-million dollar project. A temporary, low-cost roundabout would immediately make the intersection more efficient, eliminate the need for powered signals, and be so much easier for families to cross.
Second Roundabout Proposal [38:11]
The exact same logic applies to the very next intersection. I would give this intersection the same roundabout treatment to replace another set of inefficient, oversized traffic lights.
Underused Mixed-Use Plaza [38:53]
I pass the only mixed-use plaza within a kilometer or more. This plaza, with its market and restaurant, is vastly underused, a testament to a suburban form that separates all land uses and forces people to drive between them.
Proposal: Raised Crossing on Jeanne D’Arc [39:58]
This brings us to one of the most important points of the ride. We’re on a four-lane road with a park path on the right side and another park path on the left side, completely disconnected. This is the perfect spot for a raised pedestrian crossing to finally link these two halves of the park.
The Problem: HTA 200m Rule [40:20]
But it’s not allowed. A silly rule in the Ontario Highway Traffic Act (HTA) forbids a new pedestrian crossing “within 200 m of a signalized intersection.” Because this spot is slightly less than 200m from a light, it’s illegal. This rule forces residents to either jaywalk or walk a 370-meter out-of-their-way detour just to cross the street. It’s a textbook example of bad policy creating unsafe outcomes.
Analysis: Jeanne D’Arc Divides the Community [41:16]
This road is widely known in the community as this gully, this giant valley separating the two halves of Convent Glen North. It is a massive, four-lane, 60 km/h barrier that is so difficult to cross. Families in one part of the park are completely cut off from the other. A raised crossing here (which would become legal if the speed limit were lowered) would be transformative, finally stitching our community back together.
The Detour: Getting onto the Path [43:41]
To get onto the return path, I’m faced with another barrier: a high curb. It’s not safe or accessible for a large group of families and inexperienced child riders to simply hop this curb.
The Detour: Using the Fire Station Driveway [44:18]
Our solution on the ride was to bike 200 feet past the path entrance, ride up the fire station’s driveway, cut across the sidewalk, and then ride 200 feet back to the path. This ridiculous detour perfectly illustrates how little thought was given to basic connectivity for anyone not in a car.
Serendipity: Meeting Residents Who Agree [44:54]
As I filmed this detour, I passed a couple who was jaywalking across the “gully.” I then overheard them say, “There really should be a connection here.” My community association brain kicked in, and I had to stop and chat. They confirmed they live in the area and are frustrated by the lack of a safe crossing. It was a perfect, unscripted moment proving that these are not niche “activist” complaints; they are mainstream frustrations that everyday residents feel.
The Homestretch: Winter Maintained, Needs Lighting [46:08]
The final path back to the school is a small success story. It’s wide, and after I bugged the city for a couple of years, they now properly winter-maintain it. But it shares the same critical flaw as all the others: it could still use lighting at night, especially given its 4-season utility.
Ride Conclusion & Call to Action [46:51]
This 3.5 km route is a microcosm of our suburban challenges. It has some nice connections but is ultimately defined by its issues—gaps in the network, poor maintenance, and a design philosophy that consistently prioritizes high-speed car traffic over the safety and accessibility of everyone else.
These are the barriers that keep our children from biking to school, our seniors from walking to the store, and our neighbourhoods from feeling like true communities. By highlighting them, we can start the work of fixing them.
If you have a route or section of road that could use this treatment, please let me know at [email protected].
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