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WFP: Councillor blasts city after accidentally walking into traffic (Jan9'20)
by Beth McKechnie 09 Jan '20

09 Jan '20

*Councillor blasts city after accidentally walking into traffic * https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/councillor-blasts-city-after-accide… A WINNIPEG councillor got a scare Wednesday when he accidentally walked into oncoming traffic, coming off a downtown sidewalk that was recently narrowed by the public service. Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski), who is blind, was walking north from a media interview at Portage Avenue and Main Street, towards city hall around 7:30 a.m. When he passed around Main and Bannatyne Avenue — a strip that had part of its sidewalk narrowed this fall to accommodate a new loading zone — Eadie said he accidentally stepped off the sidewalk and into the road. The councillor said he was met with honks from drivers passing by, and one motorist stopped to direct him back to the sidewalk. “I just thought you know, ‘What a stupid setup.’ It makes it very difficult, especially in the winter. In the summer, there would be more identifiable markings at my cane-tip level that would have given me a cue as to where I was. But when you feel snow and stuff, it’s a different situation,” Eadie said. Afterward, the councillor blasted off an angry email to the directors of public works and planning, property and development (an email he mentioned would have contained more “F sharps” had he not been more relaxed thanks to a recent trip to Mexico). “Please remember to consult with stakeholders before running off half-prepared for the outcomes of changing our right-of-ways!” Eadie wrote in all caps. “I want to live a long accessible life as independently as possible. I don’t need anymore disabilities, thank you very much!” The narrowing of the sidewalk in question drew scrutiny last year, as it shrunk from 4.9 metres wide to 2.2 metres with little public consultation. The pavement was pared back to make way for a new loading zone in front of the School of Contemporary Dancers at 211 Bannatyne Ave, to help make room for student drop-offs after the loading zone to the west side of the building was replaced with a bike lane. Ken Allen, a communications officer with public works, said the transportation planning division has to balance pedestrian, cyclist and motorists’ interests when designing downtown right-of-ways. The juggling act “sometimes involves making compromises to achieve an acceptable solution for all users,” he said by email. Allen emphasized the new path still meets Winnipeg’s downtown accessibility standards, which legally require a 1.5-metre sidewalk. He said the street changes at the site included concrete pavement, curb and sidewalk repairs; construction of new curb ramps and asphalt overlay; and installation of detectable warning tiles at the intersection near 211 Bannatyne. Eadie said he was grateful there weren’t more cars on the road at the time of the incident, but doesn’t know if the public service could improve anything about the accessibility of the strip. On a later trip back to the area with the Free Press, Eadie couldn’t pinpoint the exact spot where he wandered into the road, but explained he must have come off the sidewalk — which is fairly low to street level — and into the loading zone, due to lack of traffic noises so early in the morning. jessica.botelho(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @_jessbu

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Langford bike shop sells first bamboo bike on Vancouver Island
by Beth McKechnie 09 Jan '20

09 Jan '20

Green Man Bikes is the first shop on [Vancouver] Island to offer bamboo bikes, which come directly from Boomers, a company in Ghana. Boomers produces bamboo bicycle frames for mountain bikes, city bikes, road bikes, and electric bikes. They source their bamboo from sustainable forests in Ghana and provide employment in many rural communities. A Boomers bamboo bike has “a zero carbon footprint, is lighter than steel … and isn’t fragile like carbon fibre,” according to the Boomers website. Full article & video: https://www.saanichnews.com/business/langford-bike-shop-sells-first-bamboo-… -- Beth McKechnie (she/her) *| *Green Action Centre <http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3777 x102 | Find us here <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your green living hub Support our work by becoming a member <http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/become-a-member/>. Donate at CanadaHelps.org <http://canadahelps.org/> <http://www.gomanitoba.ca>

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WFP: Wolseley traffic-calming plan touted for cyclists (Jan8'20)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Jan '20

