● Average daily use of 9 cycling/pedestrian crossings in Ottawa.

Metro News has an interesting report about the average daily use of nine cycling/pedestrian crossings in Ottawa. By far and away, the most popular is the Corktown Bridge over the Rideau Canal. It had a daily average of 5,078 crossings. Although it just open in December, it looks like the Adawe Crossing over the Rideau River is well on its way to becoming one of the more popular cycling/pedestrian bridges in the region.

While the numbers are interesting, the statistics may be a little skewed because of when the crossings were counted. Some were counted in the middle of the summer and others (such as the Adawe Crossing) were counted late in the year.

It’s worth noting that the run away success of the Corktown Bridge may obscure the fact that it was once considered a very controversial project. Car-centric thinking meant there were many critics who argued that it was not needed and a waste of money. At the time, many city councillors were against it, and the project only narrowly won approval. Maybe there’s a lesson here for all those people who continue to argue against bicycle infrastructure projects.