While I typically resist including personal comments when circulating articles, this one begs for context. The article below underscores the critical importance of pre- and post-construction counts. Users of the cycle track will certainly attest to its busyness but anecdotal evidence is not enough. It is also true that the full potential of the route was dampened this past year due to construction on Osborne Bridge, which will continue again this spring. But there now appears to be a pattern of apology at City Hall regarding AT project construction. It is common, if not seemingly mandatory, in every city building pedestrian and cycling facilities, to have backlash, usually in the form of the "insufficient consultation" argument. Winnipeg is not unique in this regard but we do seem to be establishing a habit of backtracking afterward. -Beth
Consultation flawed: Katz Short shrift for firms, public on bikeway plan
By: Jen Skerritt
Mayor Sam Katz admits the city could have done a better job consulting the public over a bikeway project one citizen has called a "theft of democracy."
On Wednesday, council's executive policy committee reviewed an audit report that identified shortcomings in the consultation process over the Assiniboine Avenue bikeway. The report said area businesses were not included in the process and public notifications should have outlined the impact the project would have on traffic.
The bikeway was part of Winnipeg's major active-transportation overhaul that saw the city try to complete 35 projects within an 18-month period to make use of federal stimulus dollars.
It prompted a backlash from residents and businesses, and six companies near the Midtown Bridge filed a lawsuit to try to halt construction, saying the plan would cause traffic chaos in the neighbourhood. One plaintiff on Assiniboine said he was notified about the project by a notice taped to his door.
Graham Hnatiuk, a citizen journalist, told EPC the city should seek a refund since the consultant the city hired to conduct public consultations did not contact residents for their input for the on-street bike lane. Hnatiuk said he became interested in the issue after he attended a public meeting about the bikeway in 2009, and most of the people who attended were bike lobbyists.
The blogger said he complained to 311 about the consultation process, and department staff did not address his concerns. Hnatiuk said Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) later helped forward his complaint directly to the city auditor.
Hnatiuk said the bikeway is "sparsely used" in summer, and hundreds of cars that used the route during rush hour travel down an already gridlocked York Avenue instead.
"We were right all along," he said. "The residents and businesses along Assiniboine Avenue have known all along that their input was never asked for."
Bob Axford told EPC the City of Winnipeg has a governance problem and public consultations need to be improved. He suggested Winnipeg make changes to the way it approaches public consultations.
"This is a complete theft of democracy," he said.
Katz said he agrees that the consultant did not do a good job. He said the company had a short time frame to complete the public-consultation process due to the federal deadline.
However, Katz said the firm shouldn't have taken the job if they could not complete it in the given time. He said everyone, including the mayor, councillors and the city, could have done a better job.
"On this particular instance a very poor job was done," Katz said.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/consultation-flawed-katz-137654733.ht... jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
Bicycle counts are just one aspect.
Encouraging sustainable/green/active transportation, improving quality of life, improving health & wellness, improving the neighborhood, and decreasing the need for expensive (motor vehicle) infrastructure are reasons why the Assiniboine Bikeway was constructed. Cyclists now have a segregated, safe & convenient route to cross the south Downtown from west-to-east (and east-to-west).
The same objectives apply to the other 35 projects constructed with the $20M in 2010.
Motorists have hundreds of routes all over the city designed and built for their convenience ("traffic flow"). The total cost was tens of billions of dollars. And many more are built every year.
Re consultation: The city spent more money on consultation on this project (definitely proportionally and possibly overall) than they would spend on other road projects.
BTW, Jeremy Hull has bicycle counts for Assiniboine Ave. He summarized them yesterday:
From: Jeremy Hull Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 12:20 PM Subject: Re: Assiniboine Bikeway Audit
I just posted the following as a comment on the Free Press article:
In terms of numbers, Bike to the Future volunteers have done eight counts of bicycle traffic on Assiniboine Ave in 2009 and 2011. Four counts were done on Assiniboine @ Hargrave and four were done on Assiniboine @ Osborne. Each count was during either morning or evening rush hours, for a two hour period. Weather, month and time of day are all important factors affecting bicycle traffic. Weather is classified as Poor, Fair, Good, or Excellent depending on temperature, precipitation and wind conditions.
