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WFP: City plans to demolish filthy access to concourse under Portage and Main (Jun23'24)

by Beth McKechnie

City plans to demolish filthy access to concourse under Portage and Main Stairway (not) to heaven A STAIRWELL used by the public to enter the concourse under Portage and Main has become a regular place for people to relieve themselves and pester people for money. A sanitation worker who was cleaning the stairwell, at the northeast corner of the intersection, Tuesday morning said he has to remove human excrement and litter with a broom and soap. “They poop here, they pee here, they smoke inside this,” he said while cleaning the site at the northeast corner of the intersection. He said he expected there would be more litter when he returned later in the day to clean up again. An employee at the nearby Fairmont Hotel said if he can, he’ll avoid using the concourse after dark. “If you’re going after, I would say 9 p.m. or 10 p,m., then that’s not safe,” he said. While he said he’s witnessed bad behaviour in the stairwell, most people just ask for money and don’t pose a threat. “Not all of them will be really bad or aggressive,” he said. “They’re just looking for spare money or change, that’s it.” The City of Winnipeg is looking at demolishing the stairwell and working with staff of the nearby Richardson Building to open its concourse to the public during hours it would normally be closed. On Tuesday, the property committee will discuss a recommendation that $1.65 million be paid to Richardson Centre Ltd. for the cost of removing the stairwell. It would conduct the work while constructing the adjacent Richardson Plaza. An agreement would be signed to allow the public to access the concourse via the Richardson Building. It’s not a new idea. In 2017, the idea was raised as part of a discussion to improve accessibility and safety. About $1.5 million was allotted for work on the concourse below 201 Portage Avenue, including removing the bunker in question. The report notes the sidewalk may have to be re-excavated when the roof membrane over the concourse is replaced in future. Committee chairperson Coun. Sherri Rollins said while she plans to support the idea, she is concerned about pedestrians having to rely on a private property to enter the public space. “In this, too, are real public interest questions with respect to access agreements,” she said. “Most Winnipeggers want to not have to rely on a private-sector access agreement to be able to access their city in a meaningful way.” The concourse is open from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Until a way to cross Portage and Main at the ground level exists, Rollins said, the public stairwell is in dire need of refurbishing and called this “the most cost-efficient way of getting that job done.” “It stinks, it doesn’t feel safe. This isn’t a way to design a city with bunkers,” she said. “It’s really past its prime.” Mayor Scott Gillingham said he’s undecided and would wait to hear Tuesday’s discussion, but he called ensuring public access on par with what the city could provide “paramount” to his decision. “Whether it’s through an access agreement with the property owner on that corner, or whether it’s through upgrading and maintaining that stairwell, we need to ensure that access is provided to the public,” he said. malak.abas(a)freepress.mb.ca

11 months

WFP: Civic report recommends road-renewal tax hikes for years (Jun22'23)

by Beth McKechnie

*Civic report recommends road-renewal tax hikes for years* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/06/21/civic-report-reco… WINNIPEGGERS could be paying property tax hikes to fund road renewal well into the next decade. A funding strategy for road and bridge infrastructure suggests council consider extending the practice long term, beginning with the 2024-2027 multi-year budget process. A public works report proposes to continue levying at least part of those tax revenues through 2037. “I’m supportive of it… it clearly identifies where we’re going as a council to maintain our existing roadways. That, in turn, is good for city staff, it’s good for contractors,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of the public works committee. The report also calls on city council to make more projects eligible for the dedicated tax dollars, by adding in tree-replacement and preservation projects in 2024 and expanding to include road-safety and pedestrian/cycling programs in 2026. The City of Winnipeg began raising property taxes with the money dedicated to road renewal in 2013. For 2023, property taxes rose 3.5 per cent, with revenue from two percentage points of the increase devoted to roads and 0.33 percentage points earmarked for the Southwest Rapid Transitway. The new proposal would continue to ensure road renewal is a priority, said Lukes. The proposed plan aims to improve the “level of service for roadway condition.” That would require devoting revenue from two percentage points of annual tax hikes to roads again from 2024 through 2028, then gradually decreasing the amount. Only 0.5 percentage points of property tax hikes would be earmarked for roads between 2034 and 2037. “Assuming service level targets are met by 2037, no additional dedicated property tax increases for street renewal reserve purposes are projected for 2038 and the foreseeable future thereafter,” writes Brad Neirinck, the public works department’s manager of engineering, in the report. The roads target would be achieved once 85 per cent of Winnipeg’s regional streets are in good or very good condition, as well as 75 per cent of residential roads, 75 per cent of industrial streets and 55 per cent of alleys. Council could consider the report as soon as next month. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

