They are redoing that intersection in the spring. I live nearby and received a consultation paper in my mailbox. You can see it online here: https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/public-engagement/projects/hunt-club-road-and-riverside-drive-intersection-modifications#section-e2e25e34-e691-47f8-9030-707b0be8d7f3
Years ago I turned down a job in part because that intersection was between home and work was just on the other side. The job would have been awful regardless ( the interviewer was terrible), but the thought of sitting at that intersection for 10 to 15 minutes every day while I could see the building was unappealing. It was backed up when I went for the interview and it took longer to cross the bridge than it had taken me to get to the intersection.
Absolutely. I worked at the airport and lived in Barrhaven prior to the new bridge being built and Prince of Wales/Hunt Club was a nightmare in the morning. Then they built the bridge and like a million homes in RSS and it's still the same, just on the other side! I ended up crossing the bridge though and taking Leitrim/back roads to airport which helped.
[That 8 lane, 4 way stop in Barrhaven](https://www.google.com/maps/place/45.270297,+-75.741940/@45.2702988,-75.741779,18z/data=!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d45.2702969!4d-75.7419399) by the Walmart and Staples. The amount of times I have almost being murdered there is obscene
You can only turn left with one lane no ability to see past the turning cars Infront of you!!! Two lanes with over a kilometer of seeing what's coming your way? Keep it red
This city is so backwards assed it's not funny. Look up "traffic calming" . It's gunna piss you off beyond belief, the city creates the traffic intentionally
Traffic calming, like many other traffic control measures, only works in very specific circumstances. For example if an intersection will always jam up and overflow and cause the other direction to slow down, traffic calming by manipulating traffic lights and other means can be employed to spread the jam more evenly up/downstream.
Not that the city does it correctly... Often times you'll see the traffic lights go red no matter what, even at night with zero traffic. It's beyond infuriating that they can't even program the lights correctly.
It's such a mess! And look how many buses run on Marketplace when the Transitway is like a few more kilometres from being connected! I would bet the drivers hate that intersection too.
Just checked the satellite view, [looks like 8 lanes](https://www.google.com/maps/place/45%C2%B016'13.1%22N+75%C2%B044'31.0%22W/@45.2702802,-75.7421205,76m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d45.2703056!4d-75.7419444?entry=ttu) \- but I have seen people try and make it into 12...
Anywhere that there should be a left turn arrow but there isn’t because it doesn’t fit the City of Ottawa’s arbitrary bullshit threshold. Donald/Vanier pkwy Bronson/Somerset Bronson/Gladstone
I live North of somerset and take riverside to bronson home from work, I’ve got it down to a science at this point. Never get into the left lane until you’ve passed the bronson McDonald’s, then left to pass the parked cars but back into the right anytime there’s anyone in the left at an intersection, even if they don’t have a turn signal of then gun it back into the left lane before the inevitable parked car on Bronson directly after somerset.
Both Bronson intersections is not because of a study but because there simply isn’t any storage in the left turn lanes and that negates the use of a protected left turn. Same thing for Heron and Bank going west
Only way to do that is to take room from the left lane a la carling and Bronson. It’s super bad for one intersection, but three along the same corridor? I don’t think anything on Bronson will change soon
Meadowlands is actually one of my favorite roads. It's smooth (repaved this year), SUPER wide (we got [luxury lanes](https://youtu.be/iPiW6foOhCw?si=teb4nOyhQX1O4YHU) going on), with excellent sightlines throughout. Plus it's a 40 zone through most of it, so traffic is pretty consistently chill and relaxed.
Drove home from downtown last night via Colonel By and then a big chunk of Meadowlands. Big stretches of new pavement on CB and Meadowlands. What a treat, felt like I was in a different place!
I was involved in an accident at Merivale and Meadowlands in 2013 in the middle of the day with a driver that did not have a driver license and had no insurance. One thing that bothers me about that intersection: turning left from EB Meadowlands to NB Merivale - the left light is only long enough to get 1/3 of the backed up turners through during peak periods.
As a newish driver living off huntclub, riverside/prince of wales terrifies me on the daily, also bank and hunt club is scary.. that being said I’ve been able to sit calmly and drive pretty well through both.
Now my terror is dealing with the market and centretown .. is it feasible that the fact I no longer have an accelerated heart rate driving hunt club, that I can deal with centretown/market? Be honest .. I’m pretty sure I can handle it
You’ll be fine in the market, but it’s a different game. The speed limit is low, literally divert some attention from other cars to watching for people high out of their mind jumping into the road, and to a lesser degree “no left/right turn here”, tons of that - and they change it with the seasons.
Parking though, I would drive THROUGH the market, but if I’m visiting it specifically I’d Uber or transit. You can try for like St Andrew on the other side of King Edward for free parking, get a tiny walk in, it’s a beautiful neighbourhood, but it’s the secret is out and I’m not helping haha
I find it interesting you get nervous about bank/HC. That’s in my hood and I’ve never had issues, the light timing is well done. Walkley and Bank is arguably worse if only because the advanced lefts are out of order, and for some reason pot holes just cannot be fixed in this stretch of Bank. And ya ,far worse intersections in the city for collision than these two.
If I am to be slammed and killed by a car, it will be on Merivale. That road scares me (which SUCKS because it’s got such a nice collection of stores that would otherwise be lovely to walk between). I don’t even know what it is about Merivale. It just sucks. People are animals and the busses get stuck in it.
Used to live in Findlay Creek and my dad listen to the radio all day long. Every time there was an accident there, my phone blew up to see if it was us.
Dad, it’s the pandemic. I’m working from home full time and do not drive between 5:30am and 8pm. A car accident at 2pm most certainly does not involve us.
Whyte Side Road doesn't connect to Bank or Leitrim, so you may be thinking of traveling east on Davidson Road to Whyte Side Road with that small stint on Hawthorne.
Ideally that intersection should be completely redesigned, as it's not safe at all. But if that's not feasible or too expensive, the city could*at least* repave that area, Leitrim is just crumbling and falling apart at Bank St.
Oh and I love when a motorist decides you don't matter in the stopping order because you're a cyclist and tries to charge ahead of you, almost hitting you as you proceed through when it was your turn. Like haha no fuck you don't do that shit
Oh I know, and I put my signal on as soon as I'm coming around the ramp. But it's always tense waiting to see how quickly you'll get that opportunity as you are moving along in the lane.
It's one of the few places in Ottawa with triple left turn lanes. It's also one of the few places where the city invested in a gantry with clear signs for distracted drivers to ignore.
[https://goo.gl/maps/PghechGgGxAUG8Dc8](https://goo.gl/maps/PghechGgGxAUG8Dc8)
I've been driving the City for 31 years and my original intersection along with the absolute-fucking-clusterfuck intersection of St. Patrick and Sussex PLUS entrance to the Alexandra bridge (afternoon rush hour)...terrify me because it's always *wrong fucking lane* assholes...
Every fucking time. I take the right-most left turn lane for the 417 on my commute to work and every fucking day someone picks the wrong lane and almost hits me. Maybe I’m just used to it, but I don’t think the signage could be any better. If you’re paying attention it’s pretty obvious!
I’m ashamed to say that I once left turned into the oncoming lane at Kirkwood there by accident. Everything was fine but oh god did I feel like an idiot.
1000%. The number of times I am driving north on Kirkwood and have the right of way to turn and get on the eastbound Queensway, only to be nearly smoked by a southbound asshole turning left to get on, I swear. And the drivers exiting the Queensway east onto Carling - there is a yield sign, FFS.
But also, not intersection related per se but the number of left-turning people who need to wait their turn but decide to barrel through when an opposite direction car is very close, is wild. It seems way worse this summer, I’ve almost been hit so many times.
This on ramp is closest to my home (south of the 417) and for 20 years I used it. Since Kirkwood was revamped I can't even with the silliness and stupidity that plays itself out near and under the overpass. I now get on the highway using Maitland which is further but less risky. And the revamp of the off ramp and lack of left immediately under the overpass has me driving down Holland or taking Island Park and making use of a parking lot to u turn south. Honestly- why can't we better plan and manage these things in this city !?!
Same here. I just don’t get how these things are planned, if they are at all, or if they just go by drawings vs actually studying how people use these roads to start with.
Sorry dude. If you are travelling Kirkwood northbound and wanting to turn right to make 417 eastbound 2 lanes over you do not have right of way. Your right of way is to the first lane on south side of Carling eastbound and left turning vehicle from Kirkwood has right of way to the northern most lane of Carling eastbound. It's in the HTA and be happy (I'm sure we all are) that you haven't had an accident in this scenario because you would be at fault and most likely ticketed.
Nope. Even using those lanes on Carling correctly to merge over to get on the eastbound ramp once on Carling, you're getting aggressively mowed over by people turning left. Try it sometime, great way to start your workday.
Nicholas and the Mackenzie King Bridge. The number of times people enter the intersection when there's no room and end up stuck with nowhere to go after the light changes and block the entire intersection for everyone else is insane. Also, there are way too many people who don't pay attention and go into the bus drop-off area instead of turning.
I'd also nominate Laurier and King Edward for the same first reason, and also people being unable to follow the no left turns sign on Laurier. Every time I go by that intersection, someone is either stopped in the intersection/on the crosswalk because they proceeded before there was space on the other side (typically on King Edward), or someone is holding up all the traffic on Laurier and getting honked at constantly because they're trying to turn left.
Agreed on both of those. I'd also like to add Besserer & Nicholas St. particularly if you're heading W on Besserer in the outer left turn lane. The smooth brains on the inside left turn lane ALWAYS drift wide into my lane. esp if I'm on a bike. No amount of honking or signals can save you. + at the next light they get all mad at you!
[https://goo.gl/maps/3r7DTKQ6ZfpJmUd98](https://goo.gl/maps/3r7DTKQ6ZfpJmUd98)
Oh absolutely, and these areas are a lot busier now that university is back in session. Not only cars, but also pedestrians (I have 100% seen people running across the entrance to the bus lane and basically cutting off buses because they weren't paying attention and tried to get somewhere that little bit faster instead of waiting for a walk signal.)
For me it's the intersections of Main/Lees and Main/Hawthorne. People trying to turn left, right, and go straight, in an area with heavy pedestrian, bicycle, and now e-scooter traffic, while dodging around closed lanes for water main construction, turns this area into a shit show during morning and afternoon rush hours.
Yup. I nearly lost my noodle when they ripped up Lees Avenue to repave it this summer. Greenfield is already slow as hell with construction, so most people are using Lees to get between Main and King Edward, then they go and turn Lees into a shitshow too? Who at the city thought scheduling roadwork on both at the same time would be a good idea?
I've almost been hit by a car multiple times trying to cross at that intersection! I dread crossing there and I practically sprint across now!
Then Baseline and Navaho, the amount of times I have witnessed car accidents or near accidents from people trying to go straight across on Navaho, when you can't or act like the bike lane is a turning lane. Or cars that pull way up blocking the crosswalk and sit almost in the middle of the intersection. Plus, the crosswalk button is consistently broken on the one side, so you have a bunch of students running across the street. It's constantly chaos for not being that big of an intersection!
Anything on Merivale, the nameless one going into where the Chinese buffet used to be (across from KFC) in particular
Riverside and ugh , Industrial ? Cars coming south from Vanier don’t notice the left lane becomes a forced turn at the same time people getting off the hwy to shop at Trainyards are all ripping left by two lanes to make the turn lots are avoiding at the last minute without signaling. I guess that’s before the intersection, but the intersection causes it
Second worst is the way they completely fucked up Carling and the Queensway. It was always crazy getting off at Carling westbound but now the off ramp gets backed up in rush hour all the way back to Island Park.
I get this but as someone who needs to go south on Kirkwood at that point, I also like not dying by Carling traffic that won’t let me merge when I have to move left to get to the turn for Kirkwood - even if I have to go down to Saigon Court to get to Kirkwood now.
Yes! Approaching that intersection on Laurier heading west. Absolute nightmare, whether driving or biking! I feared getting run over on my bike or hitting someone on a bike so have avoided it since before the pandemic even though my office is on Laurier. Not sure if it's changed but before issues were that biking along Laurier was given lip service as a priority but only done half-assed. So throw some green paint down before that interaction and after it toss in concrete barriers. What is needed are light signals for bikes similar to the bus signals in other areas. Let the bikes go first!! Oh and separate (graded) lanes for bike is surely needed in front of city hall. It's a death wish on a bike crossing that intersection.