08 Jan '20

*Wolseley traffic-calming plan touted for cyclists * https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/city-unveils-wolseley-to-downtown-b… DOWNTOWN residents can expect more one-way streets, protected bike lanes and traffic-calming measures if the city’s proposal for active transportation in and around Wolseley and the core gets the green light. Following more than a year of public consultations, the City of Winnipeg has made public its plans for the “Wolseley to Downtown Walk Bike Project.” The blueprint aims to close gaps in the area’s pedestrian and cycling network, while increasing safety and convenience for all commuters. It suggests making sections of major arteries, including Westminster and Wolseley avenues, one-way to prevent short-cutting that backs up traffic on surrounding residential streets. Also on the table are more right-on-red light restrictions, speed humps, and raised bike lanes and crosswalks. “Everybody has a right to get where they want to get to and you hope you can go as quickly as you can, regardless of your mode of transportation,” said Greg MacPherson, executive director of the West Broadway Community Organization. “I think they’ve done a good job of trying to balance convenience and safety, and the overall hope for a greener approach to transportation in this area.” MacPherson said the community has been pushing for changes to the flow of traffic in the area for years, since a large chunk of residents don’t own vehicles. He typically commutes on foot, although he also bikes and owns a car. While 70 per cent of the city’s population drives to work, the latest census data indicates only 37 per cent of residents in West Broadway rely on cars as a go-to mode of transportation. About 32 per cent take the bus, 20 per cent walk, and nine per cent bike to work. Wolseley resident Nicholas Douville, 38, bikes to work every day — rain or shine, summer breeze or windchill. He submitted some of the 11,000 comments the city received during phases 1 and 2 of the project. Douville said his main concern is Maryland Street gets so backed-up during rush hour motorists try to sneak through residential roads and create traffic jams, which can put cyclists in danger due to increased traffic in areas with no bike lanes. To avoid short-cutting, the city has proposed a westbound one-way traffic stretch between Maryland and Chestnut streets. As for other one-way sections, the city has proposed restrictions for eastbound traffic along Westminster, as well as Young and Balmoral streets west of Langside Street. “If there was a bike lane that could be cleared (on Westminster) and kept up, that would be the greatest thing, because I wouldn’t have to worry about driving straight along with cars,” said Santiago Lasko, a 16-year-old student who commutes to and from high school in the West End. A protected bike lane could stretch along Westminster, starting at Chestnut in the west, to Young and Balmoral streets and Granite Way until Osborne Street in the east, as per the plan. Mark Doucet, the study’s project manager and a transportation facilities planning engineer with public works, reiterated the intent of the study is to balance all commuter interests. Members of the public are invited to provide feedback online. The city is also holding an open house for in-person consultations at Westminster United Church on Jan. 29, 6-8 p.m. maggie.macintosh(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

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Oregon becomes 4th state with "Stop as Yield" law for cyclists
by Beth McKechnie 07 Jan '20

07 Jan '20

*(Thanks to Terry Zdan for the share)* *Stop as Yield Law* Starting on January 1st a new law went into effect making Oregon the fourth state with a "Stop as Yield" law for people riding bikes (Idaho, Delaware, & Arkansas being the other three). Also known as the "Idaho Stop" after the law that was first passed there in 1982, this new law allows people on bikes to approach an intersection with a stop sign at a "slow speed" and if it is clear (no other person with potential right-of-way present) then they may proceed through the intersection without coming to a complete stop. If there is a pedestrian or other vehicle that has the right-of-way then the person on the bike is *still required to stop*. Different from the Idaho law there is no provision to treat a red traffic signal as a stop sign (except a flashing red light used at stop controlled intersections). This section from Idaho, which allows people riding bikes to treat a red traffic signal as a stop sign, was added in 2006 but was not considered for the Oregon bill. It's important to remember that this "Stop as Yield" law still requires people riding bikes to STOP if a pedestrian, a person in a car, or another road user may have the right-of-way at the intersection. Be courteous, take your turn, and be safe. If you've approached the intersection with care and it's safe and clear you can keep that momentum going and roll on through! For more information on how the law came to be read this post on BikePortland.org: "*How Oregon Got Idaho Stop* <https://eugene-or.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b0fe6c4eda5f68f34c6ec9…> "

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Oslo closing in on Vision Zero goal with no pedestrian or cyclist deaths in 2019
by Beth McKechnie 07 Jan '20

