*Bike plan aims to keep rush-hour traffic on main roads*
* Wolseley considers cutting shortcuts *
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/cutting-off-shortcuts-wolseley-bike-...
TAKING a rush-hour shortcut through Wolseley could get more difficult for drivers, thanks to proposed changes to the neighbourhood’s bike infrastructure.
Speed humps, vehicle access restrictions and new crosswalks identified in the Wolseley to Downtown Walk Bike Project are all designed to let bikes ride and push cars to thoroughfares, said Mark Doucet, City of Winnipeg transportation facilities planning engineer.
“The Wolseley area has got a lot of active community,” Doucet said Monday. “There’s a lot of short-cutting traffic through the Wolseley neighbourhood, so (this is) an attempt to look at that concern and try to just make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists through the area.”
For example, during the afternoon rush hour, vehicles cut through the residential neighbourhood, avoiding busy Portage Avenue by taking Arlington Street to Wolseley Avenue.
Residents will get to have their say this week about several options for change, including making Langside and Balmoral streets one-ways and eliminating some parking spaces in West Broadway.
Westminster Avenue is set to get either a protected bike lane or become a neighbourhood greenway.
Protected bike lanes from Langside to Osborne streets are on the table as well, even raised lanes — like the ones the city has installed on Silver Avenue and Chevrier Boulevard in recent years.
Bike Winnipeg executive director Mark Cohoe supports the proposed changes to cut back on the number of cars searching for a shortcut. He said he’d like to see protected bike lanes continuing through Maryland and Sherbrook avenues to West Broadway, as well as intersection improvements to help cyclists make safe left turns at major intersections.
“We’re not sure what they’re planning between Langside and Maryland, that seems a little open-ended in some of the plans,” Cohoe said.
“It just doesn’t seem to have anything. Just through that stretch, which we think is a critical part of the connection, so we want to make sure that’s a strong point and not a weak point in any improvements going forward.”
Doucet said he’s heard such concerns and hopes to do something about them for the final version of the plan, which is expected to be released in the fall.
Another possible sticking point is vehicle blockades, which Doucet said are modelled on diversions from Lethbridge, Alta. “That’s a tricky one, because we want to discourage short-cutting traffic and encourage cycling and pedestrians, but the fire paramedic group has concerns with a diversion,” he said, noting it could keep ambulances and fire trucks out, as well as passenger vehicles.
“It’s a big hurdle for us right now, we’re trying to find ways to balance everyone’s needs.”
West End resident Caroline Thiessen was cycling through Wolseley on Monday, and said she spent the ride thinking about how nice it is — not like the West End, where she recently got honked at in a construction zone.
“It almost doesn’t feel safe anywhere other than Wolseley,” she said.
Her sentiments were echoed by neighbourhood resident and cyclist Tamara Lewis-Jones: “Wolseley’s the safest (place to bike) in the city but it still needs more... I guess the whole city needs to be better.”
Other area residents said Monday they notice some people cutting through, but aren’t worried about motorists. “During the week, people should be able to go up Wolseley, people should be able to go up Westminster, if they want to,” Morgan Davis said. “It’s not that difficult to bike there.”
Riley Durocher, who cycles and drives through his neighbourhood, said the shortcut problem seems to be worst near Mulvey School.
“I have no issues other than Sundays,” Durocher said, noting it can be a tangle to get his car home if he forgets Wolseley is closed to cars.
Doucet notes the city plans aren’t set in stone, and hopes to hear more from residents at community consultations being held today through Thursday.
tvanderhart@freepress.mb.ca @tessavanderhart