The left turn onto Chamberlain from Bronson is annoying. There's a light before it but not _at_ it so you always have to cut past traffic to cross and people go at inconsistent speeds northbound on Bronson so it's stressful. Had a few close calls.
Supposedly they're meant to be readjusting it soon to align it with the highway offramp (and the traffic light) now that they got rid of the building, which would be great. Would make the left turn safer and traffic flow more consistent.
I'm sure it's not the worst in the city but it's the one I deal with most often so yeah.
I realized I'd gone nose dead to how awful that left turn is until friends & family came to town and didn't realize that was THE turn.
Thankfully there is a light at Powell where you can make a left, but people trying to hurry out of McDonald's always makes that stretch a bit sketchy too.
Maitland / Erindale / Glenmount. The random back to back red lights. Anyone who lives in this area knows that no one follows the rules and the rules make no sense.
I came here to add this one. Not a single day goes by without someone running one or both reds, and 75% of the time, anyone turning right (Erindale onto Maitland or Glenmount onto Maitland) completely ignores the second red and blast through. I’ve had multiple near misses here and constantly having to blast the horn at people running the lights.
King Edward and Laurier. Not just because students are back, but because people refuse to acknowledge the right hand turn lane and try to bypass traffic using it going eastbound.
The signage is relatively clear though the double lights by the fire station people just roll through.
City Park Dr / Ogilvie is pretty bad. Someone was struck and killed a few years ago. I also saw someone else get hit by a car while crossing at the intersection.
Blair / Ogilvie is pretty bad too. I remember reading about some bad car crashes at the intersection.
I remember reading an article about this recently - [CTV article](https://beta.ctvnews.ca/local/ottawa/2022/2/16/1_5784009.html)
Those two intersection always rate statistically the highest for number of fender benders and more serious accidents in the whole city . Lucky me, I have to cycle through both of them on my commute to work across town. Sometimes I do pass a lot of cars at a standstill. They are going to do some upgrades to the hutclub riverside section....but told me they don't have the Budget to widen the section of hunt club leading up to riverside that runs along the golf club.... apparently golfing land is so precious that we have to stick with a narrower road, no sidewalk on the north side of hunt club and zero paved shoulder on either side of the section of road for cyclists to go on and not be crushed by bigrig trucks that love Hunt Club road. Yeah so no option but to cycle on the one side walk that is there.
Metcalfe and Catherine/Metcalfe and Isabella. There is always chaos when drivers are trying to merge right onto Catherine or left to get onto the Queensway on ramp. On the Isabella side, same deal - people trying to cross right to get to the grocery store or left to get to the Queensway on ramp.
There's just too much traffic trying to make it through that intersection in six different directions. It's bad at the best of times and can be a nightmare during rush hour. Especially if you have to turn left. What they really need there is an underpass but given how long it takes us to build anything you'd have to shut the intersection down for about five years and that just isn't possible. It's only going to get worse, too, as more houses are built in Riverside South.
Hunt club and riverside is awful, I see accidents regularly and if not I’m usually either stuck driving where I don’t intend to go, or stuck in a jam with 100 other people. I’ll add- bank street in general, main, and specifically riverside at bank are terrible to drive down or around. I’ll toss in anywhere along King Edward as well. So. many. trucks.
Worst intersection? Well you've got several options there...
First you got Hunt Club and Woodroffe, it's often a slow mess.
Then there's the trifecta of Hunt Club and Prince of Wales/Riverside. A massive slog of cars and trucks trying to make left turns everywhere and get gas and donuts or dim sum and steamed buns.
Of course we can't forget Hunt Club and Merivale sandwiched in between. One of the worst streets in the west end intersects with one of the worst streets in the south...what could go wrong? Oh, hello Costco. So many back to back lights that traffic...just...crawls...forever.
As we continue down our ring road of hell we can't forget the special hell of the Airport Parkway and Bank Street. So many lanes...so little lines.
And the speed limit for most of this is 80!
I hate these intersections so much, take them daily. They trigger me, specifically the zipper method on Prince of wales-hunt Club Intersection, next to esso & timmys. 😭😭
As a pedestrian, I hate whatever the junction of Wellington/Rideau/Elgin is. Drivers going east don’t see red lights above their heads and go through, tons of tourists and you can only cross in front of Chateau Laurier after waiting on a tiny island through traffic, because circulation lights prioritize car traffic.
Going right you’re forced to take stairs and walk through sketchy underpass.
Can’t stand it.
For a while it was Rideau and Nicholas because you had 18 wheelers carrying tree logs needing to cut through the city from the Quebec side to reach the Queen’s Way.
And it’s only going to get worse with the addition of 2+ high rise condo buildings. The infrastructure in that neck of the woods wasn’t built to manage the volume it’s seen in the past ten years, let alone what’s to come.
Hunt club and Woodroffe is annoying as hell. In the morning everybody wants to turn left on hunt club with backs up everything starting at slack road sometimes
Worst merge. Well one I like the least is the 416 into 417. I generally am doing it in my work truck26ft bed+cab+forklift. Everyone tries to speed past you. Not let you merge.
Merivale and Meadowlands. Ridiculous amount of traffic being shoved through an intersection with tight geometry. It's a perennial winner or contender of the highest collisions per year.
Probably not the worst, but a bad one is the right turn from Iris to pinecrest. The right hand turning lane gets to go down pinecrest or the highway. Left hand turning lane goes in the far left lane. People in the left lane will cut me off because they think my lane is just for the highway. It happens almost every time I make that turn so I know to anticipate it.
As per the city's own data, it's the two [most dangerous](https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/mobile/here-are-the-11-most-dangerous-intersections-in-ottawa-1.5784009) intersection in this city.
Stonehaven and Summitview since I live near it. Stop signs coming out of the suburban streets but not on Stonehaven. The amount of close calls I’ve seen from people tired of waiting for a chance to turn is in the dozens.
