City seeks consultant to design Wellington bike lanes

Permanent bikes lanes on Wellington Crescent will be designed soon, as the city prepares to build them next year.

“Wellington is a very popular street that people bike on because it’s a beautiful street, except this little section. This little section is horrible to bike on … It’s a dangerous gap (in the cycling network) and it’s on a curve and it’s narrow,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works.

The city is now seeking a consultant to design the separated lanes, which a request for proposal deems a “high priority” to address, noting the location’s close proximity to protected bike lanes on River and Stradbrook avenues, as well as a seasonal bike route further west on Wellington.

“This is one that’s been really brought up as a concern by the cycling community,” said Lukes.

The winning contractor will design two options for separated bike lanes on Wellington Crescent, from Academy Road (at the Maryland Bridge) to Stradbrook Avenue.

Money has been set aside for construction, though city council will vote on the final design.

Last month, city councillors opted to bump up plans to build the permanent bike lanes in 2027, instead of 2029, and scrap a long-awaited temporary bike lane pilot project for the area.

Dozens of Winnipeg cyclists lobbied against that move, insisting the interim measures were desperately needed. The pilot project was originally expected last summer before it was delayed to 2026 and, ultimately, cancelled.

Lukes said the city should focus on permanent bike lanes instead, which will convert more space from boulevards and less from roads, allow planning to help prevent apartment delivery drop-off points from interfering with the lanes and save money.

“If we put in an interim (solution), we’re just going to rip it out next year, so that just … didn’t make fiscal sense to many of us … (And) we want to provide a permanent one that would provide a higher level of safety for the cyclists,” she said.

This section of Wellington currently has a speed limit of 50 km/h, which city council has voted to reduce to 40 km/h this spring and summer. Lukes said the final design will help determine whether that limit will be made permanent.

The city plans to award the design contract by June 4 and begin construction on the bike lanes in spring 2027. It budgeted $300,000 for the work.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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