Develop cycling routes, report urges city hall
Winnipeg Free Press
Monday, January 16th, 2006
By Bartley Kives
EVEN though he's been spat on, doused with coffee and slapped upside the head with Slurpee cups, bike courier Toby Hughes doesn't resent drivers who don't like sharing the road.
The problem, said the 21-year-old cyclist, is a lack of dedicated bike lanes and pathways in a city designed for cars.
"We have two or three lanes during rush hour, but we have to share those with buses, and they aren't always friendly either," said Hughes. "It's scary riding down streets like Pembina or McPhillips. In the winter, it's even worse."
For years, cyclists like Hughes have complained about the state of the city's bike routes, noting Winnipeg lags behind centres like Calgary and Ottawa when it comes to paving new paths and reserving lanes on existing streets.
Now, Winnipeg is finally putting wheels in motion. A $100,000 report called the Active Transportation Study, which already has the support of some councillors, urges the city to hire someone to develop new lanes and trails for people who bike, walk and even Rollerblade to work or play -- and better promote the routes that already exist.
"We don't have enough trails in Winnipeg," said Mayor Sam Katz. When he was elected in 2004, Katz pledged to create more walking and bike paths. "The problem is, when the planning is not done properly from the beginning, it's difficult to put these things in after the fact."
A 1993 study into Winnipeg bike paths called for more trail creation, but was largely ignored at city hall. Now, a broad range of elected officials, from Katz to opposition councillor Jenny Gerbasi, have vowed to ensure its successor doesn't languish on a shelf somewhere.
The Active Transportation Study, authored by consultant and tour-company operator Ruth Marr, found almost four in five Winnipeggers drive to work -- most of them alone -- while only seven per cent walk or take a bike, according to a battery of telephone and online surveys.
But the study shows many more Winnipeggers are "on the cusp" of cycling to work, if there were more routes available that could take them off roads many cyclists and non-cyclists alike deem dangerous.
As well, the more people ride in Winnipeg, the more dissatisfied they are with the city's bike facilities, the study suggests.
"I could have told you that for a few hundred bucks," joked Walter Jozwiak, a former member of Canada's national cycling team who now runs bike shop Lifesport on Pembina Highway. The 57-year-old entrepreneur still cycles, but prefers rural highways to city roads.
"To say we have minimal bike paths would be putting the situation in a positive light," Jozwiak said. "But you can't really compare Winnipeg to Calgary, which I'm pretty sure is in Alberta. There's no snow on the ground there right now."
An increase of bikes on the street during winter had Coun. Harry Lazarenko complaining about "ignorant" cyclists at a public works committee meeting recently.
But Lazarenko supports the Active Transportation Study and the committee voted in favour of the report's first recommendation, which involves the hiring of a city bike and walking path director.
The study also recommends widening and filling potholes in curb lanes, building secure bike lockers and ensuring all new major roads have bike lanes as a matter of policy. To a certain extent, the latter recommendation is already in place.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
How Winnipeggers get around -- and ways to encourage biking
Selected findings from the City of Winnipeg's Active Transportation Study
HOW WINNIPEGGERS GET TO WORK
* Passenger vehicle: 79.7 per cent
* Transit: 12.2 per cent
* Walking: 4.3 per cent
* Cycling: 2.3 per cent
* Other: 1.0 per cent
AVERAGE COMMUTING DISTANCE
IN WINNIPEG
* Drivers: 14 kilometres
* Transit: 12 kilometres
* On foot or by bike: 6 kilometres
WAYS WINNIPEG CAN ENCOURAGE MORE PEOPLE TO BIKE
* Create better signage for bike routes
* Promote existing bike routes
* Widen curb lanes
* Fill potholes in curb lanes
* Make sewer grates more bike-friendly
* Add bike lanes to all new major streets
* Add sidewalks to sides of bridges
* Place secure bike lockers at key locations and Winnipeg Transit stops
* Create more multi-use paths, budget permitting, with the help of non-government funding sources, whenever possible
Source: City of Winnipeg Active
Transportation Survey, Final Report