‘We’re not listening to what people have asked for’: No bike lanes planned for major Winnipeg road renewal project
City should build cycling infrastructure on all roads it reconstructs: advocate
Cyclists riding on a brand new Stafford Street next fall won’t have a bike lane to use.
The city is working on a road reconstruction project on Stafford Street, but the project doesn’t feature bike lanes, despite its role as a major north-south commuter artery.
This has some cycling advocates lamenting how the city plans road projects.
“We run into an old, antiquated way of thinking that says that you can pick and choose where to put bicycle infrastructure in your city, as though people don’t need to go everywhere from everywhere,” said Anders Swanson, executive director of Winnipeg Trails Association.
The city has not included any public engagement activities for this project, due to its limited scope, according to the project’s website. Construction on Stafford Street started in May 2022. The city budgeted $34 million for the project, which will be completed in fall 2023.
Swanson said too often the city ignores what Winnipeggers want when it comes to active transportation.
“[We’re] wasting money on car culture, and we’re wasting money because we’re not listening to what people have asked for,” he said.
Stafford not part of city’s cycling plan
The city’s active transportation policy says that active transportation infrastructure should be incorporated into any road renewal or reconstruction project, if the road has been identified in the city’s 2015 pedestrian and cycling strategies report.
This document is the guide for which active transportation projects the city takes on, according to city spokesperson Ken Allen.
Since Stafford Street was not a part of this plan, it is not eligible for active transportation improvements, said Allen in an email. Instead, the city plans to build a bike connection along Harrow Street, which runs parallel to Stafford. This will connect to a pedestrian and cyclist path at the Pembina Highway underpass at Jubilee Avenue.
But for Swanson, this isn’t enough.
“It doesn’t take a planning degree to recognize that those are critical streets for people using bicycles,” he said.
Swanson believes the issue lies in the city’s car-centric bias. “It’s this idea that cars can go everywhere and the rest of us can sort of squeeze in where it’s slightly less convenient to do the work,” he said. “If I said there was a road on Portage Avenue, therefore there doesn’t need to be a road on Broadway, like what would people say?”
‘A wasted opportunity’
Swanson also pointed to the city’s pedestrian and cycling strategies report, which found that 67 per cent of Winnipeggers surveyed would cycle more if there were separated bike lanes on major streets.
“It’s not even a question in a bike-friendly city as to whether [cycling infrastructure] would be included. It’s just a matter of how,” Swanson said. “We have a vision and a solution. We know what it looks like.”
Swanson wants to see a more connected cycling network. This means building a protected bike lane on Stafford Street that is also wide enough to fit multiple cyclists side-by-side. Creating protected intersections on Stafford is also vital, he said.
Paul Panchyshyn, who used to live near Stafford during the construction project, said the city should be building bikes lanes on any new road reconstruction.
“It’s just such a wasted opportunity,” he said. “Considering that’s where we’re supposed to be going into the future.”
When Panchyshyn lived near Stafford, he said he used to bike to work regularly, but the commute was very difficult.
“You’re constantly having to lengthen your journey,” he said. “I hate having to cycle out of my way just because the road doesn’t allow me to cycle naturally.”
Some roads meant to get active transportation, but didn’t: chair of public works committee
Coun. Matt Allard, chair of the city’s standing policy committee on infrastructure renewal and public works, is also disappointed in the city’s active transportation planning.
“It’s been frustrating to see some roads not get the active transportation facilities built when they were meant to,” the St. Boniface ward councillor said.
With costs on construction supplies going up each year, the city still not having a complete cycling network, and the level of disruption road work has in a neighbourhood, Allard said it’s important the city builds bike infrastructure when it repairs roads.
Allard referenced the city’s past reconstruction work in 2019 to 2021 on Roblin Boulevard, which he said was included in the city’s pedestrian and cycling strategies document, yet active transportation wasn’t built.
He said he hopes the next mayor and council will follow the city’s active transportation policy and build bike lanes on the roads that need it.
Mayoral candidates promise to invest in active transportation
Several mayoral candidates plan to improve Winnipeg’s bike network. Idris Adelakun plans to add more active transportation during new construction if elected, Robert-Falcon Ouellette plans to include safe family cycling plans, and Rick Shone plans to incorporate active transportation into all reconstruction projects by default.
Rana Bokhari and Shaun Loney plan to increase funding to active transportation, Chris Clacio hopes to dedicate .33 per cent of the property tax increase to completing the network, Scott Gillingham plans to eliminate gaps in the network, and Kevin Klein plans to double the funding to the active transportation department.
Other candidates for mayor are Jenny Motkaluk, Glen Murray, and Don Woodstock.