07 Jan '20

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Gary R. Cremeens <grc22(a)cornell.edu> Date: Tue, Jan 7, 2020 at 11:12 AM Oslo, Norway is getting closer to achieving a Vision Zero goal, with zero pedestrian or cyclist deaths last year. The city's lone traffic death occurred when a driver ran his car into a fence this summer — a decline from five traffic fatalities in 2018, according to Norwegian news outlet Aftenposten. The *Road Safety Annual Report 2019 <https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/irtad-road-safety-annual-…>*, recently released by the International Transport Forum, examines 41 countries' performance and repeatedly cites Norway's progress. The country nearly halved traffic deaths between 2010 and 2017, dropping from 208 to 107. Shareable Links (Same Info as above) · https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/oslo-vision-zero-pedestrian-cyclist-de… · https://www.facebook.com/CornellUniversityTransportationServices/posts/2899… · https://twitter.com/GaryCremeens/status/1214568097211977728 · https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gcremeens_oslo-closing-in-on-vision-zero-goa… Thank you, Gary Cremeens <https://www.linkedin.com/in/gcremeens> | Cornell University Transportation & Delivery Services <https://goo.gl/maps/G14w8nFzcaS2> Projects Associate II

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FI Road User Understanding of Bicycle Signal Faces on Traffic Signals
by Zdan, Terry (MI) 07 Jan '20

07 Jan '20

[http://www.trb.org/Resource.ashx?sn=cover_nchrp_wod_273] [http://www.trb.org/Resource.ashx?sn=viewthispdf]<http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_wod_273.pdf> [http://www.trb.org/Resource.ashx?sn=sponsorbeta]<http://www.trb.org/main/blurbs/180122.aspx> [http://www.trb.org/Resource.ashx?sn=buythisbook]<https://www.mytrb.org/Store/Product.aspx?ID=> Road User Understanding of Bicycle Signal Faces on Traffic Signals http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_wod_273.pdf 180122 Road User Understanding of Bicycle Signal Faces on Traffic Signals Prior to 2013, the use of bicycle-specific signals in the U.S. was limited to a few jurisdictions. However, in recent years, the number of installations has grown rapidly. This research identified more than 500 intersections using bicycle signals in a variety of contexts. Despite the recent approval and practice, the TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 273: Road User Understanding of Bicycle Signal Faces on Traffic Signals explores the questions that remain regarding road-user understanding of bicycle signals. The objective of this research was to summarize and synthesize the U.S. experience with bicycle signal installations to identify any remaining gaps in understanding road-user comprehension and compliance with bicycle signals that could be effectively addressed through further research. E-Newsletter Type: Recently Released TRB Publications<http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs.aspx?fields=ENewsletterType|Recently%20Relea…> TRB Publication Type: NCHRP Web-Only Document<http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs.aspx?fields=PublicationType|NCHRP%20Web-Only…> HAPPY NEW YEAR IT will be EYE POPPING [8E11B49] Terry Zdan, BA MEDes

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WFP: Oslo holds key to making Winnipeg safer (Jan4'20)
by Beth McKechnie 04 Jan '20