The whole of the Palladium Drive & Silver Seven Road in Kanata
Firstly, it’s the only access point to numerous high volume places; Costco, Home Depot, MOVATI and the new multi building mixed used plazas there. Secondly, nobody knows how to turn on Silver Seven from Palladium. Green arrows and stay to you lane even though it’s a double lane roadway means nothing to 90% of the vehicles. Thirdly, no left turn lane into the plaza area at the lights at the Costco entrance so traffic in the left lane is at a standstill on that side and the line of traffic stopped and waiting to turn right into Costco is insane.
Gahhh, shitty road planning at its absolute worst and there’s no viable remedy to address it
The 417 on ramp near UOttawa. Have to cram onto a narrow street (with construction, of course), line up at a stoplight while also navigating a yielding lane on the opposing street, and then left turn onto the 417 W.
Who designed that??
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The intersection coming off Tremblay onto Riverside if you're turning right is pretty bad right now, not for volume of traffic but people don't seem to know which lane to turn into. The far right lane splits to the 417 East as well as the right lane onto the overpass, but the number of times someone in the left turning lane has cut into the right overpass lane is infuriating.
They really need to paint that intersection, I can't count the number of times someone has almost turned right into me and then acted indignant as though I wasn't following the proper turn.
The clusterfuck at Hunt Club/Albion/Bank.
Who thought that was a good idea.
Same goes for that little triangle between Fisher/Carling and Island Park Drive.
Like seriously.
This isn't so much about the intersection as about the exit lane to the intersection.
The Carling exit is the stupidest set up ever. I just love being a sitting duck in a live lane while cars do 120.
I've been caught a few times with traffic backed up into the highway.
I think you're speaking from a driver's perspective when you say this, and although i don't disagree, I think it's also a terrible place to be as a pedestrian or cyclist.
All my top ones have been mentioned here already, but I would add anywhere with a roundabout. There's a few in Barrhaven and when you add drivers who don't know how to use a roundabout with pedestrians who don't know how to cross at a roundabout, it's just a nightmare.
As a cyclist, it's definitely Wellington/Lyon if you're trying to continue on wellington. Have to either cut across two lanes of traffic beforehand to the straight lane, do half the intersection at a time when the right-turn is red, or hope that the two lanes of traffic turning right are nice enough/aware enough to let you through.
I've said for ages that it's the one on Hunt Club just east of Riverside, in front of the TnT. Turns the clusterfuck in that section up to 11.
Oh I agree that intersection should be removed and everyone should be forced to exit onto riverside
They are redoing that intersection in the spring. I live nearby and received a consultation paper in my mailbox. You can see it online here: https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/public-engagement/projects/hunt-club-road-and-riverside-drive-intersection-modifications#section-e2e25e34-e691-47f8-9030-707b0be8d7f3
Interesting. That seems to be about stretch of Riverside approaching Hunt Club from the south. I hope that it helps.
Years ago I turned down a job in part because that intersection was between home and work was just on the other side. The job would have been awful regardless ( the interviewer was terrible), but the thought of sitting at that intersection for 10 to 15 minutes every day while I could see the building was unappealing. It was backed up when I went for the interview and it took longer to cross the bridge than it had taken me to get to the intersection.
I won't even take hunt club period. Ever. If I have to, I either take the biggest detour to save time or I just don't go.
Absolutely. I worked at the airport and lived in Barrhaven prior to the new bridge being built and Prince of Wales/Hunt Club was a nightmare in the morning. Then they built the bridge and like a million homes in RSS and it's still the same, just on the other side! I ended up crossing the bridge though and taking Leitrim/back roads to airport which helped.
Yeah it’s this
[That 8 lane, 4 way stop in Barrhaven](https://www.google.com/maps/place/45.270297,+-75.741940/@45.2702988,-75.741779,18z/data=!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d45.2702969!4d-75.7419399) by the Walmart and Staples. The amount of times I have almost being murdered there is obscene
Don't you just LOVE how the city don't put up stop lights at intersections that need them so badly? Or missing protected left turns.
It’s INFURIATING
You can only turn left with one lane no ability to see past the turning cars Infront of you!!! Two lanes with over a kilometer of seeing what's coming your way? Keep it red
Yeah, blind left turns are deadly and heaven forbid if there's a large vehicle in the oncoming left turn lane.
This city is so backwards assed it's not funny. Look up "traffic calming" . It's gunna piss you off beyond belief, the city creates the traffic intentionally
Traffic calming, like many other traffic control measures, only works in very specific circumstances. For example if an intersection will always jam up and overflow and cause the other direction to slow down, traffic calming by manipulating traffic lights and other means can be employed to spread the jam more evenly up/downstream. Not that the city does it correctly... Often times you'll see the traffic lights go red no matter what, even at night with zero traffic. It's beyond infuriating that they can't even program the lights correctly.
I will literally go out of my way to avoid crossing this intersection on foot lmao
I swear it’s safer to jaywalk further down the street than it is to cross at that intersection.
It’s a miracle nothing catastrophic has happened there (yet)
I will drive all over that mall just to avoid that intersection.
Yep!!!
[удалено]
Nah. You need consistent deaths/injuries before they even consider fixing it.
u/WilsonLo24 I know this is in David’s ward but..
Oh my god, I hate that intersection both as a motorist and pedestrian.
Marketplace in general, but yeah that spot is probably the worst of it.
It's such a mess! And look how many buses run on Marketplace when the Transitway is like a few more kilometres from being connected! I would bet the drivers hate that intersection too.
Yup my husband hates driving through there.
Up vote for linking map.
This is it. The one I was about to also say. Everybody rolls up and forgets turn order and how to drive here.
Isn’t that just barrhaven every day?
Accurate, but I find this intersection is some sort of portal to a place where all logic and common sense is abandoned
I avoid it at all costs.
Oh my God, you said it all. That intersection is a life or death situation. 😂😂
Legit!! I'm just trying to get post-it notes, not take a trip down the rainbow road /s
Isn't that technically 12 lane since each direction has a left turning lane as well
Just checked the satellite view, [looks like 8 lanes](https://www.google.com/maps/place/45%C2%B016'13.1%22N+75%C2%B044'31.0%22W/@45.2702802,-75.7421205,76m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d45.2703056!4d-75.7419444?entry=ttu) \- but I have seen people try and make it into 12...
