[This is relevant to anyone who may have been planning to speak on Tuesday
as per the reminder sent out last week. I for one am going to celebrate
instead. - Anders ]
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/citys-plan-for-active-transport-revi…
THE City of Winnipeg has revived a bike-and-pedestrian strategy the
cancellation of which earlier this summer sparked an outcry from cycling
activists.
In July, Winnipeg's public works department nixed a plan to spend $400,000
on an active-transportation master plan that would have been prepared by
Vancouver consulting firm Urban Systems.
The plan, initiated in the wake of a messily executed 2010
bike-and-pedestrian upgrade, was intended to help the city choose future
active-transportation routes, ensure the city had the capacity to build
them and align the funding priorities with those of two other levels of
government.
But the plan was cancelled when the city official in charge of the project
wound up busy with a road-twinning project, public works director Brad
Sacher said.
Several members of council, including public works chairman Dan Vandal (St.
Boniface), were concerned the $400,000 price tag was too high for a
planning framework.
But in the wake of complaints from the public and others members of
council, Sacher renegotiated the scope of the consulting contract, which
has been scaled back.
The revived master plan may be completed by the end of January, Sacher said
Friday.
"There's a lot of work to do and not enough resources to get everything
done. But after (this plan) was cancelled, it became really apparent it's a
really important project to a lot of Winnipeggers," Sacher said.
City staff will now oversee the implementation of the plan, which could be
completed in time to inform decisions about routes to build in 2014, he
added. "It will help us for the budget and for capital-planning projects
going forward. It's an important study and something we really needed to
complete."
As a result of the change, the project fee was reduced by $70,000 to
$330,000, Vandal said.
"Nobody was ever against a master plan. We just felt the price was crazy,"
he said.
Mark Cohoe, executive director of commuter-cycling lobby group Bike
Winnipeg, said he is thrilled the city has salvaged the plan.
"It's good to see the city is listening and reacting," Cohoe said after
hearing the news.
"It's going to bring a lot of outside expertise to Winnipeg -- a fresh set
of eyes with a worldly perspective that will give us a bit of focus.
"It will get us in line with what other cities are doing."
City's plan for active transport revived
By: Bartley Kives
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/citys-plan-for-active-transport-revi…
THE City of Winnipeg has revived a bike-and-pedestrian strategy the
cancellation of which earlier this summer sparked an outcry from cycling
activists.
In July, Winnipeg's public works department nixed a plan to spend $400,000
on an active-transportation master plan that would have been prepared by
Vancouver consulting firm Urban Systems.
The plan, initiated in the wake of a messily executed 2010
bike-and-pedestrian upgrade, was intended to help the city choose future
active-transportation routes, ensure the city had the capacity to build
them and align the funding priorities with those of two other levels of
government.
But the plan was cancelled when the city official in charge of the project
wound up busy with a road-twinning project, public works director Brad
Sacher said.
Several members of council, including public works chairman Dan Vandal (St.
Boniface), were concerned the $400,000 price tag was too high for a
planning framework.
But in the wake of complaints from the public and others members of
council, Sacher renegotiated the scope of the consulting contract, which
has been scaled back.
The revived master plan may be completed by the end of January, Sacher said
Friday.
"There's a lot of work to do and not enough resources to get everything
done. But after (this plan) was cancelled, it became really apparent it's a
really important project to a lot of Winnipeggers," Sacher said.
City staff will now oversee the implementation of the plan, which could be
completed in time to inform decisions about routes to build in 2014, he
added. "It will help us for the budget and for capital-planning projects
going forward. It's an important study and something we really needed to
complete."
As a result of the change, the project fee was reduced by $70,000 to
$330,000, Vandal said.
"Nobody was ever against a master plan. We just felt the price was crazy,"
he said.
Mark Cohoe, executive director of commuter-cycling lobby group Bike
Winnipeg, said he is thrilled the city has salvaged the plan.
"It's good to see the city is listening and reacting," Cohoe said after
hearing the news.
"It's going to bring a lot of outside expertise to Winnipeg -- a fresh set
of eyes with a worldly perspective that will give us a bit of focus.
"It will get us in line with what other cities are doing."
