Yesterday (July 29 2024), a person driving a car struck and injured a teenager riding a bike on Wellington Crescent at the intersection with Academy Road. This incident occurred a mere 900 meters from where Rob Jenner was killed last month as he rode his bicycle to work on that same stretch of road.
Bike Winnipeg’s board and the bike community at large is shocked and angered by this latest incident as well as the frequency of collisions on this long documented gap in our bike network. With the installation of protected bike lanes on River and Stradbrook Avenues as well as the designation of Wellington Crescent from Academy Road to Guelph Street as a seasonal bike route, we will continue to see cyclist volumes increase along this dangerous gap in our cycling network.
Unfortunately, such incidents are not limited to Wellington Crescent; collisions and dangerous interactions between people driving cars and people riding bikes are common across the city due to the piecemeal nature of our current cycling infrastructure.
The number of people electing to ride a bicycle for transportation in Winnipeg has more than doubled in the past five years (https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2090883/record-trajet-velo-cyclistes). As more and more Winnipeggers choose to cycle, it is imperative now more than ever that we have a connected and complete network of protected cycling infrastructure. The City of Winnipeg must take a more active approach to building our cycling network; it is not enough for bicycle lanes to be built only when and where road renewals are already scheduled.
We need safe infrastructure. Everyone will make mistakes sometimes, and it’s critical that those mistakes don’t result in the deaths of people who choose to move around our city outside of a car. The piecemeal nature of our current bike network directs cyclists to routes that contain dangerous sections, which puts them in direct conflict with vehicle traffic and makes crashes like yesterday’s inevitable.
To avoid further death and injury, we call upon the city to take action in addressing the need for protected cycling infrastructure, traffic calming, increased signage and other measures to ensure the safety of all road users. Specifically, we ask the City to:
a) Take immediate steps to address the need for improved safety for cyclists on Wellington Crescent between River/Stradbrook Avenues and Harrow Street:
– Assign this segment “Highest” priority on the Pedestrian and Cycling Strategy priority map;
– Reduce speed limits to 30km/h on the entirety of Wellington Crescent;
– Implement temporary bike lanes on this segment until more permanent infrastructure can be completed;
– Introduce priority and advanced traffic signals for pedestrians and cyclists;
– Increase traffic speed enforcement on Wellington Crescent.
b) Prioritise and expedite the planning and construction of a connected and protected cycling network throughout the city. This should include a doubling of funding for the Pedestrian and Cycling program in 2024 and 2025 in order to begin closing network gaps now rather than waiting to ramp up spending in 2026.
The Bike Winnipeg Board:
Co-Chair: Benjamin Meek
Co-chair: Corey Dyck
Secretary: Zach Rempel
Treasurer: Luke Lorentz
Director: Leslie Parisien
Director: Patty Wiens
Director: Julia Schroeder
Director: Adam Johnston
Director: Robyn Dyck
Director: Ian McCausland
Director: Patrick Krawek
Director: Jaya Beange