Here are the results:
May 5, 2009 Morning, Good weather ---- 84 cyclists (@ Osborne) May 5, 2009 Afternoon, Excellent weather ---- 184 cyclists (@ Hargrave) April 7, 2011 Morning, Poor weather ---- 62 cyclists (@ Osborne) April 7, 2011 Morning, Poor weather ---- 54 cyclists (@ Hargrave) April 7, 2011 Morning, Poor weather ---- 58 cyclists (@ Osborne) April 7, 2011 Afternoon, Good weather ---- 97 cyclists (@ Hargrave) May 5, 2011 Morning, Fair weather ---- 112 cyclists (@ Osborne) May 10, 2011 Afternoon, Poor weather (rain) ---- 161 cyclists (@ Hargrave)
This isn't enough information to make a good before/after comparison because of differences in weather and time of day between the counts. However, it is possible to make a fair comparison between the count on the morning of May 5, 2009, with good weather (84 cyclists) with the count on the morning of May 5, 2011, with fair weather (112 cyclists). This shows a 33% increase in bicycle traffic between 2009 and 2011, even though the weather was not as good for the 2011 count. Other comparisons between 2009 and 2011 are not valid because of differences in weather conditions and time of day.
We will be doing bicycle counts again this spring - the more of these counts we are able to carry out, the better our understanding of cycling trends will become. (If anyone would like to help with these counts please contact Bike to the Future.)
Kevin Miller k.a.miller@mts.net
_____
From: Beth McKechnie Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 9:45 AM To: AT network Subject: [At-network] WFP: Consultation flawed: Katz
While I typically resist including personal comments when circulating articles, this one begs for context. The article below underscores the critical importance of pre- and post-construction counts. Users of the cycle track will certainly attest to its busyness but anecdotal evidence is not enough. It is also true that the full potential of the route was dampened this past year due to construction on Osborne Bridge, which will continue again this spring. But there now appears to be a pattern of apology at City Hall regarding AT project construction. It is common, if not seemingly mandatory, in every city building pedestrian and cycling facilities, to have backlash, usually in the form of the "insufficient consultation" argument. Winnipeg is not unique in this regard but we do seem to be establishing a habit of backtracking afterward.
-Beth
Consultation flawed: Katz
Short shrift for firms, public on bikeway plan
By: Jen Skerritt
Mayor Sam Katz admits the city could have done a better job consulting the public over a bikeway project one citizen has called a "theft of democracy."
On Wednesday, council's executive policy committee reviewed an audit report that identified shortcomings in the consultation process over the Assiniboine Avenue bikeway. The report said area businesses were not included in the process and public notifications should have outlined the impact the project would have on traffic.
The bikeway was part of Winnipeg's major active-transportation overhaul that saw the city try to complete 35 projects within an 18-month period to make use of federal stimulus dollars.
It prompted a backlash from residents and businesses, and six companies near the Midtown Bridge filed a lawsuit to try to halt construction, saying the plan would cause traffic chaos in the neighbourhood. One plaintiff on Assiniboine said he was notified about the project by a notice taped to his door.
Graham Hnatiuk, a citizen journalist, told EPC the city should seek a refund since the consultant the city hired to conduct public consultations did not contact residents for their input for the on-street bike lane. Hnatiuk said he became interested in the issue after he attended a public meeting about the bikeway in 2009, and most of the people who attended were bike lobbyists.
The blogger said he complained to 311 about the consultation process, and department staff did not address his concerns. Hnatiuk said Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) later helped forward his complaint directly to the city auditor.
Hnatiuk said the bikeway is "sparsely used" in summer, and hundreds of cars that used the route during rush hour travel down an already gridlocked York Avenue instead.
"We were right all along," he said. "The residents and businesses along Assiniboine Avenue have known all along that their input was never asked for."
Bob Axford told EPC the City of Winnipeg has a governance problem and public consultations need to be improved. He suggested Winnipeg make changes to the way it approaches public consultations.
"This is a complete theft of democracy," he said.
Katz said he agrees that the consultant did not do a good job. He said the company had a short time frame to complete the public-consultation process due to the federal deadline.
However, Katz said the firm shouldn't have taken the job if they could not complete it in the given time. He said everyone, including the mayor, councillors and the city, could have done a better job.
"On this particular instance a very poor job was done," Katz said.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/consultation-flawed-katz-13765473 3.html mailto:jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
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Beth McKechnie -
Kevin Miller