Council green-lights lower speed limit on Wellington Crescent

Winnipeg city council has voted to lower the speed limit on a huge section of Wellington Crescent that’s popular with cyclists, but rejected the idea of installing an interim bike lane before a permanent one is built in 2027.

The issue has been the focus of intense lobbying by cycling advocates since the death of Rob Jenner in June 2024. He was killed in a hit-and-run while cycling to work.

The council chamber gallery was full of attendees wearing red shirts in honour of Jenner. They watched as councillors voted to lower the speed limit to 40 kilometres per hour from 50 km/h.

The group was unhappy with the decision to scrap an interim bike lane this summer.

“I think it’s very disingenuous to offer the permanent solution a year from now and then not allow some of the interim things that were very easy to implement right now,” said Marty Donkervoort.

City staff had originally recommended installing temporary lanes, but the plan was scrapped by a motion from public works chair Janice Lukes (Waverley West).

City staff estimated the temporary lanes would have cost about $400,000 and would have remained in place until permanent infrastructure is built.

The motion by Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) for a number of left-turn slip lanes to be blocked from accessing Wellington Crescent was defeated.

Several councillors, including Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski), said voted against reducing the speed limit on a regional road.

“(They are) the roads that really get you quicker to the places you have to be to participate in the economy,” he said.

Meantime, council voted to formally ask the province to amend the Highway Traffic Act to allow the city to decrease speed limits on residential streets and minor collector roads.

Gillingham said the motion was merely to open the discussion about reducing the speed limit, and nothing would be set in stone.

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“For some, it may be kind of splitting hairs, but it is important. By voting in favour, the recommendation to send this to the province is not automatically voting for any change in speed limit,” he said.

Premier Wab Kinew has said he’s against changing provincial legislation because it would mean every municipality in Manitoba could do the same.

The city can currently change speed limits on city streets, but it must be done on a case-by-case basis and the mayor said that would be too costly.

“I’m not in favour of going and changing the speed limit now without the change to the Highway Traffic Act. I’m not in favour of spending $10 million-plus and putting signs up on every street that would require,” Gillingham said.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.