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Angry cyclists shut down scene of fatal collision
Advocate: ‘My community is moved and tired’
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2024/06/07/angry-cyclists-sh…
[CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/hit-and-run-fatal-cyclist-crash-win…]
MORE than 100 cyclists, angered and saddened over a fatal hit-and-run of a bike rider a day earlier, shut down the intersection where the collision occurred Friday afternoon.
A 61-year-old man cycling eastbound on Wellington Crescent near Cockburn Street was hit by a driver police allege was speeding and driving erratically just after 7 a.m. Thursday.
The man, who was on his way to work, was taken to hospital in critical condition and later died.
Protesting cyclists blocked a stretch of Wellington Crescent and the adjacent street Friday from 4:30-5:30 p.m.
The demonstrators forced most drivers to find an alternate route, but allowed Winnipeg Transit buses and a fire truck through the crowd.
Most drivers obliged, though some jeered and swore at the protesters.
Some in the crowd held signs demanding action to protect cyclists and pedestrians with protected bike lanes and slower speeds.
Patty Wiens, who was bestowed the title Bicycle Mayor of Winnipeg by an international active-transportation advocacy group last month, spoke for the group.
“My community is moved and tired,” said Wiens. “When I saw that they were getting organized to protest the lack of safety for pedestrians and cyclists in this area, I knew that I had to be here as well, because we’re all in this together, and our community is really feeling hit.”
She said news of the hit-and-run spread quickly in the cycling community.
“The first thing that happens is we think of, ‘That could have been me; I’ve been on that stretch so many times,’ or, ‘I had a close (call) right at that stretch and I never used it again, because I’m terrified,’” she said.
“The first feeling, too, is what is that family thinking right now? What are they feeling? What (are) his co-workers — he didn’t arrive at work — but most of all, it’s how many is too many?”
She said many drivers go “very” fast on the stretch of Wellington Crescent, using it as a route out of downtown. She said cycling infrastructure needs to be improved.
“Narrowing the streets, putting in a bike lane, protected infrastructure… that would be amazing and ideal, but also slowing down the speeds on side streets is very important, because if we don’t have money for protected bike infrastructure, if we slow down our streets, then maybe people will get the message that they can’t go so fast and maybe we’ll feel a little bit safer,” Wiens said.
She said moves on improving cycling infrastructure in Winnipeg have been slow.
“It seems like the priority is always for anything to do with cars… the cyclists always kind of fall below,” she said. “It hasn’t been dealt with in so long — and our current administration is trying, our mayor rides a bike to work, our deputy mayor used to be with Winnipeg Trails… but we need buy in from everyone.”
She added police enforcement on speeding could also help, but design of streets is the more pressing concern.
Investigators determined the driver of a white BMW was speeding and driving erratically when the luxury sedan hit the cyclist, said Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen.
“It’s incredibly unfortunate,” he said.
Beckham Keneth Severight, 19, has been charged with dangerous driving causing death and leaving the scene of a collision.
“This person was operating the vehicle erratically, at high rates of speed… this is beyond preventable, this is an individual who clearly had no concern for public safety whatsoever,” said Michalyshen.
He said Severight had borrowed the vehicle. Police found the car parked near the owner’s home.
“They’ve been very helpful, co-operative,” Michalyshen said, referring to the owner.
Severight is in custody. He’s had no prior convictions in Manitoba, court records show.
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Arlington Bridge needs $1M in repairs
Replacing bearings necessary, costly but won’t mean reopening span
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2024/05/31/arlington-bridge-…
THE City of Winnipeg expects to pay up to $1 million to repair the Arlington Bridge, but the work is only expected to prevent the structure from falling onto the rail yard below it, not to help reopen it.
A new tender seeks a company to replace multiple bearings on the bridge, which was suddenly shut down in November after an assessment found significant steel corrosion and structural issues.
The traffic closure remains in effect, while an engineering study set to provide recommendations on whether council should demolish, repair or replace the bridge is expected this fall. Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said the new repair work should take place this summer.
“Until we decide to take it down or replace it… the bridge is there. What has degraded are bearings on the bridge that allow the bridge to expand and contract based on the weather. The current ones have rusted and solidified… So they’ve put an order out for these bearings and it’s basically to prevent it from falling down,” said Lukes (Waverley West).
The councillor said a report with options for the bridge’s future will come out around October.
Lukes said each bearing is expensive and the construction work will be complex, since removing any piece of a bridge must be done with extreme caution, especially at this location.
“Even though the bridge is closed, it is over an active rail line. Clearly, we’ve got obligations to the rail line also to be safe,” she said. “If you take out a piece of a bridge, you have to make sure the rest of it doesn’t fall down.”
While noting she’s still waiting for the engineering report to make a final decision, Lukes said she believes the bridge will likely be replaced, ideally with access for trucks, buses, pedestrians and cyclists. “I think I’m pretty confident in saying we’re going to be doing a replacement of some kind. It’s a critical link to north and south. If we can start using it more for trucking also, it’s going to relieve some pressures,” she said.
The councillor said she’s not sure if the bridge could remain at its current location or if it would have to move. Since the span closed, traffic has ramped up on McPhillips Street and the bridge on Salter Street.
A tender document notes the city is seeking a company to replace bearings at three piers of the bridge, which a city spokeswoman said is urgently needed.
“We anticipate the repair project to cost up to $1 million. This includes engineering, materials, and construction. The repair is considered urgent to keep the bridge standing and underlying railway property safe… If we do not replace (the bearings) now, unintended stress will build up in the truss; such stress puts bridge stability at risk,” wrote Julie Horbal Dooley, in an emailed statement.
Mayor Scott Gillingham said the repair is necessary to keep the area safe.
Gillingham said he’ll wait for the engineering report’s recommendations to council before sharing his views on the bridge’s future.
“I need to wait for the report to see what the report is recommending. Obviously, traffic in and out of Winnipeg’s North End and the movement of vehicles is very important. So we need to make decisions with that in mind as well,” he said.
The city expects to award the construction contract by June 28 and have the winning bidder achieve “total performance” by Sept. 11.
The bridge was suddenly closed to all traffic on Nov. 21, after a condition assessment. The inspection was part of a viability study for the 112-year-old structure, which allows traffic to cross over the Canadian Pacific Railway yards.
At the time of the closure, a city official told reporters some repairs would be required just to keep railway workers and property under the bridge safe.
Brad Neirinck, manager of engineering for public works, said safety risks were rising at the bridge prior to the closure, though it wasn’t in immediate
danger.
“We don’t want to get to the point that there’s a collapse,” he said at the time. “We’re not near that point… but there’s things (we’ve) got to do to mitigate the risk and make sure that the structural integrity is there.”
In 2016, city engineers deemed the bridge, which opened to traffic in 1912, to be near the end of its life. In 2019, a preliminary design estimated a new bridge could cost $319 million.
Gillingham said there’s no updated cost estimate for a new bridge, which could be considerably higher now, due to rising construction costs over the past five years.
Over the past decade, the city has devoted about $3.6 million for studies on whether to repair or replace the bridge.
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