Everything Bicycles | Winnipeg

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by Winnipeg Grump

And don't forget that after they've paid the consultants to determine if this is actually a good idea (never mind that the people who've elected you have told you this is what they want, but never mind...), the CAO will then ask the admin to spend 1.5 to 2 years conducting more studies to determine what the current practices are in other jurisdictions, and then we'll have a 9-12 month period of evaluations of those same studies to determine what the 'made in Winnipeg' solution is actually going to be!

You're forgetting lengthy public consultations in there too, which as we know are necessary for solving an engineering problem.

[Winnipegger]

People complain a lot about the "study the study so we can determine if we need to do another study that studies the study so we can see if we should build the thing based on the study" mentality in Winnipeg, and people aren't necessarily wrong to be pissed off about how slowly the wheels turn here. But in my view, the study to death culture here is based on 2 massive factors:

1. The cost of democracy in a sensitive city where councilors are extra cautious in ensuring certain interest groups have their voice heard : lots of people love democracy and having their voice heard until it slows down they project they want. Politicians from all levels get dragged through the mud if one or more vocal minorities come out of the woodwork after a project moves past consultation and they haven't felt like they were adequately consulted. In todays day and age, this can be enough to cost someone their political career, especially in a sensitive little city like Winnipeg. Of course, part of democracy is ensuring our elected officials are aware of all the valid viewpoints surrounding a project or investment, and then take that information into consideration to make the best choices possible on our behalf. Like it or not, it is difficult to weigh the validity and importance of all competing opinions from the public. How do you weigh, say, the opinion of the heavy construction industry or the trucking industry against the climate action or cyclist grass roots groups? There is no cut and dry formula for this type of mental calculus.

2. Little fiscal capacity: I know I'm a broken record on this one, but we "study the study" because in Winnipeg the trade off of doing one project over another is significantly higher due to not having as much revenue (on a per-capita basis) as other cities. When doing project A means you can't do project B for several more years, but special interest groups are advocating for both, the decision becomes a lot more difficult. Most cities would not be debating adding bike lanes, or upgrading a major, busted up congested road three lanes instead of two, or renewing heavily used bridges, or whatever else we study at nauseum. But here in Winnipeg, because we artificially constrain the municipal budget, we can't even sustain our existing infrastructure let alone build new infrastructure to accommodate a growing city, so we study and study to figure out what is a priority, and then go with project A even though project A through F is needed right away. So then the plans for projects B through F sit on the shelf collecting dust even though we needed to get them done yesterday, and by the time we have enough money for project B, the city has changed so much that we have to re-study the plans because they are 10 years out of date.

It's frustrating and confusing, but its the democratic, fiscally-constrained reality we live in. If Winnipeggers collectively chose to tax themselves adequately to fund the infrastructure we needed, we wouldn't need to have so many studies. But because we don't, everything falls into one prolonged queue and by the time project 1 gets done and we have the money to do project 2, we have to restudy the whole bloody thing because project 2's plans no longer make sense.

[ColdRain&Snow]

Originally Posted by Winnipegger

People complain a lot about the "study the study so we can determine if we need to do another study that studies the study so we can see if we should build the thing based on the study" mentality in Winnipeg, and people aren't necessarily wrong to be pissed off about how slowly the wheels turn here. But in my view, the study to death culture here is based on 2 massive factors:

1. The cost of democracy in a sensitive city where councilors are extra cautious in ensuring certain interest groups have their voice heard : lots of people love democracy and having their voice heard until it slows down they project they want. Politicians from all levels get dragged through the mud if one or more vocal minorities come out of the woodwork after a project moves past consultation and they haven't felt like they were adequately consulted. In todays day and age, this can be enough to cost someone their political career, especially in a sensitive little city like Winnipeg. Of course, part of democracy is ensuring our elected officials are aware of all the valid viewpoints surrounding a project or investment, and then take that information into consideration to make the best choices possible on our behalf. Like it or not, it is difficult to weigh the validity and importance of all competing opinions from the public. How do you weigh, say, the opinion of the heavy construction industry or the trucking industry against the climate action or cyclist grass roots groups? There is no cut and dry formula for this type of mental calculus.

