Help divert bikes from our land fills to our community bike shops by
volunteering with the WRENCH this weekend!
Mark
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Help divert bikes from the landfill at Empty the Fill - THIS
SATURDAY!
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:10:56 -0500
From: Robin Ellis <volunteer(a)thewrench.ca>
To: Robin Ellis <wrenchvolunteer(a)gmail.com>
Inline image 1
Hey Folks!
This Saturday (August 3rd) is the annual massive landfill diversion blitz:
EMPTY THE FILL!
We will be heading out to the Brady Road Landfill bicycle compound to
STRIP, SORT, STACK and SCRAP bikes to fill the racks and shelves of
community bike shops in Winnipeg. Come see what's in our waste stream as we
turn garbage into the stuff of dreams!
We can use as many volunteers as possible, and no prior bicycle knowledge
is necessary! It would also be great to get some more folks with vehicles
to transport people, parts or bikes.
The WRENCH will be providing bike stands and tools, food, water, and shade
for everyone who comes to help out. Be sure to sport sturdy closed toed
footwear, a hat, sunscreen, rugged clothing, and a water bottle.
Rides will be meeting at the bike dump at 10 am on Saturday morning.
Feel free to email/call for more info, and please RSVP via email or phone
so we know how many people to expect. Thanks!
See you then!
--
*Robin Ellis*, Volunteer Coordinator
The Winnipeg Repair Education and Cycling Hub
1057 Logan Ave. Winnipeg, MB R3E 3N8
www.thewrench.ca <http://www.thewrench.ca/> 204.296.3389
Cognitive Performance Is Better in Girls Whose Walk to School Lasts More
Than 15 Minutes
Published: July 24, 2013
By University of
Granada<http://www.sciencenewsline.com/source/University+of+Granada>
http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013072415030021.html
*Cognitive performance of adolescent girls who walk to school is better
than that of girls who travel by bus or car. Moreover, cognitive
performance is also better in girls who take more than 15 minutes than in
those who live closer and have a shorter walk to school.*
These are some of the conclusions of a study published in *Archives of
Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine*. The results come from findings of the
nationwide AVENA (Food and Assessment of the NutritionalStatus of Spanish
Adolescents) study, in which the University of Granada has participated
together with the Autonomous University of Madrid, University of Zaragoza
and the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid. They constitute the
first international study that associates mode of commuting to school and
cognitive performance.
The authors analysed a sample of 1700 boys and girls aged between 13 and 18
years (808 boys and 892 girls) in five Spanish cities (Granada, Madrid,
Murcia, Santander and Zaragoza).
They studied variables of mode of commuting to school, cognitive
performance, anthropometrics—like body mass index and percentage of
overweight and obesity—and participants' extracurricular physical activity.
They also gathered data on their families' socio-economic status using the
mother's level of educational achievement (primary school, secondary school
or university) and the type of school (state-funded or private) that
participants attended.
Information on mode of commuting to school came from a question asking
participants how they usually travelled to school and giving the following
response options: on foot, by bicycle, car, bus or subway, motorcycle, and
others. They were also asked how long the journey to school took them.
Cognitive performance was measured by applying the Spanish version of an
educational ability test. Participants completed this standardized test
that measures intelligence and the individual's basic ability for learning.
The test assesses command of language, speed in performing mathematical
operations, and reasoning.
In adolescence, the plasticity of the brain is greatest. The researchers
affirm that, during adolescence, "the plasticity of the brain is greater
than at any other time of life, which makes it the opportune period to
stimulate cognitive function". However, paradoxically, adolescence is the
time of life that sees the greatest decline in physical activity, and this
is greater in girls. Therefore, the authors of the study think that
"inactive adolescents could be missing out on a very important stimulus to
improve their learning and cognitive performance".
