Residents air traffic fears at open house on stadium

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This article was published 01/10/2010 (5549 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group of largely angry University of Manitoba-area residents had their voices heard Thursday evening at an open house displaying logistical plans for handling crowds at the still-to-be-built football stadium for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Representatives from the City of Winnipeg and Creswin Properties, the real estate company looking to build a new 30,000-seat facility for the Canadian Football League team at the University of Manitoba, fielded questions from about 200 concerned citizens on traffic and parking in residential areas and on campus, bus service, police presence and plans to accommodate cyclists.

In general, the assembled experts predicted the current plans — subject to change, depending on the feedback they receive from residents and assuming the stadium actually gets built on that site — would be sufficient to funnel the crowds in and out of the area as efficiently as possible with a minimum of disturbance to residents.

Many of those residents, however, weren’t buying it.

“I think all of this is lip service,” said Patricia Sumter, who lives a short walk away from the proposed stadium site. “Everybody here is reading from the same party line. They’ve all been briefed and know what to say. They’re not really consulting us, they’re telling us what they want us to think.”

She said her family is from Vancouver so the prospects for noise and crowds don’t bother her. The crowd control after the game, on the other hand, is another matter.

“My concern is that during the game people will be drinking and then walking back through our neighbourhood (to get home). They might be investigating our house if it looks dark. Are we supposed to get a Doberman?” she said.

Beryl Bartel, another area resident, is worried about gridlock every day there’s a game or a major concert.

“It’s going to be a traffic nightmare,” she said.

Bartel said if the situation is as bad as she fears, a large number of people could choose to move out of the neighbourhood, pushing house prices down.

Winnipeg Transit hopes its aggressive plan will keep traffic to a minimum around the stadium and boost bus ridership to games and other events. Alex Regiec, operations planner with Transit, said about 2,000 fans take the bus to each Bomber game at Canad Inns stadium near the Polo Park Shopping Centre but he’d like to see that triple or quadruple for games at the U of M. He said between 100 and 150 buses would be required to handle that part of the people-moving.

The biggest task for organizers is finding sufficient parking. Mike Bradley, a transportation engineer at architecture firm Stantec, said 5,000 stalls on campus have been designated for event parking while 2,000 more will be reserved for students and staff.

“Combined with the other measures, the buses, carpooling incentives, walking and cycling, that’s enough stalls,” he said.

Bartel said while she appreciates the attempts to encourage more people to cycle to Bomber games, it simply won’t be feasible in most cases.

“Let’s be realistic. If you take your whole family to the game, are they all going to ride their bikes?” she said.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca