People who use Winnipeg’s extended cycling and pedestrian routes will soon have more cars to deal with — as of 8 p.m. Monday, 10 stretches of road that had been closed to vehicle traffic 12 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the pandemic will be reopened.
The city’s Open Streets initiative started in April in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic and was extended throughout the summer.
Meanwhile, some who used them are disappointed.
“This is way better, it’s been well used this summer — it’s been… an asset, so losing it for the fall and the winter is kind of a shame,” said Dennis Cunningham, while walking his dog Dezzy down a stretch of Churchill Drive blocked to traffic.
“It’d be nice to have access to it year-round.”
Some on city council have signalled support for extending the routes through the fall — with Coun. Cindy Gilroy putting forward a motion at the city centre community committee this past week to keep the Wolseley Avenue and Churchill Drive routes open until Nov. 1.
That motion would need to pass council at its Sept. 31 meeting.
Advocate and executive director of the Winnipeg Trails Association, Anders Swanson, thinks city leaders need to improve active transportation in Winnipeg in general — instead of closing off the temporary routes.
“There are thousands of kilometres of roads in Winnipeg and only very few of them have been designed to prioritize safety for people on foot or walking or pushing a stroller or travelling in groups,” Swanson said.
“I think all the politicians need to ride a bicycle and take transit a bit more often and think like the people who are needing to use this.”
Beginning Sept. 13, four Winnipeg streets typically closed to vehicle traffic on Sundays and holidays will close again — Lyndale Drive from Cromwell Street to Gauvin Street; Scotia Street from Anderson Avenue (at St. Cross Street) to Armstrong Avenue; Wellington Crescent from Academy Road (at Wellington Crescent) to Guelph Street; and Wolseley Avenue from Raglan Road to Maryland Street.
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