Quote:
Originally Posted by rkspec
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The Free Press now has an article on the crash:
Headline:
Cyclist killed in hit-and-run on Wellington Crescent
Article:
By: Malak Abas
Posted: 4:53 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 6, 2024
Last Modified: 4:59 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 6, 2024 | Updates
The death of a 61-year-old cyclist in a hit-and-run on Wellington Crescent Thursday has prompted bike advocates to call for safety improvements.
The collision happened just after 7 a.m. as the cyclist was travelling eastbound near Cockburn Street North and was hit by a driver heading in the same direction. The victim died in hospital.
Police said the incident was a hit-and-run and they had located a suspect vehicle, but didn’t say whether the driver had been identified.
The stretch of road, which does not have a bike lane, remained closed for hours.
A crumpled bike could be seen near the stop sign at Wellington Crescent and Cockburn Street North.
News about the crash spread quickly around Winnipeg’s cycling community.
Patty Wiens, a director of Bike Winnipeg, said people are furious, but not surprised.
She said that stretch of road is a problem area due to a high number of dangerous incidents between cyclists and drivers.
She said the patchwork of bike lanes means cyclists often have to abruptly transition from streets that have bike lanes to streets without them.
The speed limit has dropped to 30 km/h from 50 km/h for the summer on Wellington Crescent, from the Maryland Bridge to the western end of Academy Road.
Compounding the issue is drivers who use the street to avoid traffic on Osborne, she said.
“(The street) really is used like a rat run,” she said. “People aren’t going to that area, they just want to get through that area … Every time the street is used as a shortcut, it’s super dangerous because that means people are in a hurry and they are angry that anyone is in their way.”
Wiens said she had been told another cyclist had been hit on Wellington Crescent not far away on the same morning, but the person wasn’t severely injured.
She said Winnipeg cyclists are “sick and tired” of having to wait for safety measures to be installed when a street is obviously unsafe for non-vehicular traffic.
“There is no option for people who are poor. There’s no option for people who don’t want to have a car,” she said.
“I don’t have a car. This is my mode of transportation. Stop treating me like I’m a radical. I just want to get to work alive.”
Local Coun. Sherri Rollins called the area a “known gap in the cycling plan for the city” and said her office has been inundated with calls from residents demanding action after news about the hit-and-run spread.
“We have a finite availability of funds,” she said, adding the city does try to address gaps in the cycling network.
She said she’s long been a proponent of installing 30 km/hr zones around her ward, but there hasn’t been much political will or consensus among council or in the legislature on the issue.
“There is still too much silo between applications of cycling networks and pedestrian networks, and the notion of 30 (km/h zones) and basic speed limits,” she said.
Most recently, the city designated Wolseley Avenue as an official greenway, meaning the speed limit has been dropped to 30 km/h permanently.
Winnipeg has 16 greenways with 30 km/h speed limits.
Police are asking that anyone with information about the crash, including possible home security or dash cam footage, call the police traffic division at 204-986-7085, anonymously at Crime Stoppers 204-786-TIPS or at winnipegcrimestoppers.org.
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/br...ngton-crescent
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