City needs more public space during outbreak

Calgary opened roads to pedestrians. Let’s do that too, Michelle Perry says.

Weeks into the COVID -19 pandemic, the stinginess of our public spaces is laid bare.

The message from public health leaders is clear: wash your hands, disinfect, don’t touch your face, stay home as much as possible. Go out for essentials and to maintain physical and mental health, but stay at least two metres apart to prevent the spread of the virus.

This is hard. Our lives have been uprooted. Schools, many workplaces, restaurants and most storefronts have closed, as have recreation centres, parks and other public spaces that make city life tolerable. The mental strain will only build as the pandemic continues. Staying home in a large house with a yard is one thing, but many of us — particularly in the urban core — have small indoor living spaces and tiny or non-existent private outdoor space.

There is also a difference between driving in a private vehicle to get to work or pick up groceries and other essentials, and using narrow public sidewalks to do the same thing. Most sidewalks in Ottawa are barely two metres wide, making physical distancing difficult or impossible. Many pathways aren’t much wider. In normal times, this crowding is an annoyance. With COVID-19, it puts us at risk.

Municipal leaders in Canada are responding to this critical public health issue by opening up now-empty roadways to people. Last weekend, Calgary closed six roadways to motorized traffic as a pilot project to make it easier for people to move around outside while still keeping a safe distance from each other.

The pilot road closures were a success, with Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi praising his colleagues for making them happen. Nenshi was clear that the closures were not an “invitation” for people to gather, but rather a reaction to crowding that was already happening. Edmonton

Mayor Don Iveson sent kudos to Calgary for its quick action and promised that Edmonton officials were looking into doing the same.

Vancouver and Toronto are also looking into street closures. Outside of Canada, New York City, Bogotá, and Philadelphia are reallocating street space to make physical distancing easier for their citizens. Minneapolis has opened two sections of river parkways to give more space to pedestrians and cyclists.

So what’s holding Ottawa back from taking similar action? The demand is clear. In less than three days, nearly 700 people signed Ecology Ottawa’s petition to repurpose Ottawa’s underused roadways for pedestrians and cyclists.

Dedicating the city’s new “flex-spaces” to pedestrians during the pandemic is an obvious first step. Next, the city could work with communities to identify streets where space could be reallocated, and then pilot those closures for a weekend to see how it’s working. Ottawa Public Health could provide signs reminding everyone of the two-metre rule.

Yet requests from urban councillors for more street space for people here in Ottawa have been met with little enthusiasm. Councillors may work with staff on closures, but there is no comprehensive plan and any closures must be funded out of councillors’ small office budgets. There is also some denial that there is a problem and the rejection of proposed solutions while offering no alternative. Anyone who has advocated for traffic calming, wider sidewalks or bike lanes will recognize this response.

But the COVID-19 crisis demands something more than business as usual. It’s time for our leaders to put political and geographic divisions aside and do everything they can to help us stay safe and healthy, no matter where in the city we live.

Michelle Perry is an Ottawa writer and a member of the board of the Healthy TransportationCoalition(healthytransportation.ca). In the past, she worked in the offices of two city councillors and has volunteered with various community groups as an advocate for active transportation in Ottawa for more than a decade.