*bartley.kives(a)freepress.mb.ca*
*Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 7, 2013 A4
*
*[ Hoo boy. No stats or best practices or anything. Just something fun for
kids of all ages on Saturday. All you need is a bike and an imagination. Go
light stuff up for no good reason...and then come back for Ciclovia on
Sunday. -Anders] *
On Saturday, September 7, help kick off "Ciclovia-Eve" by decorating your
bike and riding down to Lights on Broadway.
There are bike decorating station stations in the following areas:
- Sherbrook St
- Coronation Park
- Omand's Park
- Memorial Park
Things to note:
*-All decorating (free lights and other free fun things) at the four
stations happens from 5:30pm-7:30pm**.*
- Group rides leave from the stations for Broadway's Parade of Lights at
approx 7:30pm.
- Manyfest is hosting the Memorial and Omand Park stations.
- The West End BIZ is hosting the Sherbrook Street Festival Station and the
Norwood Grove BIZ is hosting the Coronation Park station.
- Prizes will be awarded at the Parade of Light for the Best Lit Bikes.
Photo of some of the winners from last year:
[image: Inline image 1]
*[ If you're an adult, I expect more**. Something like this...work your
magic. - Anders]*
[image: Inline image 1]
Clipped from the latest update on Tools of Change webinars from Cullbridge
Marketing and Communications...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Terry Zdan <tjzdan50(a)gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 11:26 AM
*Transportation / Active Living Recordings*
The following recent webinar video-recordings are now publicly accessible
at no charge. All five were designated as Landmark case studies through our
peer-selection process that recognizes behavior change programs and
approaches considered to be among the most successful, innovative,
replicable and adaptable in the world.
- BIXI Bike Sharing System
- Calgary's Workshift
- Portland's Smart Trips Welcome
- Haliburton Communities in Action
- Stepping it Up: Reversing the Trend in Active Transportation
*Sustainable Transportation Recordings
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001Ou0ItGy3VntOb3ZS593euAKNm-__IczSvIhmwo1K1VZV…>
*
* *
--
Terry Zdan
126 Duncan Norrie Drive
Wpg MB R3P 2J9
CANADA
tjzdan50(a)gmail.com <tjzdan(a)gmasil.com>
Hi AT Network,
This is a reminder about the upcoming Standing Policy Committee for
Infrastructure and Public Works meeting scheduled for September 10, 2013 at
9 am where they will be reviewing the decision to cancel the development of
a pedestrian and cycling strategy for the City of Winnipeg.
With the city threatening to delay this project for another year and half,
this may be the one and only opportunity to let the city know they need to
continue with this long term plan.
A few select points: the city is obligated to complete the pedestrian and
cycling strategy. Major plans and guiding city policy states this plan is
needed; Our Winnipeg, Complete Communities Direction Strategy and the
Transportation Master Plan all identify the need for a Pedestrian and
Cycling Strategy. The comments by council that a plan is not needed and
implementation can proceed with out it is ludicrous. In order to have a
comprehensive plan for growth and development and in order to live up to
the City's Sustainable Transportation Direction Strategy, the City can not
delay or cancel this plan. It is unheard of for a city without a long-term
active transportation plan to delay the process and engage in meaningful
consultation with the public.
Please circulate this to other concerned groups in your networks, namely
the Older Adult networks/orgs, all trails orgs/assoc, Rivers West, WTA,
Bike Winnipeg, youth and student groups and neighbourhood associations.
You might also consider calling or emailing your City Councillor asking
them to restart the development of these strategies for Winnipeg.
Thanks again!
Let Portage and Main breathe Removing barriers good for entire core
By: Brent Bellamy
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/let-portage-and-main-breathe-2221…
At 10 o'clock this morning, there will be precisely 2,000 days left until
the intersection of Portage and Main, Winnipeg's famous windy corner, can
legally be opened once again to pedestrians. Whether it will open or not
remains to be seen.
The story is well-known by now. With the construction of the Trizec
building in the late 1970s, an underground connection was made to each of
the intersection's four corners. In an effort to force people into the
shops that lined the concourse, a 40-year agreement was signed with the six
adjacent property owners that read, "The city agrees that it will not
consent to any construction of a pedestrian crossing over or under any
street" (at Portage and Main). Concrete barricades adorned with colourful
flowers were installed and the intersection was sealed off to a generation
of people.
Last month, the Canadian Institute of Planners nominated Winnipeg's
windswept corner one of the "Great Places in Canada." The improbable
announcement touched off a public discussion about the future of the
intersection, with bloggers, television, radio and newspaper outlets all
debating the subject.
