Curling club tries tricky takeout on city’s plan to convert its street to one-way with bike lanes

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This article was published 17/06/2019 (2273 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Granite Curling Club is throwing rocks at a city proposal that would make its street one-way and add two-way bike lanes.

The Wolseley to Downtown Walk Bike project would run east to west on Wolseley and Westminster avenues, Balmoral Street and Granite Way. It’s a mostly residential neighbourhood, with a lot of bike and pedestrian traffic. Motorists often drive through the area instead of using main thoroughfares.

The curling club is on Granite Way, next to the Osborne Street Bridge. The plan for the project shows it would turn into a one-way street westbound toward Balmoral Street, and a two-way bike lane would be added. The city’s website says this would be an important connection to the cycling network.

Last week, the Free Press obtained a copy of an email sent to Granite curling club members from club manager Jamie Hay. It says the change would impede access to and from the club. He asked club members to complete the city’s online survey, saying they don’t want the street to change.

Hay suggested members argue there would be restricted access to and from the club, congestion on Broadway and difficulty for people living in south Winnipeg to get to the club. Hay also asked members to offer suggestions such as re-routing the bike path to the river side of the club, or changing the sidewalk on the north side of Granite Way into a bike path.

Maria Carrillo has lived in the neighbourhood for 20 years and is of similar opinion, saying that making Granite Way a one-way street would cause traffic on Broadway to get backed up.

During one of the city’s public consultation meetings, Westminster Avenue residents said they were concerned about where they would park, Carrillo said. The project blueprints show neighbourhood parking spaces might be reduced.

Mark Doucet, the city’s transportation facilities planning engineer, said the proposed changes would force drivers to stay on main streets and make the area safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Residents seem to agree improving safety is a great idea.

Brienna Swanson, a mother of two young children, said there are times she doesn’t feel comfortable crossing the street in her own neighbourhood.

“Everybody’s very impatient during rush hour,” Swanson said. “So people are either blowing through the stop signs, or they don’t want to wait for the pedestrians.”

She said she favours protected bike lanes, as do many people in the neighbourhood. “If you got the through-traffic out of here, it wouldn’t be that bad.”

In-person consultation wrapped up last week, but the online survey is open until Friday.

nicholas.frew@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @n_frew6