City study of Osborne slip lane due in spring
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2023/11/27/city-study-of-osborne-sl…
A municipal study on getting rid of an Osborne Village slip lane has yet to
begin, but a local architect says making pedestrian-friendly changes is
long overdue.
Slip lanes, which allow drivers to make a right turn while bypassing an
intersection, can speed up car commutes but slow down pedestrians and
cyclists who must cross that uncontrolled lane of traffic.
Architect Brent Bellamy, creative director at Number Ten Architectural
Group, bikes daily through the slip lane at Academy Road and Stafford
Street. He describes them as “highway infrastructure that have somehow
crept into the design of residential streets,” and have no place in
pedestrian-frequented areas.
“Every single morning I think, this is what they’re going to write on my
tombstone: ‘He died crossing the slip lane,’” Bellamy said with a laugh.
“Because I’ve had so many close calls and they are just the bane of my
existence.”
A City of Winnipeg report on replacing the slip lane at Osborne Street and
River Avenue with pedestrian sidewalks isn’t expected to be complete until
the spring and submitted to the public works committee on May 7, a city
spokesperson said.
The city is considering whether to eliminate that slip lane as part of a
traffic-calming proposal that also looks at closing Assiniboine Avenue to
vehicles between Fort and Main streets.
The idea to replace the Osborne Village slip lane with some kind of
pedestrian scramble was proposed in the spring in a new blueprint for the
neighbourhood by the Osborne Village Business Improvement Zone.
The city’s public service has been tasked with studying the elimination of
the slip lane and considering, instead, wider sidewalks, continuous
sidewalks or a pedestrian scramble, according to an Oct. 10 directive from
the standing policy committee on public works.
“We should do everything we can to invite pedestrians to Osborne, not make
them feel unsafe or uncomfortable for being there,” Bellamy said.
Other cities, such as Montreal and Edmonton, have removed some slip lanes,
sometimes placing planters there instead in a process that is neither
lengthy nor too expensive, Bellamy noted.
*NEW BIKE REGISTRY ROLLING FORWARD*
A CALL to endorse a new bike registry for Winnipeggers is rolling forward.
On Tuesday, council’s community services committee voted in favour of a
call to end a city-run bike registry and instead urge citizens to register
their bikes with 529 Garage, a free, cloud-based system. The city registry
has a $7.35 registration fee.
If council approves, the new registry would share data with hundreds of
police agencies and Winnipeg civic officials in hopes of getting more
stolen bikes returned to their owners. The proposal also includes about
$50,000 in each of the next four years to implement a new registration and
theft-prevention program.
The city sought new bike registration options in June, noting up to 2,000
bicycles are reported stolen in Winnipeg each year; about 1,000 are
recovered but less than 10 per cent are successfully returned to their
owners.
Aim to clear snow on active routes quicker
City boosts bike path plowing
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/11/01/city-boosts-bike-…
SNOW is expected to be removed from most active transportation routes in
less than two days this winter, as the city adds special plows to its
snow-clearing arsenal.
Avid cyclists hope more snow-free paths will mean fewer road rage
incidents, as cyclists won’t be forced into the street.
Michael Cantor, the city’s manager of streets maintenance, said snow days
for active transportation paths will be shorter, now that the city has
added 15 new bike path and sidewalk snow-clearing machines to its fleet of
31.
Cantor said the extra machines, coupled with ones owned by private
contractors, will allow the city to clear the sidewalks and paths along
major streets and bus routes within 36 hours, if five centimetres of snow
has fallen. Paths and sidewalks beside residential streets will be cleared
in five days.
“These machines are like a small truck plow that has a blade at the front
or a snow blower and they are both on these new units,” he said. “They can
also pull sand behind them. They look exactly like a snow blower you use at
home only they are bigger, wider and stronger.”
Cantor said the extra machines should allow the city to meet snow-clearance
times mandated by council.
St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard, who regularly cycles to city hall from his
ward, said he’s pleased the city has more capacity to clear bike paths
because it is safer for cyclists and reduces road rage incidents.
But Allard said he has noticed a change in how cyclists are treated on the
streets in recent years.
“I think attitudes are changing. There’s an understanding now that there
are many road users, not only motorists, but also cyclists and
pedestrians,” he said. “Yes, there are still some moments where a motorist,
when there is no active transportation route or it hasn’t been plowed, gets
upset and they honk or they come close, but I think public opinion is
moving to a much greater appreciation for those who use active
transportation.
“In general, we need to be kind to each other.”
Bike Winnipeg’s Mark Cohoe said he has also noticed more positive change in
peoples’ attitudes while cycling.
He said it could be because there are more bike paths in the city — and
more are on their way, including paths along River and Stradbrook avenues,
as well as Goulet Street and University Crescent.
But there are still major gaps, Cohoe said, including Regent and Nairn
avenues, where there aren’t dedicated bike paths.
Ian Walker, an elementary school teacher, said he was recently targeted in
a road rage incident on Nairn.
“The driver in a pickup truck didn’t like I was taking the lane and he came
up behind me and then went around me horn blaring, scaring me,” Walker
said. “I then felt a bunch of liquid on me and thought it was a snowball.
It turned out it was coffee. I had to go to a meeting with principals
covered with coffee.
Walker said motorists have vented their rage at him in the past when he had
to pedal on the street with no bike path, or when it was filled with snow.
Despite the recent incident on Nairn, Walker said it is still better to
ride a bike now than a few years ago.
“I think it is getting better, honestly. I think people are more tolerant.”
kevin.rollason(a)freepress.mb.ca