Those who favoured the barricades argued pedestrians would be unsafe
crossing with the high number of cars that pass through the intersection,
yet traffic volumes are similar at Broadway and Main or Portage and
Memorial, and pedestrians cross those intersections without incident every
day.
The argument heard most often was adding pedestrians would significantly
delay vehicular traffic, but with 11 stop lights and pedestrian crossings
already in place along the one-kilometre length of Portage Avenue in
downtown, it is unclear by how much.
To alleviate these safety and congestion concerns, cities around the world
have implemented so-called scramble corners at similar intersections. Using
this strategy, vehicles cycle through without pedestrians, then with all
vehicles stopped, pedestrians are allowed to cross in every direction,
including diagonally. This sequence eliminates the typical interaction
between cars and pedestrians and only adds one minute to each traffic cycle.
Despite a fear of change, opening Portage and Main to pedestrians as part
of a greater strategy to make Winnipeg's downtown a more walkable
neighbourhood would have a significant positive impact on the city in many
ways.
The number of people who spend each day working at Portage and Main is
nearly equivalent to the population of Steinbach. If the intersection were
a city, it would be one of the five largest in the province, yet few
street-level amenities exist to support that market. Enticing even a
portion of these people back onto the sidewalks might increase foot traffic
to a level where the first three blocks of Portage Avenue no longer have
more empty storefronts than the rest of its 14-kilometre length combined.
Albert Street, an adjacent toothless grin of vacant lots, derelict
buildings and empty retail units, might finally fulfil its potential as a
trendy urban strip and connection point to the burgeoning Exchange District.
A closed Portage and Main currently acts as a physical and intellectual
barrier in the downtown. The Forks, the East Exchange, Waterfront Drive,
Stephen Juba Park and the river are all disengaged from the rest of the
city because of this divide. As the Canadian Museum for Human Rights opens
and the mixed-use residential development is constructed across from it,
establishing pedestrian connections will become a significant opportunity
to finally engage The Forks as part of downtown. Breaking down this barrier
and establishing these neighbourhood relationships would make the ocean of
surface parking lots along the rail line attractive to development as they
become a bridge between these two areas.
Safety is always highlighted as a key impediment to our city's urban
growth. Despite statistics that indicate downtown crime levels are no
different than in other cities, the lack of people on Winnipeg's sidewalks
creates an impression of insecurity, heightening the perception of crime.
It is uncomfortable to be near Portage and Main in the evening because of
the feeling of isolation the concrete barriers and empty sidewalks create.
Opening the corner up would repopulate the area, providing strength in
numbers and putting more eyes on the street to establish a greater feeling
of safety and security for pedestrians.
Improved safety and enhanced walkability are vital ingredients in
establishing a desirable urban neighbourhood that attracts residential
development, widely accepted as the key to downtown revitalization.
Governments currently offer incentives to entice this growth, but in the
long term, the residential market must be self-sustaining. Opening Portage
and Main as part of an overall scheme to increase walkability and improve
the pedestrian experience is an important part of creating the desirable
conditions that attract buyers to urban living and establish a competitive
downtown residential market without subsidies.
The Canadian Institute of Planners' recognition of Portage and Main, even
in its current condition, shows it is a place the story of which still
resonates in the imagination of Canadians. With no other Winnipeg location
holding that level of prominence, its current utilitarian function is a
lost opportunity in a city that cannot afford to squander its few
noteworthy attributes. Surrounded by many of the finest historic buildings
in North America and most beautiful public art in the country, inviting
people back to experience our most important public place would be a source
of pride for tourists and Winnipeggers alike.
Reanimating Portage and Main with a pedestrian vibrancy would not only
physically transform the heart of our city but it would hold great symbolic
value, signalling to the world Winnipeg is a progressive community that has
shifted its urban-design focus to people and neighbourhoods. Establishing a
sense of place at the historic crossroads of Western Canada would be an
expression of a modern, forward-thinking Winnipeg and with reverence to
where Bobby Hull was once signed, a place to celebrate the Jets' first
Stanley Cup victory.
*Brent Bellamy is senior design architect for Number Ten Architectural
Group.*
bbellamy(a)numberten.com
*Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 3, 2013 B6
*