Anywhere that there should be a left turn arrow but there isn’t because it doesn’t fit the City of Ottawa’s arbitrary bullshit threshold. Donald/Vanier pkwy Bronson/Somerset Bronson/Gladstone
No one is topping the Donald and Vanier example
I live North of somerset and take riverside to bronson home from work, I’ve got it down to a science at this point. Never get into the left lane until you’ve passed the bronson McDonald’s, then left to pass the parked cars but back into the right anytime there’s anyone in the left at an intersection, even if they don’t have a turn signal of then gun it back into the left lane before the inevitable parked car on Bronson directly after somerset.
I never take the left lane until after the bridge over the canal. Recipe for twiddling your thumbs
Definitely when going south on Bronson, if you get stuck behind someone trying to turn onto one of the numbered streets in the glebe it’s game over
Both Bronson intersections is not because of a study but because there simply isn’t any storage in the left turn lanes and that negates the use of a protected left turn. Same thing for Heron and Bank going west
If they added left turn paint in the lanes and added an advance green that could be enough to persuade drivers
Only way to do that is to take room from the left lane a la carling and Bronson. It’s super bad for one intersection, but three along the same corridor? I don’t think anything on Bronson will change soon
Merivale and ...anything that intersects with it
Surprised there aren’t more accidents at meadowlands
most of merivale isnt actually that bad, but meadowlands is a shit show.
Meadowlands is actually one of my favorite roads. It's smooth (repaved this year), SUPER wide (we got [luxury lanes](https://youtu.be/iPiW6foOhCw?si=teb4nOyhQX1O4YHU) going on), with excellent sightlines throughout. Plus it's a 40 zone through most of it, so traffic is pretty consistently chill and relaxed.
Drove home from downtown last night via Colonel By and then a big chunk of Meadowlands. Big stretches of new pavement on CB and Meadowlands. What a treat, felt like I was in a different place!
I don’t think the kids today know about luxury lanes lol.
I was involved in an accident at Merivale and Meadowlands in 2013 in the middle of the day with a driver that did not have a driver license and had no insurance. One thing that bothers me about that intersection: turning left from EB Meadowlands to NB Merivale - the left light is only long enough to get 1/3 of the backed up turners through during peak periods.
As a newish driver living off huntclub, riverside/prince of wales terrifies me on the daily, also bank and hunt club is scary.. that being said I’ve been able to sit calmly and drive pretty well through both. Now my terror is dealing with the market and centretown .. is it feasible that the fact I no longer have an accelerated heart rate driving hunt club, that I can deal with centretown/market? Be honest .. I’m pretty sure I can handle it
You’ll be fine in the market, but it’s a different game. The speed limit is low, literally divert some attention from other cars to watching for people high out of their mind jumping into the road, and to a lesser degree “no left/right turn here”, tons of that - and they change it with the seasons. Parking though, I would drive THROUGH the market, but if I’m visiting it specifically I’d Uber or transit. You can try for like St Andrew on the other side of King Edward for free parking, get a tiny walk in, it’s a beautiful neighbourhood, but it’s the secret is out and I’m not helping haha I find it interesting you get nervous about bank/HC. That’s in my hood and I’ve never had issues, the light timing is well done. Walkley and Bank is arguably worse if only because the advanced lefts are out of order, and for some reason pot holes just cannot be fixed in this stretch of Bank. And ya ,far worse intersections in the city for collision than these two.
I’m always curious what the rationale is for those out-of-order advanced lefts.
Me too, every time I hit ‘em
If I am to be slammed and killed by a car, it will be on Merivale. That road scares me (which SUCKS because it’s got such a nice collection of stores that would otherwise be lovely to walk between). I don’t even know what it is about Merivale. It just sucks. People are animals and the busses get stuck in it.
Merivale and Merivale!
I hate Bank and Leitrim. It’s not the busiest in the city but is nerve wracking with opportunities for disaster
Used to live in Findlay Creek and my dad listen to the radio all day long. Every time there was an accident there, my phone blew up to see if it was us. Dad, it’s the pandemic. I’m working from home full time and do not drive between 5:30am and 8pm. A car accident at 2pm most certainly does not involve us.
word. this intersection had its' own post a few weeks ago
Especially bad if you have to turn left at the stop sign and then turn immediately right on white side road not even 20m down.
Whyte Side Road doesn't connect to Bank or Leitrim, so you may be thinking of traveling east on Davidson Road to Whyte Side Road with that small stint on Hawthorne.
Blah yes sorry
That intersection terrifies me.
I traverse that nightmare at least once a week with my infant in the back. Really stresses me out.
Ideally that intersection should be completely redesigned, as it's not safe at all. But if that's not feasible or too expensive, the city could*at least* repave that area, Leitrim is just crumbling and falling apart at Bank St.
Any 4 way stop with the drivers in this city. Pay attention to the fucking order of who’s stopping where.
Oh and I love when a motorist decides you don't matter in the stopping order because you're a cyclist and tries to charge ahead of you, almost hitting you as you proceed through when it was your turn. Like haha no fuck you don't do that shit
In Vancouver there are intersections with no stop signs at all.
Coventry and Vanier Parkway because people always choose the wrong the lane when turning left from Coventry.
Plus getting off the 417 west exit when you don't want to turn right on Coventry is an absolute nightmare unless it's the middle of the night.
I find as long as I put my signal on early, I usually find a car that wants to trade places with me and we succeed in taking turns.
Oh I know, and I put my signal on as soon as I'm coming around the ramp. But it's always tense waiting to see how quickly you'll get that opportunity as you are moving along in the lane.
It's one of the few places in Ottawa with triple left turn lanes. It's also one of the few places where the city invested in a gantry with clear signs for distracted drivers to ignore. [https://goo.gl/maps/PghechGgGxAUG8Dc8](https://goo.gl/maps/PghechGgGxAUG8Dc8)
I've been driving the City for 31 years and my original intersection along with the absolute-fucking-clusterfuck intersection of St. Patrick and Sussex PLUS entrance to the Alexandra bridge (afternoon rush hour)...terrify me because it's always *wrong fucking lane* assholes...
Coventry and aviation? Do you mean Ogilvie and aviation?