"Commuting to school on foot is a healthy daily habit, which contributes to
keeping the adolescent active during the rest of the day and encourages
them to participate in physical and sports activities. This boosts the
expenditure of energy and, all in all, leads to a better state of health",
say Palma Chillón, researcher in the Department of Physical and Sports
Education of the University of Granada, and David Martínez-Gómez, of the
Department of Physical and Sports Education and Human Movement (Faculty of
Teacher Training and Education) of the Autonomous University of Madrid, who
have both participated in the study.
Forwarded on behalf of PACM:
Enclosed is the PACM contract position information. Please circulate to
candidates who you feel may be suitable.
**
** **
** **
Casie Nishi****
Executive Director****
Wellness Institute at Seven Oaks General Hospital ****
1075 Leila Avenue Winnipeg, MB R2P 2W7****
Phone: (204) 632-3901 Fax: (204) 697-2412****
Email: cnishi(a)sogh.mb.ca****
www.wellnessinstitute.ca****
** **
** **
** **
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News flash for drivers: Cyclists are helping subsidize your ride *Local
roads and bike lanes are almost exclusively paid for by local property
taxes, not fuel taxes*
By Peter Ladner Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:01am PST
http://www.biv.com/article/20130730/BIV0319/307309939/-1/BIV/news-flash-for…
As the “war on bikes” continues in my little corner of our sun-drenched
paradise, I’ve been trying to understand the road rage that’s generated
every time space for cars is shifted to other uses.
Some of it is fear borne out of fertile imaginings of disasters unforeseen
by professional traffic engineers. It’s true, the engineers have been wrong
before. They initially predicted massive lineups from the east and west to
get onto the south end of the Burrard Bridge if a bike lane was put in on
the bridge. Those turned out to be only minor delays in one direction at
peak travel times.
Business organizations recoil at the uncertainties by assuming harm for
businesses if a bike lane is put in. Yet in New York City, retail sales
along new bike routes jumped by 49% compared with 3% overall. On the Hornby
bike route, retail vacancies went down from 10% to 2% after the bike lane
was installed. So, yes, businesses along Cornwall should be concerned about
a new bike route along York Street – they’ll lose bicycle-riding customers
who no longer go by their premises.
In a week when the Transport for London reported that 24% of all vehicles
in the morning rush in London are now bicycles, many people refuse to
believe that cycling is a viable alternative to the automobile, because it
wouldn’t work for them. Fine, it doesn’t have to, but it does work for a
lot of people – and will work for a lot more when they can do it safely in
a protected lane.
But the biggest gagging point for many motorists is that they think
cyclists are getting a free ride on someone else’s dime. The rude, arrogant
and law-breaking attitude of some cyclists only adds to this resentment.
Oddly, drivers who endanger lives by breaking the speed limit rarely
provoke the same reaction.
In fact, the opposite is true.
Cyclists subsidize car drivers. Local roads and bike lanes are almost
exclusively paid for by local property taxes, not fuel taxes. Yes, some
city hall revenue comes from parking fees, but those fees don’t begin to
cover the opportunity and maintenance costs of the 30% of the city’s land
base that is used for cars, especially for “free” on-street parking. The
amount of roadway in Vancouver dedicated to cars is 10 times that dedicated
to bicycles, which usually park off-road. Property taxes are paid by
everyone who lives in the city, whether they rent or own. Cyclists are more
likely to live in the city, since they stay closer to home than motorists
who come into Vancouver from all over the region. Cyclists also subsidize
motorists when they live in buildings or buy groceries that cost more
because of legislated off-street parking spaces they don’t use.
City police costs to patrol traffic, enforce drunk driving laws and attend
to accidents are paid by cyclists and car drivers alike, even though car
drivers use up vastly more of those resources than cyclists.
