Winnipeg Construction X

[BKB]

Originally Posted by Biff

Just because...wow, that's big.



Dan Harper@DanHarperPhoto·8h
Dan Harper on Twitter

"I just moved into the tallest building in Winnipeg." "That's exciting! Which floor?"
"Three."

[buzzg]

Ya I also put a lot of value in balconies. Most new premium apartments/condos are at least creating outdoor spaces (generally rooftops) if there’s no balconies. Many even doing both. Comparable buildings to Arts Residences have at least one if not both, for time that’s a really tough sell. Especially considering it’s smack in the middle of downtown without any parks nearby. At least areas like east exchange or Bro-Ass have lots of park space.

I was looking at 98 Market but having no balcony or rooftop was a non-starter. I can’t live without a bbq. I understand it’s hard to retrofit a rooftop in sometimes, but it’s shocking/stupid that a new “premium” building wouldn’t have one - a huge oversight when comparing to everything else in the area. Probably why there’s always open units there when the exchange has generally very low vacancy. I asked the owner why he didn’t put in balconies or a rooftop and he said insurance...

[LTC321]

Hello all:

I grew up in Alberta. Moving to Manitoba has me asking two questions:

1. Why are most (if not all) residential streets 3 lanes? One side for parking, and two travel lanes. In my experience living in other provinces, parking is on both sides of the street....not just one. Why is that?

2. I've noticed an almost overuse of 4-way stops here in Winnipeg and surrounding towns. On a street that you'd think was a through-way, there's a sudden (and needless) 4 way stop. Why are there so many 4-way stops here?

Thanks all.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by LTC321

Hello all:

I grew up in Alberta. Moving to Manitoba has me asking two questions:

1. Why are most (if not all) residential streets 3 lanes? One side for parking, and two travel lanes. In my experience living in other provinces, parking is on both sides of the street....not just one. Why is that?

2. I've noticed an almost overuse of 4-way stops here in Winnipeg and surrounding towns. On a street that you'd think was a through-way, there's a sudden (and needless) 4 way stop. Why are there so many 4-way stops here?

Thanks all.

For the stop signs: activists. That's what.

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by LTC321

Hello all:

I grew up in Alberta. Moving to Manitoba has me asking two questions:

1. Why are most (if not all) residential streets 3 lanes? One side for parking, and two travel lanes. In my experience living in other provinces, parking is on both sides of the street....not just one. Why is that?

2. I've noticed an almost overuse of 4-way stops here in Winnipeg and surrounding towns. On a street that you'd think was a through-way, there's a sudden (and needless) 4 way stop. Why are there so many 4-way stops here?

Thanks all.

Isn't the one-side parking just because the street isn't wide enough to have cars parked on both sides? That's certainly the case in e.g. the West End. Doesn't seem that unusual to me, it's common in older residential areas in Toronto as well.

4-way stops can serve a traffic calming function, preventing cars from tearing through a residential area, and they also make it easier and safer for pedestrians to cross the street. It's only "needless" if you view it from a driver's perspective.

[LTC321]

Originally Posted by GarryEllice

Isn't the one-side parking just because the street isn't wide enough to have cars parked on both sides? That's certainly the case in e.g. the West End. Doesn't seem that unusual to me, it's common in older residential areas in Toronto as well.

4-way stops can serve a traffic calming function, preventing cars from tearing through a residential area, and they also make it easier and safer for pedestrians to cross the street. It's only "needless" if you view it from a driver's perspective.

But, what is the reason for the 3 lane road? Even in new developments parking is only on one side.

[BigG]

Residential streets are technically not 3 lanes. It's one lane going each direction. The side where parking is allowed should give the right of way to oncoming traffic.

[Kinguni]

Originally Posted by BigG

The side where parking is allowed should give the right of way to oncoming traffic.

Common misconception. Vehicles are to take turns. Neither direction has the right of way.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by LTC321

Hello all:

I grew up in Alberta. Moving to Manitoba has me asking two questions:

1. Why are most (if not all) residential streets 3 lanes? One side for parking, and two travel lanes. In my experience living in other provinces, parking is on both sides of the street....not just one. Why is that?

2. I've noticed an almost overuse of 4-way stops here in Winnipeg and surrounding towns. On a street that you'd think was a through-way, there's a sudden (and needless) 4 way stop. Why are there so many 4-way stops here?

Thanks all.

Add to that different speed limits on similar roadways which makes no sense, uniformity is something foreign to Winnipeg in that dept.

30 KM speed limit school zones where elsewhere it is (should be) 40 KMPH

shortened amber lights for revenue generation through cameras

a bike lane hacked in throughout downtown for a handful of people to use which led to a decline in revenue for business along these hindrances.....

[zen-kz]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Add to that different speed limits on similar roadways which makes no sense, uniformity is something foreign to Winnipeg in that dept.

30 KM speed limit school zones where elsewhere it is (should be) 40 KMPH

shortened amber lights for revenue generation through cameras

a bike lane hacked in throughout downtown for a handful of people to use which led to a decline in revenue for business along these hindrances.....

All above is a typical drivers’ point of view. Ask residents of those streets to increase the speed limit and most likely you will hear solid “No”. The city is for everyone, not just for drivers.


Different speed limits usually make sense because of schools nearby or frequent intersections with residential streets. (Like Grant or Corydon).


For school zones I would replace 30 with 40, but apply it for all residential streets with no time limit.