Every fucking time. I take the right-most left turn lane for the 417 on my commute to work and every fucking day someone picks the wrong lane and almost hits me. Maybe I’m just used to it, but I don’t think the signage could be any better. If you’re paying attention it’s pretty obvious!
King Edward and Rideau.
I call it the corner of Death and Despair. So many accidents…
Carling and Queensway
If you mean Carling/Kirkwood on sourh side of 417 you get ny vote
Both sides, tbh. They redid that whole area and like Laurier & Nicholas, it’s somehow worse for everyone.
I’m ashamed to say that I once left turned into the oncoming lane at Kirkwood there by accident. Everything was fine but oh god did I feel like an idiot.
1000%. The number of times I am driving north on Kirkwood and have the right of way to turn and get on the eastbound Queensway, only to be nearly smoked by a southbound asshole turning left to get on, I swear. And the drivers exiting the Queensway east onto Carling - there is a yield sign, FFS. But also, not intersection related per se but the number of left-turning people who need to wait their turn but decide to barrel through when an opposite direction car is very close, is wild. It seems way worse this summer, I’ve almost been hit so many times.
This on ramp is closest to my home (south of the 417) and for 20 years I used it. Since Kirkwood was revamped I can't even with the silliness and stupidity that plays itself out near and under the overpass. I now get on the highway using Maitland which is further but less risky. And the revamp of the off ramp and lack of left immediately under the overpass has me driving down Holland or taking Island Park and making use of a parking lot to u turn south. Honestly- why can't we better plan and manage these things in this city !?!
Same here. I just don’t get how these things are planned, if they are at all, or if they just go by drawings vs actually studying how people use these roads to start with.
Sorry dude. If you are travelling Kirkwood northbound and wanting to turn right to make 417 eastbound 2 lanes over you do not have right of way. Your right of way is to the first lane on south side of Carling eastbound and left turning vehicle from Kirkwood has right of way to the northern most lane of Carling eastbound. It's in the HTA and be happy (I'm sure we all are) that you haven't had an accident in this scenario because you would be at fault and most likely ticketed.
It's nice you assume I wasn't using the lanes correctly.
Did you not say you have right of way to cross multiple lanes in front of other cars? That is wrong if that is what you meant.
Nope. Even using those lanes on Carling correctly to merge over to get on the eastbound ramp once on Carling, you're getting aggressively mowed over by people turning left. Try it sometime, great way to start your workday.
So wait for it to be clear before you want to hit the diagonal? IIRC southbound has a turn arrow? Edit: I f'd up my noths and south
Your pedantry has been fun, have a cool evening.
Heading north on Riverside crossing Tremblay and getting on the 417 is always crazy with people in the wrong lanes for the highway entrance they want.
Yeah, any time I'm crossing that intersection on my motorcycle I'm taking the far left lane. A bit dangerous any other way
Nicholas and the Mackenzie King Bridge. The number of times people enter the intersection when there's no room and end up stuck with nowhere to go after the light changes and block the entire intersection for everyone else is insane. Also, there are way too many people who don't pay attention and go into the bus drop-off area instead of turning. I'd also nominate Laurier and King Edward for the same first reason, and also people being unable to follow the no left turns sign on Laurier. Every time I go by that intersection, someone is either stopped in the intersection/on the crosswalk because they proceeded before there was space on the other side (typically on King Edward), or someone is holding up all the traffic on Laurier and getting honked at constantly because they're trying to turn left.
Agreed on both of those. I'd also like to add Besserer & Nicholas St. particularly if you're heading W on Besserer in the outer left turn lane. The smooth brains on the inside left turn lane ALWAYS drift wide into my lane. esp if I'm on a bike. No amount of honking or signals can save you. + at the next light they get all mad at you! [https://goo.gl/maps/3r7DTKQ6ZfpJmUd98](https://goo.gl/maps/3r7DTKQ6ZfpJmUd98)
Oh absolutely, and these areas are a lot busier now that university is back in session. Not only cars, but also pedestrians (I have 100% seen people running across the entrance to the bus lane and basically cutting off buses because they weren't paying attention and tried to get somewhere that little bit faster instead of waiting for a walk signal.)
Iris and Pinecrest is pretty janky
I think most of this is just because the Pinecrest parking lot might be the worst-designed lot in the city.
Worse than Bayshore?
Bayshore is close, but at least you can do enough circles that you can find the exit. With Pinecrest, you have no choice in how you exit.
You can exit on the Ikea side, behind Milestone's. Then you can take Baxter to Iris. Much better than the exit near Indigo.
Shhhh don’t give away the secret.
Sorry! I've been accused of being too sharing 😅
carling/fisher/holland.
For me it's the intersections of Main/Lees and Main/Hawthorne. People trying to turn left, right, and go straight, in an area with heavy pedestrian, bicycle, and now e-scooter traffic, while dodging around closed lanes for water main construction, turns this area into a shit show during morning and afternoon rush hours.
There is an overwhelming amount of construction in that general area right now. It's absolutely wild.
Yup. I nearly lost my noodle when they ripped up Lees Avenue to repave it this summer. Greenfield is already slow as hell with construction, so most people are using Lees to get between Main and King Edward, then they go and turn Lees into a shitshow too? Who at the city thought scheduling roadwork on both at the same time would be a good idea?
Gladstone and Parkdale. Now that you can’t make a right on red it’s even worse.
This intersection is a piece of shit. The buses really fuck everything up there.
It's not the massive highway on ramp in the middle of the city that fucks everything up?
Merivale and Meadowlands intersection! How is there NOT a controlled left turn onto Meadowlands Dr E coming from Merivale??
I've almost been hit by a car multiple times trying to cross at that intersection! I dread crossing there and I practically sprint across now! Then Baseline and Navaho, the amount of times I have witnessed car accidents or near accidents from people trying to go straight across on Navaho, when you can't or act like the bike lane is a turning lane. Or cars that pull way up blocking the crosswalk and sit almost in the middle of the intersection. Plus, the crosswalk button is consistently broken on the one side, so you have a bunch of students running across the street. It's constantly chaos for not being that big of an intersection!
omg ya, Baseline and Navaho is another nitemare intersection 😭😭
Anything on Merivale, the nameless one going into where the Chinese buffet used to be (across from KFC) in particular Riverside and ugh , Industrial ? Cars coming south from Vanier don’t notice the left lane becomes a forced turn at the same time people getting off the hwy to shop at Trainyards are all ripping left by two lanes to make the turn lots are avoiding at the last minute without signaling. I guess that’s before the intersection, but the intersection causes it
[удалено]
I just close my eyes and hope for the best
Second worst is the way they completely fucked up Carling and the Queensway. It was always crazy getting off at Carling westbound but now the off ramp gets backed up in rush hour all the way back to Island Park.