Then there are health-care costs, which everyone pays through provincial
income taxes and medical service premiums. Cars are huge health hazards,
plain and simple. Pollution from cars generates huge health-care costs –
especially diesel cars like my Passat TDI. Accidents and ambulances are an
obvious source of those costs, but they only account for 10% of the
casualties due to traffic. Three times as many people die from the effects
of emissions, and twice as many again die prematurely from lack of exercise
and obesity-driven diseases related to time spent driving.
Protected green lanes reduce non-fatal cyclist road injuries by 90%, so the
return on investment from bike lanes is possibly covered by that health
care saving alone.
Drivers concerned about unfair tax burdens should welcome more bicycle
lanes – especially in pricy waterfront neighbourhoods where the increased
property values will lighten the property tax load for everyone else.
In case you missed last week's webinar on University Bike Share Programs,
here's a link to the recording along with pdfs of the slides:
http://www.bestworkplaces.org/events/best-workplaces-for-commuters-web-conf…
I found it particularly interesting that there appears to be a shift in the
approach to bike sharing on campuses vs municipal bike share programs. The
key difference being that the technology is stored on the bike's rear rack,
which means that regular bike racks can be used rather than specialized
docking systems.
cheers,
Beth
Long-term planning crucial
Strategic thinking needed with Winnipeg seeing growth
ON ARCHITECTUREBy: Brent Bellamy
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/long-term-planning-crucial-216396…
Winnipeg's population is nearing 800,000 and is growing by more than 10,000
per year. Property values are rising, construction is happening and the
economy is prospering. We have an IKEA, a professional hockey team and a
half-dozen new towers rising in our skyline.
Winnipeg is without question a progressing city -- but is it a progressive
one?
After decades of stagnation, Winnipeg is beginning to face the challenges
that come with more rapid urban growth. The suburbs are sprawling in every
direction, traffic levels are increasing and established neighbourhoods are
being redeveloped. The city is evolving and we are at the point of having
to ask ourselves: What kind of community do we want Winnipeg to become?
Old Winnipeg was a special place, filled with dense, tree-lined, walkable
neighbourhoods of grid-pattern streets, community clubs and corner stores.
Will new Winnipeg have the same character and soul, or will we look back on
this growth period as a lost opportunity to progressively shape our future
city? Will we have the same pride and foresight as those who planted our
characteristic tree canopy a century ago, or will we leave a legacy of
ubiquitous suburbs, unmanageable civic finances and crumbling
infrastructure?
In 2011, city council voted to accept the Our Winnipeg plan and the
Complete Communities Direction Strategy into official civic policy as a
response to these very questions. These comprehensive planning guidelines
are intended to provide a progressive blueprint for the city's economic,
social and physical growth over the next 25 years. Our Winnipeg emphasizes
creative ways to guide new neighbourhood design and transform existing
areas into "complete communities." It focuses on developing mixed-use,
mixed-income and mixed-density neighbourhoods that are walkable, safe,
beautiful and vibrant. Perhaps, most importantly, it outlines ways to make
the city more economically sustainable by curbing the prevailing model of
low-density, expansive growth that has already stressed civic budgets to a
point where taxes are rising and public services are declining.
Our Winnipeg is a long-term plan, but it is not a law. Without aligning its
strategies with current zoning bylaws, the document becomes a fanciful
vision without any real method of implementation.
Earlier this month, city council chose to defer their vote on a series of
recommendations from the planning, property and development department that
would align several features of Our Winnipeg with zoning bylaws. The
recommendations focused on reducing red tape and streamlining the approval
process for desirable development.
Densification of existing neighbourhoods is seen as a key strategy for
making the city more economically sustainable in the long term, but the
provision of parking to meet current bylaw standards can be a barrier to
infill development on smaller urban sites. The recommendations addressed
this issue by reducing minimum parking levels in mature communities,
permitting some on-street parking for multi-family developments and
allowing car-share and bike programs to offset parking requirements.
To promote the subdivision of larger properties, it was recommended that
the minimum required lot areas be reduced while allowing properties to be
subdivided as long as newly created lots are no smaller than existing ones
located within 60 metres on the same street.
