The city is working on a plan that will drive decisions around road safety over the next few years and is now looking for feedback from Winnipeggers to help create the roadmap.
The city says the resulting plan will aim to help prevent serious injuries and death on Winnipeg roadways by creating a better blueprint for planning, infrastructure, enforcement and education.
“The Road Safety Strategic Action Plan is going to guide how the City of Winnipeg invests in road safety over the next five years and beyond,” explained Rebecca Peterniak, a community traffic engineer with the city.
“It’s really a roadmap that’s going to outline our vision for road safety, specific focus areas, and individual strategy and actions that we should carry out in order to really prevent severe collisions from happening on our road network.”
Public engagement sessions for the project kick off this week and Winnipeggers are invited to register to weigh in virtually through Zoom webinars held online Tuesday and Thursday.
In a news release promoting in-person discussions on the project held earlier this month, the city said planners want to hear feedback about perceptions of road safety and recommendations about possible improvements.
They are also looking to hear the experiences of pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.
The finished Road Safety Strategic Action Plan will serve as a roadmap for implementing both short-term solutions and long-term investments over the next three to five years and beyond, according to the city.
The plan outline states it intends to help prevent serious injury and death on Winnipeg roads by conducting gap assessment of the current state of road safety in the city, develop a plan that achieves the road safety vision and synergize with other city policies and develop a framework to ensure the plan is sustainable and implementable.
The city says the action plan will also be used to “inform and support larger strategic efforts” including the city’s Transportation Master Plan.
The online seminars are scheduled for Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Data from the city shows Winnipeg has seen an annual average of 13 fatal crashes and 145 crashes resulting in serious injuries over the last 10 years.
Winnipeggers can also take the Road Safety Public Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire here.