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City looking at adding bike lane on Pembina

By: Bartley Kives

9/02/2010 11:50 AM | Comments: 61

Motorists cruise down the east-bound diamond lane on Portage Ave.

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Motorists cruise down the east-bound diamond lane on Portage Ave. (WAYNE.GLOWACKI@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

WINNIPEG — The City of Winnipeg will try to find a way to build bike lanes on a stretch of Pembina Highway that's slated to be resurfaced this summer.

St. Norbert Coun. Justin Swandel and several Winnipeg trail groups asked city council's public works committee if bike lanes could be added to Pembina Highway between Crescent Drive and Plaza Drive.

The cost of the lanes could be $650,000. That stretch of Pembina is considered a nuisance by commuter cyclists because there are no north-south side streets they can use to avoid motor-vehicle traffic.

Council's public works committee voted to attempt to add bike lanes using cash already within the city's budget and seek additional funds from outside sources, if necessary.

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61 Commentscomment icon

@"gibbons family" Re: "Day orphanges." Sorry, but not all of us parents have the luxury of being able to stay home with our children everyday, some of us do have to work.

Why does the Winnipeg City Council have to discuss everything to death? It's embarrasing. Paint a white line 2ft from the cub on x-number of streets, 2 lane streets without heavey traffic would have one lane a dedicated bike and parking lane and make the bike lanes a summer only thing. It's really not that hard, they do it here and it works brilliantly and the way I look at it is that if they can do it in a city of 5+ million people with less space and heaps more traffic certainly they can do it in Winnipeg.

"stay off the sidewalks" "stay off the road" well then where are they supposed to ride without ticking someone off? its great excercise and it better for the enviroment. You can't make everyone happy. There is a small side lane on the waverley/gamble service road, that has a line through the centre. you have both directions to travel on like you do a road. so if you are behind walkers you wait til the dotted line to pass. simple

@ The Gibbons Family...Nicely put! I love the "Day Orphanage" line!!

Seems to me this idea, along with 'transit corridors' along Pembina Hwy, have been talked about for at least the past 10 yrs. What a feeble city council: either they come up with the dumbest ideas or it takes them years to make anything happen. It's actually kind of embarrassing.

For all of those complaining about the bikers blowing stop signs, red lights, and riding on the side walk, the winnipeg police have started to crack down on this. This summer almost every morning I saw two officers on bicycles only targeting other cyclists for infractions. Riding on the sidewalk was a $125 (Co-worker got one of those, he argued it down to $25 because the riverwalk, which he intended to use, was closed due to flooding). Blasting through a stopsign or red light was around the $200 range. There is also a ticket if you don't have a brake on your bike, as a lot of the fixed gear crowd like to do. And I think there was also one for having earbuds in both ears, just one ear was fine. Oh, and don't forget one for not wearing a helmet.

So don't fool yourself into thinking that cyclists are not held accountable for traffic infractions.

Also to suggest that all cyclists need a license and to pay a fee is RIDICULOUS. What are you going to start stealing money from a kid riding their tricycle on the sidewalk. Get real!

Why not charge a fee for each step that you take on a sidewalk walking around. Absolutely ludicrious to even suggest.

I don't ride a bicycle to work but when I do drive , the cyclists are for the most part very courteous and follow the rules of the road. I do notice that a lot of other drivers are inconsiderate and have the ME ME ME attitude as if the world revolves around them so they are justified when cutting people off or trying to beat the red light and end up blocking off traffic because their vehicle is stuck in the intersection.

I do suggest people go visit Ottawa and truly see what a marvelous bike lane, rapid transit and overall infrastructure the city has for each mode of transportation.

For the cyclists they have many paths that can get you from one end to the city to another without being on the road with other cars. The bike lanes are very generous in width leaving them incredibly safe.

The rapid transit, we don't need to cover that one but it's fantastic and blows anything we have away. When a bus can go across town without stopping once that's impressive.

For those who want to drive, the Queen Elizabeth Way or whatever the super highway across the city is called is fantastic. You can go from Kanata to Orleans at 120 kmh/s without stopping and make it within 15 - 20 minutes. I'd love to be able to go from East St Paul all the way to St James in 15 minutes without stopping!

It's time our city takes initiative and as said before get out of the 1950's and get with the times.

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I hate rogue bikes on the road as much as anyone. But I do have a young daughter and a grandparent who deserve the safety and peace of a sidewalk.

Stay off the sidewalks! I have no sympathy for the blind sided.

wow quite the comments! my thoughts are firstly i ride a bike weather permitting and i drive a car. i'm wondering why we bike riders don't have licenses anymore. if we are part of the road and swirving in and out of traffic and suppose to be abiding the laws of the road as bike drivers i think we should have to pay for a license or some sort of insurance. in the last 2 years i have been the victim of bike riders who like to go through red lights and stop signs. this is not uncommon so i found out. where is the radar gun on these guys it just makes it look bad for the bike riders who do obey the laws of the road! i'm all for bike lanes and i'm all for anyone wanting or needing to ride a bike but if we share the road we should pay just like the others do who drive on our roads.

Stupid idea.

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