These modest changes met with apprehension from council, which cited fears
of increased street parking and smaller residential properties that might
be considered unappealing to community residents. It is human nature to
fear change, but councillors who struggle every year to balance civic
budgets likely understand our current urban-development model is not
economically sustainable. As Winnipeg grows, promoting density is the only
way to ensure a healthy and competitive city in the future. To prosper, we
will have to embrace the long-term goals outlined in the Our Winnipeg plan
by empowering it with a legal backbone.
This resistance to long-term planning as a method of guiding change seems
to have recently become a trend in Winnipeg. Last year, the Corydon-Osborne
Neighbourhood Plan was stopped in its tracks despite the pressing need to
address significant changes happening in the area. Promises to restart the
process have gone unfulfilled for almost a year.
Recently, the City of Winnipeg cancelled its active-transportation study,
indicating its $400,000 cost would be better spent on construction. The
complex web of bike and pedestrian paths, intertwined with transit and
vehicular networks across the city, will now be implemented without a
strategic plan to ensure its efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The
argument appears to fall flat considering other studies continue, including
a $1.2-million plan for the development of the Waverley Street underpass.
The lessons of proceeding without planning and public consultation might
have been learned when a hotel and water park near The Forks were abruptly
proposed, resulting in significant community opposition and the eventual
failure of the project. The value of an effective urban plan can be seen as
the Winnipeg Blue Bombers implement costly reactive solutions to traffic
issues at their new stadium.
Winnipeg is at a critical moment in its history. Just as development from
the pre-war boom era a century ago continues to inform our city's urban
character today, the decisions we make in this growth period will define
what kind of city we pass on to future generations. To be a truly
progressive city, we must establish long-term goals through comprehensive
planning and without fear of change, implement public policy that adheres
to plans such as Our Winnipeg and promotes development that effectively
realizes the goals they strive to achieve.
*Brent Bellamy is senior design architect for Number Ten Architectural
Group.*
bbellamy(a)numberten.com
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 22, 2013 0
Friendly reminder regarding today's FREE webinar on University Bike Share
Programs.
*PLEASE NOTE the correct local time for the webinar is 2:00-3:15 pm today! *
If you like, come join us in the EcoCentre boardroom (303 Portage Ave,
third floor) for a group viewing or simply watch from your own desk (no
registration required).
cheers,
Beth
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bond, Julie <bond(a)cutr.usf.edu>
Date: Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 8:15 AM
Join us for an intriguing look at three University Bike Share programs
during a FREE Best Workplaces for Commuters (BWC) webinar. ****
** **
*Date*: Thursday, July 25, 2013****
*Time: *2:00 - 3:15 pm (Central / local)**
** **
*Join the Session:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/cutr/join?id=bwcbikeshare&role=attend&pw=web…
*
* *
*Add to your Outlook calendar:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/cutr/meetingICS?id=bwcbikeshare&role=attend&…
*
* *
*Speakers:*
* *
*Holly Parker, Director *****
*Sustainable Transportation Systems*****
*Yale University*****
Still unsatisfied with the existing bikeshare models available at the time,
Yale started “Y-Bike,” a departmental bikeshare program in 2008—in which a
bicycle was provided to a Yale department for anyone in the department (a
small, controlled environment) to use. The expense of the kiosk-based
bikeshare system was prohibitive, and it was felt that getting staff
members—some of whom hadn’t been on bikes since childhood—to use bikes for
travel between campus locations would be a good way to build bike culture.