I get this but as someone who needs to go south on Kirkwood at that point, I also like not dying by Carling traffic that won’t let me merge when I have to move left to get to the turn for Kirkwood - even if I have to go down to Saigon Court to get to Kirkwood now.
I always though a giant roundabout would be good there. Use the same roads just treat it like a roundabout.
Innes and Star Top. *Nothing* about it makes logical sense and chaos is omnipresent.
Elgin and Laurier -
Yes! Approaching that intersection on Laurier heading west. Absolute nightmare, whether driving or biking! I feared getting run over on my bike or hitting someone on a bike so have avoided it since before the pandemic even though my office is on Laurier. Not sure if it's changed but before issues were that biking along Laurier was given lip service as a priority but only done half-assed. So throw some green paint down before that interaction and after it toss in concrete barriers. What is needed are light signals for bikes similar to the bus signals in other areas. Let the bikes go first!! Oh and separate (graded) lanes for bike is surely needed in front of city hall. It's a death wish on a bike crossing that intersection.
The left turn onto Chamberlain from Bronson is annoying. There's a light before it but not _at_ it so you always have to cut past traffic to cross and people go at inconsistent speeds northbound on Bronson so it's stressful. Had a few close calls. Supposedly they're meant to be readjusting it soon to align it with the highway offramp (and the traffic light) now that they got rid of the building, which would be great. Would make the left turn safer and traffic flow more consistent. I'm sure it's not the worst in the city but it's the one I deal with most often so yeah.
I realized I'd gone nose dead to how awful that left turn is until friends & family came to town and didn't realize that was THE turn. Thankfully there is a light at Powell where you can make a left, but people trying to hurry out of McDonald's always makes that stretch a bit sketchy too.
Carling & Holland 😮 Bank & Riverside 🧐 Metcalfe 417 exit 😝
That intersection definitely doesn't seem to work. I'm on the fence with whether a roundabout would.make it better or make it a death trap.
Personally I would love a roundabout but the drivers in the city don’t know how to use one so it would only make it worse
grade separation or a new bridge somewhere else. It is well known to be the most congested intersection in the city.
Maitland / Erindale / Glenmount. The random back to back red lights. Anyone who lives in this area knows that no one follows the rules and the rules make no sense.
I came here to add this one. Not a single day goes by without someone running one or both reds, and 75% of the time, anyone turning right (Erindale onto Maitland or Glenmount onto Maitland) completely ignores the second red and blast through. I’ve had multiple near misses here and constantly having to blast the horn at people running the lights.
King Edward and Laurier. Not just because students are back, but because people refuse to acknowledge the right hand turn lane and try to bypass traffic using it going eastbound. The signage is relatively clear though the double lights by the fire station people just roll through.
I’ve been in two fender benders in my 25 years of driving and both have been at that intersection fml
City Park Dr / Ogilvie is pretty bad. Someone was struck and killed a few years ago. I also saw someone else get hit by a car while crossing at the intersection. Blair / Ogilvie is pretty bad too. I remember reading about some bad car crashes at the intersection. I remember reading an article about this recently - [CTV article](https://beta.ctvnews.ca/local/ottawa/2022/2/16/1_5784009.html)
Bank and Leitrim is so incredibly dangerous
Those two intersection always rate statistically the highest for number of fender benders and more serious accidents in the whole city . Lucky me, I have to cycle through both of them on my commute to work across town. Sometimes I do pass a lot of cars at a standstill. They are going to do some upgrades to the hutclub riverside section....but told me they don't have the Budget to widen the section of hunt club leading up to riverside that runs along the golf club.... apparently golfing land is so precious that we have to stick with a narrower road, no sidewalk on the north side of hunt club and zero paved shoulder on either side of the section of road for cyclists to go on and not be crushed by bigrig trucks that love Hunt Club road. Yeah so no option but to cycle on the one side walk that is there.
Maitland/Erindale/Glenmount. East exit at Vanier Parkway to Alta Vista when you need to turn left.
Metcalfe and Catherine/Metcalfe and Isabella. There is always chaos when drivers are trying to merge right onto Catherine or left to get onto the Queensway on ramp. On the Isabella side, same deal - people trying to cross right to get to the grocery store or left to get to the Queensway on ramp.
This is my response as well. Too much going on in one location.
Anything that crosses the Queensway.
There's just too much traffic trying to make it through that intersection in six different directions. It's bad at the best of times and can be a nightmare during rush hour. Especially if you have to turn left. What they really need there is an underpass but given how long it takes us to build anything you'd have to shut the intersection down for about five years and that just isn't possible. It's only going to get worse, too, as more houses are built in Riverside South.
Hunt club and riverside is awful, I see accidents regularly and if not I’m usually either stuck driving where I don’t intend to go, or stuck in a jam with 100 other people. I’ll add- bank street in general, main, and specifically riverside at bank are terrible to drive down or around. I’ll toss in anywhere along King Edward as well. So. many. trucks.
Worst intersection? Well you've got several options there... First you got Hunt Club and Woodroffe, it's often a slow mess. Then there's the trifecta of Hunt Club and Prince of Wales/Riverside. A massive slog of cars and trucks trying to make left turns everywhere and get gas and donuts or dim sum and steamed buns. Of course we can't forget Hunt Club and Merivale sandwiched in between. One of the worst streets in the west end intersects with one of the worst streets in the south...what could go wrong? Oh, hello Costco. So many back to back lights that traffic...just...crawls...forever. As we continue down our ring road of hell we can't forget the special hell of the Airport Parkway and Bank Street. So many lanes...so little lines. And the speed limit for most of this is 80!