11 months

CBC: Research offers financial case for big city bike lanes

by Beth McKechnie

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/biking-lanes-business-health-1.5165954

11 months

Owners of the most polluting cars to pay double for parking across England

by Beth McKechnie

Lambeth is the latest council in London to introduce emissions-based parking fees, with similar charges now expected elsewhere in England. Owners of the most polluting cars can expect to pay more than twice as much as cleaner cars. There are now 26 different charges to park for an hour in Lambeth, depending on a car’s tax band and whether there is a diesel surcharge. <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/07/petrol-diesel-engines…> The cost of a parking bay near Waterloo station in south London now ranges between £6.30 and £13.23 an hour, with payment made by an app. Full story: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/18/owners-of-most-polluting-ca…

11 months

WFP: Zero-carbon visitor centre flagship of FortWhyte redevelopment plan (Jun19'23)

by Beth McKechnie

Zero-carbon visitor centre flagship of FortWhyte redevelopment plan Buffalo Crossing to come alive https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/2023/06/18/buffalo-crossing-to-c… LIZ Wilson sits down having freshly exchanged her high-visibility vest and steel toed boots for a tan blazer and stylish flats. The wooden bench she settles on was ironically dedicated to then-50-year-old Doug Harvey, a major donor of the Buffalo Crossing development at the FortWhyte Alive sanctuary in southwest Winnipeg. “I was just over at our new building site,” says the president and CEO of FortWhyte Alive. The footprint of the planned $25 million, two-storey, 18,000 square-foot-facility on McGillivray Boulevard already holds a visible impression on the south end of the 660-acre urban green space and wetlands, with the concrete foundation poured and asphalt spread where a large parking lot will be. Next is the mass delivery of timber — expected to arrive in early July — to assemble Buffalo Crossing, a visitor centre and flagship initiative in a six-project, $35 million capital campaign that will open a new entrance to FortWhyte Alive, offering some much-needed relief for the natural urban oasis and increasing its accessibility to the rest of Winnipeg. “All of a sudden, this building is going to be erected. It’s going to be almost like Lego, so that’s super exciting,” Wilson says. Buffalo Crossing, which broke ground in November, is expected to open in July of 2024. FortWhyte Alive has one access point on McCreary Road, a road that winds to the only entrance building on the property. Days with heavy flows of traffic, owing to the number of schools that use FortWhyte Alive as a destination for field trips, create a bottleneck in the existing parking lot, Wilson says. “It’ll take some of the pressure off our main entrance, we’ll be able to separate our youth programs from our public and tourism programs,” she says. “It allows us the opportunity to open up more of our property, expand our program offerings and increase the number of youth and school groups that can come here with our expanded capacity.” As with any project of this magnitude, Buffalo Crossing has come with its challenges, Wilson explains, Construction is slightly behind schedule, largely owing to supply-chain issues and the added task of building the facility to passive house and zero- carbon standards. Buffalo Crossing is the first commercial building to hold these energy-efficiency designations in Manitoba. “I hope that this is going to be a teaching tool for everyday Manitobans to be able to come in and see that sustainable, climate-resilient architecture is possible in our climate,” Wilson says. Last week, the city cleared one of the largest remaining hurdles in the plan to build a new access point on one of its busiest thoroughfares: how those travelling by foot will safely cross McGillivray to reach FortWhyte Alive. An update by Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West ) in June of 2021 detailed two possible options for pedestrians. The first included traffic lights and a crosswalk to be installed at the Brady Road and McGillivray intersection. The second was a controlled crosswalk that led from a new pathway at Front Street and McGillivray. Given the speed limit on that stretch of the road is 80 km/h and is often occupied by large vehicles such as construction trucks, semis and farm equipment, the city decided on a plan that closely resembles the first option. Four-way lights that also act as a controlled pedestrian crossing at Brady and McGillivray will be installed by May 2024. “What it also triggers are upgrades to the current pathway,” says Lukes. “The pathway south of McGillivray is horrible, it’s a little sidewalk. As fate would have it, development is occurring along McGillivray. They’re going to upgrade the pathway, the other development that comes along is going to upgrade the pathway and the city will be upgrading the pathway. “What this will do is the connectivity of separated sidewalks and bike paths is going to be incredible because the network that will get into FortWhyte Alive or out of FortWhyte Alive, into the south — from an active transportation perspective — is brilliant. And from transit, people will be able to get on the rapid transit corridor, take a feeder bus and zip into FortWhyte.” Indeed, possibly the grandest piece to the multimillion-dollar capital campaign will be a bus loop that allows public transit to reach a part of the city it’s never touched. “That is huge. That’s a game changer for us because accessibility has been a barrier for FortWhyte,” Wilson says. “Unless you live close and you can use active transportation, walk or bike or you have access to a vehicle, we really haven’t been able to attract those visitors.” FortWhyte Alive will also add a bridge for pedestrians that connects Buffalo Crossing to the other side of Muir Lake, which will be installed in the fall. jfreysam(a)freepress.mb.ca