04 Jan '20

*Oslo holds key to making Winnipeg safer * * Norway’s capital bans cars in certain areas* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/oslo-holds-key-to-making-winnipeg-s… BRENT Bellamy has long called for more bike paths and pedestrian-friendly streets to make Winnipeg safer by reducing the number of fatal collisions. That’s why it wasn’t surprising for the senior design architect with Number Ten Architectural Group (who also writes a column in the Winnipeg Free Press) to take to social media Friday, pointing out different civic policies created different results in 2019. In Winnipeg, two cyclists and 13 pedestrians were killed on city streets; in similarly-sized Oslo, zero such fatalities were recorded. There was one angle Bellamy didn’t tweet about: he could easily have been the third cyclist killed, when an inattentive SUV driver collided with him at Wellington Crescent and Academy Road in early December. “I was so lucky,” he said Friday. “(The driver) was turning and looking for an opening, and I was yelling at him but he plowed into me. “He hit me just behind the seat. I have a Dutch bike, so I sit upright, and it was just like a tablecloth being pulled out — the bike was hit and I was left on the pavement in the same position.” Such an incident would likely not have happened had he been cycling in the Norwegian capital instead of Winnipeg, he said. One of the biggest reasons: Oslo has banned cars in certain areas of the city. As well, Oslo has replaced almost all of its downtown parking spots with lanes for bicycles, benches to sit on, small parks to congregate in, greenery, and dropped speed limits to 30 km/h. “The biggest difference between the two cities is just political will — they just decided to do it and they did it,” Bellamy said. “I was there five years ago, and they had no bike lanes and they have hills — it’s not a great place to bike — but they just decided, ‘Let’s do it.’ Traffic was getting worse there, just like here. We have 15,000 more cars on the road every year. Oslo was the same,” he said. “They decided they could build expensive, big roads or they could ban cars, build 15 kilometres of bike trails each year, and expand public transit — and it has worked.” Bellamy pointed to a tweet by Anders Hartmann, who works on policies for walking, cycling and road safety in Oslo, which had information on the number of road deaths in the city. Hartmann, after noting, “This makes me happy,” pointed to a graph that shows road deaths in Oslo, now with a population of 673,000, has not only been going down since 1975 (41), but has dramatically fallen since about 2007. Hartmann also noted the only fatality in traffic last year involved a driver who died after a car struck a railing at a light rail station. No children died in a traffic-related death in Norway in 2019. Still, Hartmann posted it doesn’t mean Oslo had reached Vision Zero, a global traffic project aimed at having no fatalities or serious injuries caused by vehicles. It began in Sweden in 1997, and the City of Winnipeg has since adopted it. “While we are making great progress, there is still a way to go to consistently keep deaths at zero for all road users,” he said. Marc Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg, said the Nordic countries and the Netherlands are at the forefront of Vision Zero, and he would like to see Winnipeg follow their lead. “The numbers show if you use that pathway, the results are there,” Cohoe said. “The numbers of people killed in a collision over there is miniscule compared to the numbers in North America. Losing 13 or 15 people on our streets isn’t acceptable. Why do we accept it on our roads, but we wouldn’t in the workplace? I’m hoping we can do more with the city’s transportation master plan this year. “Over there, they say five minutes of inconvenience isn’t worth the lives we are losing — we will still get around. And they have buy-in from the general population.” kevin.rollason(a)freepress.mb.ca

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New snow-clearing method allows Montreal cyclists to 'really see the asphalt'
by Beth McKechnie 21 Dec '19

21 Dec '19

*New snow-clearing method allows Montreal cyclists to 'really see the asphalt'* *Pilot project in Plateau-Mont-Royal and Ville-Marie involves sweeping pavement, spreading snow-melting brine* https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/plateau-mont-royal-bike-paths-snow-… It was so cold Thursday morning that parts of Magali Bebronne's bicycle froze, but the determined Montreal year-round bike commuter got her bicycle rolling and hit the road. To her surprise, she found the 20-minute ride through the Plateau-Mont-Royal easier than usual, despite the recent snow accumulation. That's because the borough is testing a new way of keeping its bike paths clean — a two-step process that uses street-sweepers to clear the pavement before coating the path with a special snow-melting brine. "When I rode on the Rachel bike path yesterday, I really noticed the surface was a lot clearer than it had ever been," said Bebronne, a program manager with the cycling advocacy group Vélo Québec "When you're riding on a bike, just a few centimetres of snow can really make it difficult to ride. Conditions that work for cars don't work for bikes." But with these new techniques the borough is testing, "you can really see the asphalt," she said. That's why her organization has been pushing the city to get more of such equipment out on the road. The method has already been tested in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, and now Ville-Marie is giving it a shot, along with the Plateau. The sweepers can be deployed when the accumulated snowfall is about five centimetres or less. Tractors towing tanks filled with a calcium chloride solution then spread the solution onto the paths. The brine coats the asphalt and makes it easier to clean after the next storm. While this method could be used on sidewalks, it's not as effective on concrete, because asphalt's dark colour absorbs heat and melts the snow faster. 'If you plow it, they will come' The results on the bike paths have left everybody smiling, so far. Blue-collar workers have had no problems implementing the technique, and cyclists have been giving positive feedback, said Coun. Marianne Giguère, who is the city's executive committee member in charge of active transportation. "With all the climate changes that we have — having very cold, and then very warm, and the cold and snow and rain and everything — we need to adjust our old methods," she said. "The cyclists are quite happy," said Giguère, a councillor in the Plateau's De Lorimier district and a long-time voice for cyclists. Keeping bike paths clear in the winter is a sure way to encourage people to bike to work or school all year round, she said. "If you plow it, they will come," said Giguère. She said the number of winter cyclists is estimated to have doubled since more effort has been put into keeping bike paths clear. "In Montreal, the popularity of winter biking has risen a lot every year." Boroughs are always looking for new ways to keep streets, sidewalks and bike paths clear of ice and snow, she said — comparing notes at the end of the season on new methods they've tried. Officials also attend annual winter cycling conferences that bring municipal representatives of wintry cities around the world to share ideas. Cyclists pedalling no matter the cold Even when temperatures plummeted to bone-chilling levels by Thursday evening, cyclists were pedalling up and down Rachel Street East's protected bike path. Vélo Québec's headquarters is on Rachel Street, and Bebronne said she'd seen a mother with her two young daughters all out biking earlier in the day. When the path is clear, she said, people are more inclined to cycle, no matter how frigid the temperature. - Montreal's new 'proactive' snow-clearing plan comes without big budget boost <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-snow-removal-operations-20…> She, too, has seen a substantial increase in the number of cyclists using the bike path as the city improves snow-clearing techniques on bike paths. Now, she said, it's time to adopt tried-and-tested methods throughout the city. "Maybe not every borough would have to invest in such equipment, but maybe it's time to imagine that such equipment could be shared between boroughs," Bebronne said. "One piece of equipment could go over the bike path of a few central boroughs."