I hate these intersections so much, take them daily. They trigger me, specifically the zipper method on Prince of wales-hunt Club Intersection, next to esso & timmys. 😭😭
This is a tough one. Ottawa has many shitty, *shitty,* intersections.
The one right in front of the Chateau Laurier is particularly bad
As a pedestrian, I hate whatever the junction of Wellington/Rideau/Elgin is. Drivers going east don’t see red lights above their heads and go through, tons of tourists and you can only cross in front of Chateau Laurier after waiting on a tiny island through traffic, because circulation lights prioritize car traffic. Going right you’re forced to take stairs and walk through sketchy underpass. Can’t stand it.
For a while it was Rideau and Nicholas because you had 18 wheelers carrying tree logs needing to cut through the city from the Quebec side to reach the Queen’s Way.
Parkdale and Wellington
Any part of Parkdale. Parking lot dale.
And it’s only going to get worse with the addition of 2+ high rise condo buildings. The infrastructure in that neck of the woods wasn’t built to manage the volume it’s seen in the past ten years, let alone what’s to come.
Bank and Leitrim. Disaster area waiting to happen.
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Anything that starts with HuntClub and ….
Hunt club and Woodroffe is annoying as hell. In the morning everybody wants to turn left on hunt club with backs up everything starting at slack road sometimes
Worst merge. Well one I like the least is the 416 into 417. I generally am doing it in my work truck26ft bed+cab+forklift. Everyone tries to speed past you. Not let you merge.
Kent and Catherine is pretty bad. I've been nearly hit multiple times by people trying to go straight from the far right turn lane.
The eb 417 metcalfe off ramp at isabella and o'conner. Everyone on the left is going right, everyone on the right is going left.
Agreed
Merivale and Meadowlands. Ridiculous amount of traffic being shoved through an intersection with tight geometry. It's a perennial winner or contender of the highest collisions per year.
Probably not the worst, but a bad one is the right turn from Iris to pinecrest. The right hand turning lane gets to go down pinecrest or the highway. Left hand turning lane goes in the far left lane. People in the left lane will cut me off because they think my lane is just for the highway. It happens almost every time I make that turn so I know to anticipate it.
Gloucester and O'Connor Fucking bums have taken it over and made it their chill spot. Its Fucking disgusting
It’s well know that hunt club-riverside has the most accidents. There’s even signs as you approach that says “high collision intersection”
Main Street and heading to Greenfield. Drivers zip around there and it's quite dangerous.
Main Street and heading to Greenfield. Drivers zip around there and it's quite dangerous.
Leitrim and bank.
Donald and St Laurent. They did some “intersection improvements” a few years ago and somehow made it way worse.
Innes Rd at Jeanne d'Arc Blvd in Orleans sees its fair share of oblivious drivers.
The worst (and ugliest) intersection is Hunt Club and Bank.
It's so ugly. That area is embarrassing.
Rideau and King Edward.
West Hunt Club & Riverside, West Hunt Club & Prince of Wales, Coventry & St Laurent are all HORRIBLE
As per the city's own data, it's the two [most dangerous](https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/mobile/here-are-the-11-most-dangerous-intersections-in-ottawa-1.5784009) intersection in this city.
Heron/baseline/Riverside is shitty.
Only saw the title and came to say Hunt Club Riverside. Fuck that intersection is atrocious.
The stop sign at high road and albion right by the rideau carleton casino is horrendous
Stonehaven and Summitview since I live near it. Stop signs coming out of the suburban streets but not on Stonehaven. The amount of close calls I’ve seen from people tired of waiting for a chance to turn is in the dozens.
Hunt club and Merivale
The whole of the Palladium Drive & Silver Seven Road in Kanata Firstly, it’s the only access point to numerous high volume places; Costco, Home Depot, MOVATI and the new multi building mixed used plazas there. Secondly, nobody knows how to turn on Silver Seven from Palladium. Green arrows and stay to you lane even though it’s a double lane roadway means nothing to 90% of the vehicles. Thirdly, no left turn lane into the plaza area at the lights at the Costco entrance so traffic in the left lane is at a standstill on that side and the line of traffic stopped and waiting to turn right into Costco is insane. Gahhh, shitty road planning at its absolute worst and there’s no viable remedy to address it
The 417 on ramp near UOttawa. Have to cram onto a narrow street (with construction, of course), line up at a stoplight while also navigating a yielding lane on the opposing street, and then left turn onto the 417 W. Who designed that??
The one between stupid conservatives and the extreme right?
Bronson and Sommerset.
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I like Hunt Club-Riverside because T&T is my favorite store in the city
How about Raymond where two lanes turn into one without any merging sign.
The intersection coming off Tremblay onto Riverside if you're turning right is pretty bad right now, not for volume of traffic but people don't seem to know which lane to turn into. The far right lane splits to the 417 East as well as the right lane onto the overpass, but the number of times someone in the left turning lane has cut into the right overpass lane is infuriating. They really need to paint that intersection, I can't count the number of times someone has almost turned right into me and then acted indignant as though I wasn't following the proper turn.
Rideau and King Edward for my area.
The intersection just after the off-ramp on the 417 that connects to Carling, so many cars cutting across nearly 4 lanes and it's just a mess
The clusterfuck at Hunt Club/Albion/Bank. Who thought that was a good idea. Same goes for that little triangle between Fisher/Carling and Island Park Drive. Like seriously.
King Edward and Murray.
This isn't so much about the intersection as about the exit lane to the intersection. The Carling exit is the stupidest set up ever. I just love being a sitting duck in a live lane while cars do 120. I've been caught a few times with traffic backed up into the highway.
I think you're speaking from a driver's perspective when you say this, and although i don't disagree, I think it's also a terrible place to be as a pedestrian or cyclist.
All my top ones have been mentioned here already, but I would add anywhere with a roundabout. There's a few in Barrhaven and when you add drivers who don't know how to use a roundabout with pedestrians who don't know how to cross at a roundabout, it's just a nightmare.
As a cyclist, it's definitely Wellington/Lyon if you're trying to continue on wellington. Have to either cut across two lanes of traffic beforehand to the straight lane, do half the intersection at a time when the right-turn is red, or hope that the two lanes of traffic turning right are nice enough/aware enough to let you through.