In addition to the over 40 Y-Bikes on campus (and 8,000 collective miles
pedaled later), Yale now provides 50 shared-use bicycles to anyone who
registers with a valid Yale email address. Listen to how Yale designed
this 6-month pilot and how they plan on evaluating it. ****
****
*Jim Simon, Sustainability Engagement Coordinator*****
*University at Buffalo*****
When the community bicycle sharing program closed, a search began for
alternatives that would meet the needs of the campus in light of their goal
of becoming climate neutral by 2030. Counseled by a report prepared by an
undergraduate planning class and examined options that would promote
synergy in the community with partners working on providing bike share in
their city and region, they engaged in a partnership with a start-up
company that offers a GPS-enabled bike that can be located and borrowed
using your mobile phone. The technology meets students where they are—on
their mobile phones and computers—and is accessible at any time. By
becoming the first college or university to partner with this company, they
have learned and applied several important lessons about innovation,
partnership, and the development of learning opportunities for our
students. Participants will learn how being on the leading edge of
innovation through embracing new technology can benefit the research,
teaching, and public service mission of your university. Additionally,
participants will learn how to involve students in campus decision making
through classroom learning opportunities and how the immediate risk of
working with a start-up organization can lead to rewarding opportunities
for collaboration with students, the community, and the campus. ****
****
*Joshua Cantor, Director*
*Parking and Transportation*
*George Mason University*
George Mason University’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact
and fostering a bicycling community on campus has led to a series of new
projects, including a bike path that would stretch from the Fairfax campus
to the Vienna-Fairfax-GMU Metro Station and Patriot Bike Share, a
bike-sharing program on campus. George Mason’s Office of Sustainability
has joined with the local bicycling community to create a series of new
initiatives to achieve carbon neutrality by 2015. Chief among them is the
Patriot Bike Share program on campus, which allows students to rent
bicycles for two hours and return them at one of four locations across
campus. The program was started by Tyler Orton, bike program manager for
the Office of Sustainability, who brought his idea to the Office of
Sustainability and was given $36,000 to invest in the project as part of
the office’s new “Patriot Green Fund”. Listen to the challenges and
opportunities that existed for this customized bike share solution.****
****
*Moderator:*
Julie Bond, Program Manager, Best Workplaces for Commuters****
National Center for Transit Research, University of South Florida****
** **
A Q and A session will follow the presentations. Visit
www.bestworkplaces.org for further information, and learn how you can
become a member.****
** **
If you have questions, please email bond(a)cutr.usf.edu.****
** **
Best regards,****
** **
** **
Julie Bond****
Program Manager, Best Workplaces for Commuters****
National Center for Transit Research****
Center for Urban Transportation Research****
University of South Florida****
4202 E. Fowler Avenue, CUT100****
Tampa, FL 33620****
Direct Line: 813.974.9799****
[image: cid:image002.png@01CE0EB7.27D18690]****
** **
------------------------------
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Terry Zdan <tjzdan50(a)gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 09:25:52 -0500
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/bicycles--the-new-conservative-enemy-203422964.html
Bicycles: the new conservative enemy
The rise of bike-sharing programs has created an unlikely new target in
the culture wars
[image: Maclean's] <http://www.macleans.ca/>
By Jaime Weinman | Maclean's – Sat, 20 Jul, 2013
[image: At more than one million rides, Toronto's BIXI service is proving
popular with riders but is struggling to cover costs.]
<http://ca.news.yahoo.com/photos/more-one-million-rides-torontos-bixi-provin…>
CBC/Ivy Cuervo/CBC - At more than one million rides, Toronto's BIXI service
is proving popular with riders but is struggling to cover costs.
In the 1980s, the conservative humourist P.J. O’Rourke wrote “A Cool and
Logical Analysis of the Bicycle
Menace<http://www.bikereader.com/contributors/misc/menace.html>.”
He was joking. In 2013, *Wall Street Journal* editorial board member
Dorothy Rabinowitz said, “the bike lobby is an all-powerful
enterprise<http://live.wsj.com/video/opinion-death-by-bicycle/C6D8BBCE-B405-4D3C-A381-…>”
and the presence of a bike-sharing program in New York was an example of
“the totalitarians running the government of this city.” She wasn’t joking.
