The city is facing another seven-figure lawsuit related to alleged icy conditions.

This one was filed last week and the plaintiff, an Ottawa mother, is asking for $1 million.

Her statement of claim says she was driving a 2002 Toyota Jeep on Ridge Rd., toward Anderson Rd., at 5:15 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2010 when she felt her car “suddenly and without warning” lose control because of the icy road. According to the claim, the Jeep slid and she saw another vehicle approaching on the other side of the road. She used her emergency brake to avoid a crash, causing the Jeep to collide with a tree and roll into a ditch on the side of the road.

The crash, the claim says, was “solely as a result of the negligence” of the city, which allegedly failed to maintain the road and provide warnings to motorists.

The woman’s injuries include pain in her back, neck, arm, leg and jaw, chronic headaches, depression, anxiety, emotional distress and sleep disturbance. She has not been able to return to her job as a customer service rep at a call centre.

The allegations have not been tested in court. It’s only been a little more than a week, so the city has not yet filed a defence document.

The city is facing a separate and unrelated $2-million lawsuit filed in October by an Ottawa man who allegedly fell on an icy sidewalk in Westboro in December 2010 and broke his arm. The city denies the allegations.

One of the first news stories I had published in a daily newspaper nearly a decade ago was about speed bumps being installed in a London, Ont. neighbourhood.

It was a somewhat divisive issue, with some residents loving how the bumps slowed cars down and others calling the bumps a dangerous obstacle.

I was reminded about the story today when Ottawa councillors on the transportation committee briefly debated the merits of speed bumps during a larger discussion on a new plan for traffic calming measures.

Orleans Coun. Bob Monette asked if snow plows find it hard to navigate the bumps and Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Peter Clark said he’s being swamped by bump-related beefs.

“I’ve heard more complaints about these lumps in the road than I have about speeding,” Clark said.

Vivi Chi, the city’s manager of transportation planning, told the committee the traffic calming measures work because they increase safety on the streets.

There are all sorts of issues surrounding speed bumps and speed humps (the less-aggressive mounds on roads): Emergency response times, transit schedules, forcing traffic to other roads, cycling barriers and maintenance. And then there’s just people’s annoyance with them.

(Transport Canada even has a small report on the issue)

Which leads me to ask, when it comes to bumps/humps are you for or against?

A motion to upload Hwy. 174 to the province was quickly shot down today by Mayor Jim Watson, who’s warning against demanding more uploads during tough financial times.

Watson concedes Hwy. 174 has been an “irritant” for the city since the province downloaded the road in 1998.

“Hwy. 174 looks like a highway and acts like a highway and, in fact, it was a highway up until the download,” Watson said, but he acknowledged the province, like the city, only has so much money.

Although the road would be on a shortlist of things Watson would like to see uploaded to the province, he says municipalities must be careful about their demands.

Orleans Coun. Bob Monette crafted the motion, but Watson ruled it out of order because the city has no authority to make the province take over the road.

“I’m disappointed the motion was not discussed,” Monette said. “I think it’s a valid discussion we need to have.”

The city’s current upload deal sends social service and court security costs to the province.

“To me, roads are just as important as social services,” Monette said.

Monette said he’ll consider reintroducing the motion with acceptable wording because he believes the city can’t afford to maintain Hwy. 174. He said it has cost about $40 million since the road was downloaded.

Interesting that Monette’s motion was found out of order today. Nearly the exact motion came to council Oct. 13, 2004 and passed on consent after an amendment to request the province to take Hwy. 174 failed.

The city is looking for engineers to install or replace sound barriers along Hunt Club Rd.

The noisy traffic stretch will be more like a highway when the city and province finish a road extension and interchange at Hwy. 417. The city has set aside $13 million for sound barriers.

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli has been learning a bit about sound barriers.

He has asked staff to look into transparent barriers when the city widens Prince of Wales Dr., since the National Capital Commission is concerned about losing the scenic views along the Rideau River. Egli had a small sample of the transparent barrier in his office and it felt like a think piece of Plexiglass.

Is this the future of noise barriers in Ottawa?

Residents who have property along Hunt Club Rd. might be more than happy to have the city block out their views of busy traffic by using the standard, brownish barriers.