WINNIPEGGERS will get their chance today to weigh in on a proposed bike lane project in the Exchange District.

The project, if approved, will result in a new protected bike lane on Princess Street, stretching from Higgins Avenue (near Siloam Mission) to William Avenue near (Red River College’s Roblin Centre).

The information session at Roblin Centre is scheduled for today at 4 p.m. The public will have a chance to see the proposed designs, learn how feedback from consultations with stakeholders — including the Siloam Mission, RRC, Chinatown Development Corp. and Centre Venture — was incorporated and voice their opinions on the project.

“It’s really important to get the public’s input,” project manager Mark Doucet said.

“(We want to) make sure we’re balancing the needs of business owners and the traffic going through there.”

Claire Li, who manages the Princess Street furniture store HUT K, said she thinks because that stretch of road isn’t connected to other nearby protected bike lanes in the neighbourhood, fewer people are using it.

While Princess Street has painted bike lanes, the lack of concrete barriers between cars and bikes means cyclists may feel less safe — especially as the roads get slippery, Li said.

For the past few months, HUT K employees have been tracking how many cyclists use the bike rack in front of the store, she said. Lately, those numbers are dropping.

“There just aren’t bike lanes,” Li said. “Anything that supports other forms of transportation, and making it easier for bikers to feel safe and willing to bike the full Exchange, would be great.”

Mark Cohoe, executive director of the advocacy group Bike Winnipeg, said getting more people cycling as a way to get around is a good approach to reducing greenhouse-gas