Rabinowitz’s widely discussed appearance on a Wall Street Journal video,
which was picked up by many news outlets and *The Daily Show* (“Slow down,
lady, they’re just bikes!” Jon Stewart exclaimed), did more than draw
attention to complaints about the effectivness of the Citibike program, New
York’s attempt to compete with the bike-sharing in other cities such as
Paris and Montreal. It made people aware of just how hostile some
conservative commentators are to bikes.
Rabinowitz was hardly the first conservative pundit to express scorn for
bicycles and the people who ride them. One of the most-publicized recent
bike-bashers was Don Cherry, who showed up to meet Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
in 2010<http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/12/08/put-that-in-your-pipe-you-left-wing-kook…>wearing
a loud pink shirt, explaining: “I’m wearing pink for all the pinkos
out there riding bicycles.” Popular southern California radio host John
Kobylt, an opponent of plans to build more bike lanes in Los Angeles,
recently explained that cyclists are members of “a bizarre cult that
worships two-wheel transportation, not a traditional God.” And Rush
Limbaugh, the leader in conservative radio punditry, has always been
willing to tee off on the pesky pedal-pushers: “Frankly, if the door opens
into a bicycle rider, I won’t care,” he once said. “I think they ought to
be off the streets and on the sidewalk,” where bike riders aren’t actually
allowed.
Why would bicycles become a political issue? Partly because things like
bike-sharing programs are often placed in opposition to cars and the people
who drive them. Lloyd Alter, an adjunct professor at Ryerson University’s
school of interior design and the managing editor of
*TreeHugger.com<http://www.treehugger.com/>
*, says conservatives sometimes associate bikes “with environmentalism and
anti-capitalism. Bike riders live in denser places, don’t go to big-box
supercentres, lead a suspiciously different lifestyle.” The political
splits in cities are often strongest between urban areas and the suburbs or
exurbs, and that pits suburb-friendly transportation, mainly cars, against
more “urban” vehicles such as bikes and light rail.
So just as conservative politicians such as Ford have often won votes for
their support of the automobile against non-traditional transportation,
conservative pundits often stick up for suburban car drivers in the culture
war, and portray bicyclists as elitists. Kobylt, cited by *The Atlantic*’s
Conor Friedersdorf as a practitioner of “the paranoid style in bicycle
politics,” told his listeners he fears that cyclists are trying to make him
feel like, “I’m second class because I drive a car, or I have a commute to
work, or I live in a suburban neighbourhood.” Journalist George Will, a
prominent opponent of trains, also mocked then-U.S. secretary of
transportation Ray LaHood for his support of biking: “Does he think 0.01
per cent of Americans will ever regularly bike to work?” Will sneered.
Alter says that, to some pundits, cyclists are “a powerful force trying to
squeeze cars off the road,” and “every advance by the cyclists is seen as
an attack on the suburban way of life.”
But just as there are plenty of liberals who drive SUVs, there are plenty
of conservatives who contradict the bike-hating stereotype. Nicole Gelinas,
a contributor to the conservative urban policy magazine City Journal,
published an article about Citibike that, while critical of the program,
also tried to counteract some of the stereotypes about it: “Despite fears
to the contrary, especially among the elderly,” she
wrote<http://www.city-journal.org/2013/eon0530ng.html>,
“bike share won’t harm pedestrians.” Still, as bike-friendly conservative radio
host Mitch Berg told the Utne
Reader<http://www.utne.com/Politics/Conservative-Cyclists-Republican-Bikes-Transce…>,
“people on both sides of the political aisle do ascribe political
significance to biking.” Or, as P.J. O’Rourke put it all those years ago,
“I don’t like the kind of people who ride bicycles.”
