Moving Forward with Winnipeg's Downtown Protected Cycling Network

Winnipeg City Council adopted the Pedestrian and Cycling Strategies in 2015 which provides a vision and long-range policy framework for walking and cycling in Winnipeg over the next 20 years. The City immediately began a series of projects to implement the strategies identified in the approved plan, one of these was a downtown corridor study with two sub-projects awarded to MMM in 2015. The sub-projects included:

 

 The functional design of a north-south bicycle facility along the Fort Street and/or Garry Street one- way couplet from the City’s first cycle track on Assiniboine Avenue to north of Portage Avenue, connecting The Forks National Historic Site and mature neighborhoods to the Exchange National Historic District.

 The construction of a pedestrian and cyclist controlled connection across Main Street from The Forks to the Assiniboine Avenue cycle track.

 

The goal of the project was to develop a design for upgrading the existing on-street bike lanes on Fort Street and/or Garry Street to protected bike lanes in consultation with stakeholders and the public. Multiple options were developed and evaluated and a recommended option was identified. The City is now moving forward with implementation starting in 2017 for the permanent protected bike lanes in addition to renewing downtown infrastructure. This major project will be a milestone for mobility and infrastructure renewal in Winnipeg’s downtown.

 

The project started with substantial public opposition that was overcome through an adaptive and significant public engagement process. The public engagement process as well as solutions to overcoming the technical challenges will be discussed in this paper.