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WFP Editorial: Winnipeg hasn’t arrived as a cycling city (Dec19'19)
by Beth McKechnie 19 Dec '19

19 Dec '19

EDITORIAL *Winnipeg hasn’t arrived as a cycling city * https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/winnipeg-hasnt-arrived… WINNIPEG has long been known as a city that prioritizes cars. So, you’d be forgiven if your reaction was “Huh?” earlier this month when a list from online real estate brokerage Redfin ranked Winnipeg in the top 10 Canadian cities for biking. This ranking is best taken with a grain of road salt, however. Our city’s score, 61, puts us at “bikeable.” We have a good way to go before we could be considered “very bikeable” (70 to 89 points) or a “biker’s paradise” (90 to 100). Victoria, B.C., topped the list with a score of 80. For a city to rank above 90, its citizens must be able to run daily errands or commute to work via bike. Access to bike lanes, road connectivity and hilliness are all factors in the bikeability score. So, we have flatness going for us. Winnipeg’s bike-lane infrastructure, meanwhile, leaves a lot to be desired. It’s a slipshod patchwork of unprotected sharrows with few protected lanes, many of which come to abrupt ends. A lack of connectivity creates a chicken-and-egg scenario: cyclists are likely to avoid lanes that are frustrating to use, and then motorists complain that the bike lanes aren’t being used. And, as we’ve seen in the Exchange District — held up as a positive example of urban density — business owners are annoyed with what they call piecemeal development in the area, including bike lanes. Our winter-city climate is often cited as reason to not invest in cycling infrastructure, especially the kind geared toward commuter cycling. But Minneapolis, routinely ranked the most bikeable city in the U.S., has a climate similar to ours. Average highs are a few degrees warmer in the Twin Cities than in Winnipeg, but its placement on the globe means it is just as susceptible to deep-freezing arctic air masses and snowstorms as its neighbour to the north. The average annual snowfall total in the Twin Cities is 115.1 cm, one centimetre more than Winnipeg’s annual total. They’ve figured it out. Why can’t we? Bike Winnipeg’s co-chairwoman Liz Shearer told the Free Press that the lack of a fully connected cycling grid keeps Winnipeg from being a bikeability leader. But that’s only part of what’s holding us back. Beyond the accessible bike lanes, weather and terrain, a place’s “bike-friendliness” should consider the attitudes of drivers toward cyclists. Winnipeg’s bikeability score of 61 is tied with that of Toronto, a city in which 41 cyclists were killed or seriously injured in 2018. Is that really “bikeable”? An Australian study published this year found that around half of non-cyclists viewed cyclists as “less than fully human,” and that “dehumanization measures were significantly correlated with aggression toward cyclists.” It’s not a stretch to say Winnipeg can be a rather cyclist-hostile city. Yes, there are bad cyclists and bad drivers, to acknowledge another common argument. But a bike does not become lethal weapon the way a 2,000-kilogram car travelling at 60 km/h does. To become a truly bikeable city that actually merits being on a top-10 list is a noble goal. Cycling is good for our increasingly sedentary bodies and good for our environment. But getting there will involve more than building protected lanes and more cyclists embracing our designation as a winter city the way cyclists in Nordic countries have. It will also involve an attitude adjustment that extends across the broader community.