--
Terry Zdan
126 Duncan Norrie Drive
Wpg MB R3P 2J9
CANADA
tjzdan50(a)gmail.com <tjzdan(a)gmasil.com>
Bike study scrapped
By: Matt Prepost
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/our-communities/times/Bike-study-scrapped-…
Local councillors and bike advocates are cycling different paths when it
comes to building an active transportation network in northwest Winnipeg.
Earlier this month, the city confirmed it was suspending a $400,000
consulting study to develop a strategy to build future bike and pedestrian
paths in the city. Instead, the city says it will spend that money on a
handful of projects which are already underway.
Mark Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg, said the decision means
the city is continuing to miss the big picture due to the competing
interests and ideas of cyclists, residents and politicians, and will miss
out on opportunities that could save the public money down the line.
"They’re not looking at how individual projects fit into the whole," said
Cohoe.
"When we don’t have an overall strategy looking at the whole network, it’s
hard to figure out what the role of one route would be in the network and
what kind of infrastructure would fit that best.
"Sometimes it can be a neighbourhood street with a sharrow (a shared or
painted lane on the road). But, if it’s going to be a spine in your
network, a sharrow won’t cut it."
Cohoe has been developing a proposal for a path that would run through the
Manitoba Hydro right-of-way that runs alongside McPhillips Street, from the
Perimeter Highway to the McPhillips Street Station Casino.
The nine-kilometre stretch passes near several shopping destinations,
including a Wal-Mart, Safeway and Superstore, and connects into a number of
schools. He sees opportunities along the path for community and butterfly
gardens and gathering spots for the community.
Cohoe led a group of about 10 people through the area in late May as part
of the Jane’s Walk event looking at alternatives to cycling along
McPhillips. He plans to hold a series of open houses on the project in the
fall.
"It really could create that situation of giving people the opportunity to
take a short trip by bike instead of by car," said Cohoe, who lives in
Corydon Village.
Area councillors, however, have different ideas.
Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie wants the city to carve up a pathway along the
old Winnipeg Beach rail line owned by CP, which runs along the western edge
of Riverbend before bisecting the West Kildonan, Garden City and North End
communities.
Old Kildonan Coun. Devi Sharma wants to see the city complete a trail
connection from Kildonan Park under the Chief Peguis Trail and into
Rivergrove.
And Point Douglas Coun. Mike Pagtakhan said he’d like to see buffered bike
lanes, similar to those built along Pembina Highway earlier this year,
placed along Main, Arlington and McPhillips streets.
"Without a strategy, where do we go first? Where do we spend the money?"
said Eadie, who opposed cancelling the contract.
"If we’re not going to have a strategy, it’s just going to be randomly
picked."
Sharma said the city’s public works committee will put the cycling strategy
on its agenda when it resumes sitting in September.
"There seems to be some agreement to have the study, but how much do we
spend on it?" said Sharma, who sits on the committee.
Pagtakhan said the city does need an overall strategy for cycling and
pedestrians, but should complete its existing list of projects before
committing dollars and embarking on a study.
"If we were to ask people, would they rather see a study or would they
rather see dollars put on building actual active transportation routes, I
believe people would want to see tax dollars put on actual routes," he said.
Cohoe believes the city can do both.
"You can definitely work on projects and plan for the future," he said.
Please see message below from Terry regarding the Manual of Uniform Traffic
Control Devices (MUTCD) in the U.S.
On a related note, the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) is updating
the Canadian MUTCD<http://www.tac-atc.ca/english/projects/trafficcontrol.cfm>.
Looks like it will be a while though, as the analysis of what is needed to
be updated is not expected to be completed until spring 2014.
cheers,
Beth
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Terry Zdan <tjzdan50(a)gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 12:05:01 -0500
Subject: This is a nice summary of what is in the MUTCD and what is not and
the status of some of the "experimental" treatments of late…
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/guidance/design_guid…
--
Terry Zdan
126 Duncan Norrie Drive
Wpg MB R3P 2J9
CANADA
tjzdan50(a)gmail.com <tjzdan(a)gmasil.com>