11 months

Residents of a Parking Benefit District in Columbus can ride free on public transit

by Beth McKechnie

Funding for the Short North C-pass program comes from a designation from the City of Columbus of local parking revenue generated within the Short North Parking Benefit District. These local parking revenues are reinvested into mobility programs in the Short North area after the city’s costs are met, Pandora said. Full story: https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/transportation/2023/06/16/short-nor…

11 months

WFP: City moves forward on revamped bike registry report (Jun13'23)

by Beth McKechnie

*City moves forward on revamped bike registry report* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/06/12/city-moves-forwar… THE City of Winnipeg will explore new options for bicycle registration, in hopes of reuniting more stolen bikes with their owners. On Monday, council’s executive policy committee cast a final vote to order a city staff report on replacing Winnipeg’s current bike registry with a multi-jurisdictional one that lets cyclists register for free, while also providing police and civic officials easy access to the key data. “The goal, ultimately, is to have more bikes registered and for residents to have confidence that, if… their bikes get taken or stolen, that this would make it easier to get bikes back to people… There’s just too much bicycle theft in the city of Winnipeg,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham. The current online bike registry comes with a $7.35 registration fee and, at times, requires police to email a request to city officials to find the owner of a stolen bicycle. The mayor suggests a replacement registration service could involve an app (such as Bike Index or 529 Garage) that can better share information across multiple jurisdictions. It would not be mandatory for cyclists to register. Up to 2,000 bikes are reported stolen in Winnipeg each year, with about 1,000 recovered and less than 10 per cent successfully returned to their owners, according to the mayor’s office. During Monday’s EPC meeting, one councillor floated the idea of requiring Winnipeggers to also obtain bike licences, with exceptions for small children. “A lot of people are using bikes as a legitimate form of commuting… I think having a licence plate on your bicycle is a way of making sure that you are less anonymous on your bike, as well,” said Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan). The councillor said he thinks a licence requirement would help police enforce rules of the road for cyclists. “If you are found to be rolling through every stop sign down a street, if you’re found to be breaking other laws of the road, the licence plate would (link) at least back to the bicycle owner,” said Browaty. He did not raise a motion to call for licensing, and stopped short of suggesting how such a program could be implemented, stating he’s mainly seeking feedback. The mayor said he would not support such a move. “When you make something mandatory, then you really have to ensure that you have the enforcement mechanism, the tools and resources to ensure that it’s mandatory. I think we have other things to focus on as a city rather than enforcing mandatory registration or mandatory licensing of bicycles,” said Gillingham. Meanwhile, council’s most powerful committee also approved a few tweaks to the proposed Shaw Park lease for the Winnipeg Goldeyes. EPC voted in favour of listing the Goldeyes’ non-profit entity, Riverside Park Management, as the lease holder, instead of the baseball club itself. The team said the move is needed to obtain provincial grants. The Goldeyes also asked the city to ramp up the amount they would be compensated if they lose stadium parking stalls due to future rapid transit development. The city proposes to offer compensation that starts in the range of $50 per stall per year, while the company wants that to begin at $50 per stall per month. EPC stuck with the city’s offer, though council will have the final vote. Gillingham told reporters he thinks the deal, which awaits a final council vote, will succeed. “I’m confident that this will get things across the finish line so we can get this lease signed.” When asked if the Goldeyes will accept those exact terms, Mark Newman, the team’s legal representative, told the Free Press: “We consider (this vote) to be a step in the right direction. We’ll be considering the matter further.” Prior to the latest potential changes, the city and Goldeyes had come to what was believed to be a final deal in 2020, which determined annual rents and tax incentives. On Monday, EPC rejected a call to require applicants for new developments to appear in-person at East Kildonan- Transcona community committee public hearings for their projects, removing a remote video or telephone link option. Coun. Russ Wyatt argued it is needed to ensure a clear discussion, free of technical glitches, on substantial projects. EPC opted to take no action on the idea, though council will have the final say. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