2. Little fiscal capacity: I know I'm a broken record on this one, but we "study the study" because in Winnipeg the trade off of doing one project over another is significantly higher due to not having as much revenue (on a per-capita basis) as other cities. When doing project A means you can't do project B for several more years, but special interest groups are advocating for both, the decision becomes a lot more difficult. Most cities would not be debating adding bike lanes, or upgrading a major, busted up congested road three lanes instead of two, or renewing heavily used bridges, or whatever else we study at nauseum. But here in Winnipeg, because we artificially constrain the municipal budget, we can't even sustain our existing infrastructure let alone build new infrastructure to accommodate a growing city, so we study and study to figure out what is a priority, and then go with project A even though project A through F is needed right away. So then the plans for projects B through F sit on the shelf collecting dust even though we needed to get them done yesterday, and by the time we have enough money for project B, the city has changed so much that we have to re-study the plans because they are 10 years out of date.

It's frustrating and confusing, but its the democratic, fiscally-constrained reality we live in. If Winnipeggers collectively chose to tax themselves adequately to fund the infrastructure we needed, we wouldn't need to have so many studies. But because we don't, everything falls into one prolonged queue and by the time project 1 gets done and we have the money to do project 2, we have to restudy the whole bloody thing because project 2's plans no longer make sense.

Yeah for sure, I completely agree. I'm just expressing my frustration after someone got killed on a road that has already been identified as a future bike route.

[zalf]

There's a bicycle valet at the Forks now!

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by zalf

There's a bicycle valet at the Forks now!

Huge. That's my main concern biking to the forks.

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by FactaNV

Huge. That's my main concern biking to the forks.

Same

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by zalf

There's a bicycle valet at the Forks now!

huh?

[zalf]

In the south corner of Forks Market on the main floor (old Branigan's space, I think), there is a supervised place where you can safely drop your bike off even if you didn't bring a lock. Coat check for bikes, basically.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

^I hope that's accurate and if it is, bravo!

[borkborkbork]

I think the studies here frustrate me because in the absence of immediate funding, the work will ultimately go stale.

So for example, the pedestrian bridge connecting Fort Rouge Park (Osborne Village) and McFadyen Park (Assiniboine)... the preliminary design study was completed 4 years ago. It's now one of a million unfunded priorities, all of which will certainly be neglected as the city deals with budget crises around the North End treatment plant etc.

So at this point, the study is 4 years old, and the community consultations took place 6+ years ago. So even if this somehow magically reappeared as a priority, it's probably getting to the point where detractors and the analysis-paralysis group in PPD can call for yet *another* study before proceeding...

[BlackDog204]

One thing that irks me to no avail, is that even though the trek from mcGillivary through Fort Whyte alive, through Assiniboine Park and Forest is amazing (the best in the city) why does the Fort Whyte Alive have to lock the gates at 4:30 PM, when most people are just getting off work?

I mean I have seen the entrance for cars open until 5:30 or later, one would think they would allow joggers or cyclists to come through until at least 8 PM. It's very frustrating, as today I did 20km, only to realise that they had locked all entrance gates, when i was trying to return home.

C'mon Fort Whyte Alive. It's a bloody disgrace!

[pegster]

Originally Posted by zalf

There's a bicycle valet at the Forks now!

This is a good thing, but I'm a little surprised by it as The Forks is the one place downtown I feel comfortable locking up my (relatively valuable) bike outside.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

One thing that irks me to no avail, is that even though the trek from mcGillivary through Fort Whyte alive, through Assiniboine Park and Forest is amazing (the best in the city) why does the Fort Whyte Alive have to lock the gates at 4:30 PM, when most people are just getting off work?

I mean I have seen the entrance for cars open until 5:30 or later, one would think they would allow joggers or cyclists to come through until at least 8 PM. It's very frustrating, as today I did 20km, only to realise that they had locked all entrance gates, when i was trying to return home.

C'mon Fort Whyte Alive. It's a bloody disgrace!

FWA is probably worried about vandals when the park is unstaffed. There are always some that ruin it for the rest of us.

If the gates have been opened later in the afternoon its probably on the nights that they have had evening events going on. I think that June 27 is the next evening event.

[BlackDog204]

Dammit lol. That is the only weekday I am tied up...

[FactaNV]

I had a crappy bike stolen a couple months ago so I took the opportunity to upgrade to a nicer mountain bike from Prairie Velo and I've since fallen back in love with cycling. I thought I'd post a little bit of my impressions on biking my minimum 15km 5 days a week to help me lose weight for my wedding.