I do not think amber lights are shortened, but instead of making them longer I would add Red for all directions for couple seconds to give time for drivers to clean a intersection (the reason - amber is “almost green” for drivers and make it longer won’t decrease number of accidents)


Speaking about bike lanes - it is a step in right direction but we need to complete the bike network, improve snow cleaning and we will have more users for those lanes. Current network we have is like having highways not connected to each other and goes nowhere. Once connected and safe it will be one of most efficient ways of transportation.

[cllew]

A lot of the 4 way stops are legacy from the small city's and municipalities that merged to make up the new unicity version of Winnipeg.

Back in the 50's and 60's the councilors just put them (and traffic signals) in as a knee jerk reaction to something happening at an intersection. Now to put a 4 way stop or set of signals in the public service has to do a traffic study and things don't get installed unless the counts meet the TAC numbers for the type of intersection.

[H2man]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Provincial government owns a number of the largest parking lots in downtown and have zero interest in selling them or developing them. They provide provincial employees (including crown corps like MPI) with heavily subsidized parking.

Thank you for your response, sir! That's definitely a problem.

[Alexander 90]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

add to that different speed limits on similar roadways which makes no sense, uniformity is something foreign to winnipeg in that dept.

30 km speed limit school zones where elsewhere it is (should be) 40 kmph

shortened amber lights for revenue generation through cameras

a bike lane hacked in throughout downtown for a handful of people to use which led to a decline in revenue for business along these hindrances.....

$50M bowman wasted on bike roads that 1 person uses. He killed the exchange district.

$500M for a bus road with 1 person on double buses losing over $100,000.00 a day.

Those bike roads are a waste of money. Bankrupted many business in the exchange. They are a nuisance. Get rid of them.

[trueviking]

I think you might have to move the decimal place over a couple of spots on that bike lane number.

If two blocks of bike lane killed any businesses, they weren’t long for this world.

They aren’t a nuisance for me. The number and speed of cars in the Exchange sure is.

[RAFS]

Originally Posted by BigG

The side where parking is allowed should give the right of way to oncoming traffic.

This is incorrect thinking. Both directions have equal rights to the road and therefore either driver can give the right of way. It irks me to no end that many people do not know this.

[zen-kz]

Originally Posted by Alexander 90

$50M bowman wasted on bike roads that 1 person uses. He killed the exchange district.

Let’s be honest - it is not Bowman and bike lanes killed businesses in Exchange (if any), but lazy drivers who do not want to walk one block or just cross the street to reach it. There is no shortage of parking Downtown and you can always find a spot within 1-2 blocks.

I went to West Coast Kids downtown to buy a stroller and there was no spots nearby and I had to park in one block from there and carry a box with the stroller - but this did not stop me from buying from them and I even did not find it inconvenient.

Speaking about busses - we will see how efficient the RT route will be once pandemic ends and all students of UoM return to campus. I bet it will be busy enough to justify all spendings to it. And once the city build an AT/RT bridge from UoM to St.Vital - it will make even more sense to have it.

[plrh]

Originally Posted by RAFS

This is incorrect thinking. Both directions have equal rights to the road and therefore either driver can give the right of way. It irks me to no end that many people do not know this.

Is this for 50km/h streets only? What happens on a highway? When you go into the left lane there I am certain you are taking liability. I took driver's ed in '97, and I think I was taught to yield to oncoming traffic if my lane was blocked. This is a good reason we should have mandatory refresher courses for driving.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by zen-kz

Let’s be honest - it is not Bowman and bike lanes killed businesses in Exchange (if any), but lazy drivers who do not want to walk one block or just cross the street to reach it. There is no shortage of parking Downtown and you can always find a spot within 1-2 blocks.

I went to West Coast Kids downtown to buy a stroller and there was no spots nearby and I had to park in one block from there and carry a box with the stroller - but this did not stop me from buying from them and I even did not find it inconvenient.

Speaking about busses - we will see how efficient the RT route will be once pandemic ends and all students of UoM return to campus. I bet it will be busy enough to justify all spendings to it. And once the city build an AT/RT bridge from UoM to St.Vital - it will make even more sense to have it.

The bike lanes serve mostly one demographic, white entitled males between the ages of 30-50, seriously any new Canadian didn't come here to ride a bike! Certain politicians got hoodwinked by the overly vocal bike lobby group who thought emulating what they had in Victoria BC was a good idea here oblivious to climate constraints.

What's so hard to figure out that if you make it harder for someone to shop in a certain area because of a lack of parking they will choose to go somewhere else, this walkability bullshit is just that no one wants to shop and haul bags 7 blocks for the ambience of bike lanes or for the perceived pleasure of walkability never mind the safety factor. You want more people in the exchange, add more parking not less!

Post pandemic more people will choose to continue to work from home, good luck if you think things are going back to the way they were, downtown living is going to become less desirable not more. If you travel around the city and even outside the city you see more and more condo and rental properties popping up everywhere, guess why?

[Wpgstvsouth94]

Originally Posted by Alexander 90

$50M bowman wasted on bike roads that 1 person uses. He killed the exchange district.

$500M for a bus road with 1 person on double buses losing over $100,000.00 a day.

Those bike roads are a waste of money. Bankrupted many business in the exchange. They are a nuisance. Get rid of them.

Absolute waste of money and useless. The city needs to start upgrading our primitive expressways to proper freeways. Bishop grandin is like driving over a mountain side from river to st Anne’s rd. You can’t even get control of your car in areas. It’s absolutely embarrassing driving on these roads.

[1ajs]