11 months, 1 week

Free and secure downtown Bike Valet service debuts next week in Vancouver

by Beth McKechnie

https://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/free-and-secure-downtown-bike-valet-serv…

11 months, 1 week

It's Time For Everyone to Stop Ignoring E-Bikes

by Beth McKechnie

[shared by @willnorman] Despite all the fuss, electric cars are still only 9% of sales and the e-car fleet is under 17 million worldwide, while e-bikes are at 275 million, In Europe, e-bikes are projected to outsell cars of any type by the middle of this decade. https://www.treehugger.com/stop-ignoring-ebikes-5324307

11 months, 2 weeks

WFP: Mayor pushes free bike registry to curb theft (Jun10'23)

by Beth McKechnie

Potential overhaul of system would seek improvements to curb theft *Mayor pushes free bike registry* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/06/09/mayor-pushes-for-… A new, free-to-use bike registry could be rolling into Winnipeg amid concerns theft is posing a key deterrent to cycling. Mayor Scott Gillingham believes it’s time for a new bike registry without the $7.35 fee to record a serial number on Winnipeg’s online system. “Many, many bikes are not registered. What I’m proposing is what a lot of other cities are doing, providing free bike registry,” said Gillingham. The mayor plans to raise a motion at Monday’s executive policy committee meeting to order a staff report about overhauling the registry. A replacement, for example, could use an app, such as Bike Index or 529 Garage, that can easily share information between jurisdictions, he said. “If a bike was stolen in Winnipeg and showed up in Calgary, they can share this data,” he said. If council approves, Gillingham hopes the new system would make cyclists more confident they’ll be able to keep their bikes safe. “There’s too much bike theft in the city of Winnipeg and there’s too much theft that goes unreported. Individuals that had their bikes stolen just maybe feel there’s no hope.” As many as 2,000 bikes are reported stolen each year, with about 1,000 recovered and less than 10 per cent successfully returned to their owners under the current registration system, said a news release from the mayor’s office. The mayor stopped short of calling for mandatory bike registration, arguing it would be too difficult to enforce. Gillingham announced his call to explore a new registry, which he said would be done in consultation with Bike Winnipeg, the WRENCH and Winnipeg Police Service, shortly after concerns were aired about bike theft at Friday’s Winnipeg Police Board meeting. Charles Feaver, chair of the working committee on bike theft for Bike Winnipeg, told the board the frequency of theft is a key reason people don’t use their bikes more often, second only to road safety concerns. “The No. 2 reason is ‘I don’t feel it’s safe to leave my bike anywhere in the city,’” Feaver told reporters. The avid cyclist noted he’s had four or five of his bikes stolen over 40 years of frequent riding. During a presentation to the police board, Feaver called on police to partner with Bike Winnipeg and other groups to determine the best solutions, which he suggested could focus on improving bike registration, bike recovery and theft-prevention efforts. Without key changes, the concerns about theft will make it difficult for Winnipeg to meet a goal to combat climate change by enticing more people to use active transportation, said Feaver. “This will not be achieved if people are worried that their bike will be stolen while they are working, shopping or going to school,” he told the police board. Data from the city’s current bike registry doesn’t appear to be shared easily with police or the public, he said. Winnipeg police confirmed officers don’t have immediate access to the bike registry and sometimes need to email a request to the City of Winnipeg to find the owner of a stolen bike. Police data show there were 2,049 bike thefts reported in 2018, 1,823 in 2019, 1,471 in 2020, 1,555 in 2021, and 1,665 in 2022. Police Chief Danny Smyth said he agrees with the mayor and bike advocates the data on bike thefts may be skewed by under-reporting. “(For) a lot of property crime that’s on the lower end of the (price) spectrum, I don’t think people necessarily take the time to report it. There’s evidence of people talking about theft of their own property, but also making it clear they never reported it,” said Smyth. The chief said he’s open to the idea of exploring a partnership between cycling advocates and the service’s property crime unit. “It’s a no-brainer to work with any group that wants to address that,” said Smyth. Pending council approval, a bike registry report would be expected in about four months. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

11 months, 2 weeks

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