Councillor says crosswalk needed at Victoria Hospital despite city report

WINNIPEG – A city report has recommended against creating a crosswalk that would allow pedestrians access to Victoria Hospital by crossing Pembina Highway.

City councillors asked the city to look into the possibility after getting complaints from people who take Winnipeg Transit to the hospital.

“Right now when you get off the bus it’s very dangerous,” said South Winnipeg-St.Norbert city councillor Janice Lukes.

Transit users coming from the north, down the west side of Pembina Highway, get off at a stop at Dartmouth Drive that is directly across from the hospital.

The closest controlled crossing north of the stop is almost 200 m away and the closest crossing south of the stop is over half of a km away while that stretch of Pembina sees approximately 38,000 vehicles per day.

Those numbers fit the criteria needed to build a crosswalk but after counting how many people crossed Pembina at Dartmouth on a single day in January, 2015 and a single day in June, 2016, it was determined the need wasn’t sufficient for the crossing.

However, Lukes said the crossing, as it exists now, is too dangerous. She intends to ask the city if there is some way to move the bus stop so the crosswalk can be built.

“I’m going to ask if they’ll consider moving the bus station down a bit further and crossing at a safer point and having a controlled crosswalk,” said Lukes.

Lukes is chair of the infrastructure committee that will discuss the report at its next meeting on Tuesday.