Winnipeg | Osborne Village & Corydon area

[bomberjet]

It's so weird. I'm doing a bunch of work in this area right now and have been staring at overhead views for weeks. It's ingrained in my mind haha

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Cool pics.

Just throwing this out there, but what if Donald remained two way traffic towards Corydon before ultimately flowing into Pembina? In other words, remove the "island" by making the major route two-way traffic to the south of the current island. That would make McMillan a normal local two-way street and effectively expand the Village strip right down to Corydon.

The whole "island" setup really kills the potential of that land in the middle IMO.

That's what it did it the 1959 photo. Then was changed to the one way by 1972. Or was it still one ways and the McMillan side used Osborne to get through.

That big island parking lot just need to be redeveloped and I think it would be much better.

[esquire]

^ The island holds so much potential.

Let's face it, the City won't bury Pembina below Osborne which would arguably be the optimal outcome. So the best we can realistically do is to integrate the lame island into Osborne Village by eliminating the one-way pair and making Corydon East two-way traffic flowing into Donald. As you say, basically go back to the 1959 layout.

[buzzg]

It would probably be fairly simple too, would just need to get rid of BK and Century 21 to link them. There's likely enough room to not even touch Dark Zone (:]) – even though it'd be better to get rid of it and redevelop the whole site. It would make the transit setup much simpler and take less space, and would eliminate the need for the island diamond lane and the part of Rt 42 that is in front of the community centre – which would allow them to expand the park back to almost its original footprint.

[biguc]

Looking at those pictures and thinking about why they did something so convoluted instead of just ploughing Donald through to Pembina when that would have been easy, it hit me.

They wanted to turn McMillan into the Goulet/Maryland/Cumberland of Corydon.

It looks like they even started demolishing McMillan, hence the pointlessly extended park/schoolyard behind the community centre. They were crazy for that kind of double-down-two-way stroad in those days.

Of course, I have no actual evidence. But the theory sticks. Churns my stomach too.

[sleepyeyed]

with the plans to branch the blue line off down Grant Ave eventually, I wonder if it would be a good time to re-configure the intersection then. here's an idea I have:


yellow and orange lanes are the new N/S Pembina lanes through the intersection, shifted north to run along side each other on McMillan.
South of those lanes would be an AT way and the new blue lane, with a station at the intersection of Osborne (blue shade area) three blocks further north from the current one.
green line is new Corydon Ave that connects only to Osborne St north.
Osborne St N and S would both terminate at McMillan intersection (which would be the main controlled intersection), forcing drivers to go left or right onto Pembina.

purple area is reclaimed area for re-development.

[buzzg]

I like your thinking but would shift Donald/Pembina to the Corydon side. Putting it on McMillan doesn't really solve the "island" challenge because the dead zone created by the underpass and area just south of it isn't going anywhere. If you locate the loud busy street along the current Corydon corridor, it keeps the RT/AT all in one area and would allow for the extension of the Village strip further south. Also, room to expand the community centre park.

[Brule-le]

I hear that there is something sizeable in the works for Roslyn Rd.

[1ajs]

[esquire]

^ Didn't the City have plans for that site at one point? A fire station replacement for the Osborne & Stradbrook firehall, or am I misremembering? I think there were also plans for a residential development around there as well?

[rivercity]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Didn't the City have plans for that site at one point? A fire station replacement for the Osborne & Stradbrook firehall, or am I misremembering? I think there were also plans for a residential development around there as well?

Nope, you're right. The report indicated interest with the WFPS for amalgamating the No. 4 Station in the Village and the No.15 Ambulance station in South Osborne.

According to the City Clerk report the parcel was to be sold for 1.5 mil to Albatross Development Ltd (Dwell Design Homes). Their proposal indicated multi-unit building with 80 units and a local craft brewery. Fitting given that is the site of the former Pelissiers Brewery.

Kind of interesting, the river is so low, that on the river bank and in the river, there is a shoal of thick old glass bottles and ceramic that I imagine were dumped down the bank while the brewery was operational. My photo from this spring:

[bomberjet]

The river is so low there are all kinds of interesting features popping out. If I wasn't so tied up these days, would be fun to go wander about the banks.

[davequanbury]

...

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Brule-le

I hear that there is something sizeable in the works for Roslyn Rd.

do tell....

[trueviking]

Fun fact about that Mulvey site....its where Club beer was invented.

[Biff]

Not unbelievable, it makes perfect sense...walk down to river, insert bottle, wait till full, place cap on bottle, sell as Club Beer. The perfect business venture.

...I do not like Club Beer.

[ywgwalk]

Great spot that can take advantage of both Osborne Station and the AT path to downtown/UM.

Would be a perfect spot for an AT bridge across to Norwood. Would suddenly open up Osborne Station to a ton of new people.

[bomberjet]

That would be a great spot for a ped bridge. Basically anywhere in that area so it can connect to Brandon Ave. And then another ped bridge over the rail yard from Brandon to Scotland Ave. Both would be big bridges, but connect all these neighbourhoods.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by ywgwalk

Great spot that can take advantage of both Osborne Station and the AT path to downtown/UM.

Would be a perfect spot for an AT bridge across to Norwood. Would suddenly open up Osborne Station to a ton of new people.

That would be huge for RT and for people wishing to simply walk over to OV or Corydon for whatever reason. I could see it being vetoed by residents for all sorts of stupid reasons though.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

That would be huge for RT and for people wishing to simply walk over to OV or Corydon for whatever reason. I could see it being vetoed by residents for all sorts of stupid reasons though.

Norwood Flats is evolving into a high end, River Heights-ish neighbourhood. I could easily see a bridge proposal coming under attack by those who don't want a stream of people coming in from Osborne Village. Although realistically I don't think it would make much of a difference considering the Norwood Bridge is right there.

[buzzg]

Connecting Norwood and Riverview would be near the top of my infrastructure wishlist. It's crazy how close they are in actual distance, yet in travel time it's crazy long/far in anything other than a car. And even in a car, it shouldn't be that long. St. Mary's and Osborne have lots of great shops and amenities, it would be a huge boon to both to be able to connect more. South Osborne especially needs some love, one of the worst streetscapes in the city. The randomly placed sidewalk lights all over the place (which the city just replaced with the awful new ones they're using everywhere) and banner poles that haven't had banners for 10 years just look awful. It needs a brand new start.