On October 22nd, Winnipeg will go to the polls to choose a new mayor and council. One of the first decisions that the new mayor and council will make is whether or not to pass the Pedestrian and Cycling Strategies that have been under development since December 2012, and what resources will be set aside to carry the plans off the page and onto the pavement.
Your vote is the most important tool in the struggle to make cycling in Winnipeg a safe, enjoyable, accessible and convenient transportation choice year-round. By voting for candidates who are committed to make funding for programming and infrastructure that improve the conditions faced by cyclists, you will be doing your part to put Winnipeg on a pathway to becoming a more sustainable, bike friendly city.
To help make your voting decision easier, Bike Winnipeg has been meeting with candidates to discuss opportunities to improve conditions for Winnipeg cyclists, and ask what the candidates will do to make Winnipeg more bicycle friendly. Visit ibikeivote.ca to see how the candidates responded.
The City of Winnipeg’s Pedestrian and Cycling Strategies propose changes to the city’s Pedestrian and Cycling Networks to be implemented over the next 20 years at an estimated cost of $334 million. While that is a substantial amount of money, it pales in comparison to the costs associated with planned extensions of Winnipeg’s roadway system (the City of Winnipeg’s Transportation Master Plan outlines spending of more than $1.4 billion over by 2031 to expand the city’s road network).
Drawing on the work of the draft pedestrian and bicycle strategies as well as from input gathered at our June Priorities Workshop and subsequent online survey, Bike Winnipeg has developed a portfolio of programming and infrastructure projects to kick start the completion of Winnipeg’s pedestrian and bicycle networks. Its an affordable, achievable plan that will allow Winnipeg to realize our goal of seeing 5% of all trips being made by bicycle within 5 years.