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WFP: City gives frosty reception to reopened bridge over troubled water (Dec17'19)
by Beth McKechnie 17 Dec '19

17 Dec '19

*City gives frosty reception to reopened bridge over troubled water* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/city-gives-frosty-reception-to-reop… Plus CBC coverage: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/men-cleared-ice-omands-creek-bridge… THERE’S not much love at city hall for the two residents who did what the entire public works department was unable to: reopen the Omand’s Creek footbridge. Brad Hignell and Chris Beauvilain spent three hours Saturday morning clearing ice from the footbridge — a key link in the active transportation network which connects Wolseley to River Heights and Assiniboine Park — which the City of Winnipeg had closed for safety concerns after an unusual late fall flood and freeze-up. While area residents may be grateful for not having to make a long cold walk or bike ride detour, the city was not impressed. “What the residents did at the Omand’s Creek footbridge, though well-intentioned, did not mitigate the public safety risk that existed at this location, as it went beyond simply clearing ice off the bridge surface,” a city spokeswoman said Monday in an email to the Free Press. “Opening and closing bridge structures can only be done by professional engineers; the residents who ultimately cleared and reopened the bridge had no way of knowing whether the structure was sound. Luckily, an inspection by our bridge engineers (Monday) morning confirmed that the bridge had not sustained any structural damage due to the ice nor subsequent unsanctioned clearing.” Despite what Hignell and Beauvilain had accomplished with a bit of sweat and hard work, the spokeswoman said conditions in the area had been simply unsafe for crews to access with their equipment. “Fluctuating water levels through late October and November caused overland flooding that formed thick, hazardous ice that — for weeks — expanded and contracted on, underneath and around the bridge,” she said. “This posed potential for damage to the bridge structure, which we were unable to inspect until the ice was cleared — a simple task in and of itself, but one the city decided not to undertake due to other, less easily mitigated hazards in the area. “When the ice formed, expanded, and contracted on the pathways, it created a two-layered system of thick, uneven surface that made the trail incredibly steep and unstable and also left a sharp drop-off leading onto the bridge. The risk of taking machinery down these pathways to adequately clear them and lay enough sand to create traction outweighed opening the area to foot and bike traffic through the winter.” City hall thus erected barricades, and forced those who used the route on foot and bike to take a long, windy detour, until Hignell and his friend (both of whom had studied engineering at university) grabbed a couple of picks, bars, shovels and a bucket of gravel. Ward Coun. Cindy Gilroy did not respond to questions on the bridge. Coun. Sherri Rollins, chairwoman of council’s protection, community services and parks committee, said she understood the two men’s frustration but said city hall opted to side with caution when safety is at stake. “Sometimes things are closed for reasons. Whether it’s high river levels, and this is a reality this year, where there’s a lot of paths and skating (closed) that isn’t about budgetary cutbacks, it’s about safety,” Rollins said. “I don’t want Winnipeggers to be confused by that.” Coun. Matt Allard, chairman of the public works committee, echoed that stance. “City staff did their job, and made a judgment call using the available information to ensure public safety,” he said in an email statement. Ironically, the public works department had envisioned such a scenario, and had proposed replacing the bridge in 2010 with one with greater river clearance. It dropped the idea in the face of overwhelming opposition from local residents. The civic spokeswoman said while the footbridge is structurally sound and safe to cross, the same can’t be said for the pathway on either side. Crews and heavy equipment were in the area Monday. “We urge anyone who chooses to use the pathway to please exercise caution and be aware of the steep incline and decline, as well as the uneven terrain,” the spokeswoman said. Anders Swanson, executive director of Winnipeg Trails Association, said the public works department appears to have done a good job keeping other parts of the active transportation network cleared this winter. “I don’t know why they gave up on the bridge,” Swanson said, adding the bike and pedestrian paths continue to be treated in a second-class fashion. “If there was a sewer line break or a big pothole in the middle of Portage Avenue, it wouldn’t be acceptable to stretch snow fencing across it and walk away.” — with files from Danielle DaSilva aldo.santin(a)freepress.mb.ca

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