THE shrinkage of a single sidewalk has led to concern from urban planning experts and confusion at city hall.

The width of the sidewalk — located at the southbound corner of Bannatyne Avenue and Main Street, in front of the McKim Building — will be reduced to 2.2 metres from 4.9 metres to make way for a vehicle loading zone.

In 2018, the building’s former loading zone on Bannatyne was converted to separated bike lanes, leaving tenants without adequate loading space, said Faye Thomson, co-director of the School of Contemporary Dancers, which occupies the building’s main floor.

The school reached out to the city’s public works department, stating it needed a loading zone for vehicles to drop off and pick up students.

“It’s not that we don’t support bike lanes, and I’d like to make that clear,” Thomson said, adding her organization wasn’t consulted about the bike lanes or removal of the loading zone. “Philosophically, it wasn’t an issue, but it was a practical one.”

“The goal of this loading zone is to ultimately ensure a safe pickup and dropoff location for families and children attending music and dance lessons at 211 Bannatyne,” a public works department representative wrote to Coun. Vivian Santos, in a message shared with the Free Press. “While the impact to the existing sidewalk may seem extensive today... the finished loading zone will leave the sidewalk with a width that still exceeds the minimum allowable measurement for the area (1.5 metres).”

However, Santos said she wasn’t notified about the reduced sidewalk width. If she had, she’d have voiced her concerns.

“This is not what I have been promoting the Exchange District to be: a pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly neighbourhood,” she said, adding, as area councillor, normally she is notified about changes to streets and back lanes. “You don’t see anywhere else in the Exchange with (sidewalks this narrow) along a main street.

“I hope it doesn’t set a precedent.”

Richard Milgrom, head of the University of Manitoba department of city planning, agreed: “The message to downtown pedestrians is they aren’t as important as vehicles. That’s pretty clear.”

Milgrom said sidewalks must be wide enough to not just serve as places for people to walk: they can be used as social places, with benches or art work to create more comfortable settings for pedestrians.

“It’s even more complicated for people who use wheelchairs or mobility scooters,” he added.

Marnie Courage, an occupational therapist and chief executive officer of Enabling Access Inc., said the loading zone could enhance accessibility for people with mobility concerns who have access to vehicular transport, but the reduced width will make it more difficult for wheelchair or mobility aid users.

While Winnipeg’s minimum width for sidewalks of this kind is 1.5 metres, the City of Edmonton’s complete streets design and construction standards states main street sidewalks should be no narrower than three metres wide.

Milgrom said neither 2.2 metres nor 1.5 metres are wide enough. “Minimum standards are rarely about quality. They’re usually about making things tolerable at best. I would argue this is reducing the tolerability.”

A city spokesperson said the restructured sidewalk meets civic standards, adding: “Transportation planning in the downtown, given the limited space within the existing public right-of-way, is a matter of balancing the needs of all users, including pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, and sometimes involves making compromises to achieve an acceptable solution for all users.”

The School of Contemporary Dance and fellow tenant Across the Board Game Café say the loading zone will help their businesses.

“Basically, we see it as a positive for us,” said Nicholas Mann, the café’s manager, who says he didn’t reach out to the city to request the change. “Having the loading zone here for deliveries (will be helpful).”

Mann said, however, he hopes the city did due diligence in assuring the new sidewalk will be sufficient from pedestrian and accessibility standpoints. “We as a business would love to see more infrastructure for bikes and having it accessible for pedestrians, but it’s a tough balancing act because everything is so congested.”

Santos has requested another meeting with public works about the issue.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca