Bike Winnipeg, along with the wider Winnipeg cycling community, has been advocating for safer streets for many years. And this is not just about bikes, noooo. Road designs and speed limits in our city make many roads unsafe for pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and drivers – everyone.
It’s well-known that the wide design of Wellington Crescent encourages speeding, and an extreme example of this led to the tragic killing of one of our community, Rob Jenner, on June 6. And a young girl riding with her parents was injured at Academy Road, and we’re also aware of documented near-misses, plus there are no doubt incidents that have gone unreported.
In August, executive director Mark Cohoe and I met with Rob’s wife Wendy and City Councillor Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), who committed to a stakeholder consultation in partnership with Bike Winnipeg, plans for separated infrastructure on Wellington and, in the interim, a motion for a reduced speed from River Ave to Kenaston Blvd.
That motion went to City Centre Community Committee on November 18 with the result that Cllr Rollins’ motion was amended to accommodate concerns of Cllr John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry), changing it to cover Wellington from River Ave to Academy Road. The motion passed and is now on the agenda for consideration this Friday by the Standing Policy Committee on Public Works.
This is where we need your help. Bike Community members have prepared a detailed document outlining the steps to take to support this motion. Please review it NOW and register to speak in delegation (in-person or on Zoom) and if you can’t do that, submit written comments in favour of the motion. You must register or send your comments in by NOON on THURSDAY to make a difference at this meeting.
Patty Wiens – Bicycle Mayor – Newsletter Editor