1. The AT network has come along so far in the past 10 years. It's night and day. Thanks to the fine folks at Bike Winnipeg who I know frequent this page for the hard work advocating for ever more progress. Obviously there are some glaring gaps, but some segments of the network are an absolute dream. I live in West Broadway on the border of Wolseley. I can bike on either separated bike lanes or multiuse paths from my door to bois-des-esprits or to the university the entire way minus a 100 m on Osborne.

2. We have some wicked fun trails. Whittier Park, Seine River Parkway, Bison Butte (or something along those lines), trail from West Wolseley to Assiniboine Park, etc. Lots of fun to be had out there getting dirty and hitting some terrain/jumps.

3. Transcona is the biggest loser in the bike infrastructure game. The North is getting better connected and the West and South of the city are pretty flushed out in terms of the network however the East of the city is embarrassingly neglected. From what I can tell, there is no grade separated, road separated or multiuse path from downtown (or any neighbourhood beyond the CPT Greenway) to Transcona/Elmwood/Kildonan and that is a great detriment of the city. A nicely separated bike trail could allow individuals and families to take advantage of the DRPW and bike all the way to Brids Hill Park. This must be rectified.

4. The city desperately needs to work on signage and wayfinding. It's pretty good along the Central Loop, South Red River Parkway and Blue line but it sucks ass everywhere else. No signs told me I can get to bois des esprits safely from downtown, but the path exists. No signs wayfind on the Kingston Crescent trails, but they connect nicely down the Dunkirk multiuse path, etc. This is something else that's small but can vastly improve the user experience of the AT network.

Anywho, that's enough typing. I set my record today biking 35-40km in one shot...time to eat may weight in home fries and grilled goose sausage!

[bomberjet]

Thanks for sharing! Signage is the biggest detriment. There needs to be a singnage program for bike network!

Re: Transcona, it's a disjointed network, but you can get there decently depending where you're going/coming form. You can get from the forks, along the river to Disraeli ped bridge via Annabella. Then it's a neighbourhood greenway basically from Stadacona eastward through to the new Reenders path. That will get you on mostly dedicated pathway into Transcona via Transcona Trail/Kildare. If you want to go to south Transcona from downtown, there ain't much there. A new path is installed along Day St, running north south.

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Thanks for sharing! Signage is the biggest detriment. There needs to be a singnage program for bike network!

Re: Transcona, it's a disjointed network, but you can get there decently depending where you're going/coming form. You can get from the forks, along the river to Disraeli ped bridge via Annabella. Then it's a neighbourhood greenway basically from Stadacona eastward through to the new Reenders path. That will get you on mostly dedicated pathway into Transcona via Transcona Trail/Kildare. If you want to go to south Transcona from downtown, there ain't much there. A new path is installed along Day St, running north south.

I think this come right back to the signage point. I had no idea that trail to TCona was a thing. I'll be using it promptly haha! To get some some every mile or two and at intersections would be so awesome.

[bomberjet]

glad I could help!

There is also the planned bikes lanes and connections along Provencher. That will get you down to Archibald, which now has access to the Pioneers Greenway via the ramp and path at the CPKC rail underpass on Archibald. Then it's, again, neighbourhood greenway on street eastward to Reenders.

I also think there are plans of some sort to extend Transcona trail from it's terminus at Regent, either southward across regent along the rail line or another route along Regent/Nairn. But I can't remember exactly/. Nothing firm panned at this point anyways.

I have some of this drawn up in Google earth. Maybe I can share the routes if I get some time today. There is also a route from U of M on mostly dedicated path network all the way to Birds Hill Park. Mostly the gaps we know of (Osborne and connection to Pioneers Greenway).

[EdwardTH]

Some signage and new paint in the problem spots could really improve the network for almost no money. But I'm sure they've got to overcomplicate things with red tape, probably do a study on the shadows for the new sign, have a town hall and listen to Paula from St B and 20 of her retired friends complain about the sign, etc.

[3de14eec6a]

The connection from the park past the bridge to gateway is indeed not obvious. And you do need to spend a little bit of time either on the road, or on a field, or on sidewalks. I'm fine on the road, but that isn't good enough for most people.

A good resource for routing that other people take is https://www.strava.com/maps/global-heatmap?sport=Ride