City’s lack of imagination mars more than infrastructure

The Arlington Bridge has been laying in state over the Weston Rail Yard for over two years now, an eerie silhouette against the setting sun as I drive over the Slaw Rebchuk Bridge instead. Winnipeg city council had known this closure was coming for decades due to the deteriorating condition of the bridge structure, but put off replacing it until the inevitable happened. A year ago the city earmarked $20 million for demolition and design of a new bridge, but plans to rebuild are not on the table in any tangible way.

When the Louise Bridge was suddenly closed last spring, the timeline for repairs was uncertain, and ultimately the bridge remained closed through the summer. A motion was put forward at city hall to replace the bridge, but in the end, the budget reflected only an allocation to continue inspections and repairs, a familiar and all-too-predictable course of action that only delays the inevitable.

Last week, we learned Winnipeg Transit ridership revenue had fallen off an $8.5-million cliff following a radical redesign of routes, leading some riders to purchase vehicles while others were stuck with bus commutes many times longer than the former system provided. The Free Press reported on the disproportionate loss of bus stops in the inner-city and North End, and Transit brass admit they haven’t seen the sought-after uptick in ridership from suburban neighbourhoods better served by the new system.

Alienating citizens who most rely on public transportation while trying to appeal to a more disinterested and car-reliant suburban population should have been an obvious red flag for a rethink of the changes, but instead Winnipeggers are again left to figure out workarounds to make up for a lack of services that should be provided by the city.

Residents in East Kildonan were similarly left searching for alternate plans after the unexpected closure of Terry Sawchuk Arena last month, a victim of unexpected, but catastrophic, infrastructure concerns.

Seven Oaks Pool will also be closed for at least a year after this weekend, curtailing the availability of swimming lessons for neighbourhood families, and Happyland Pool was reduced to rubble last summer when maintenance became too costly.

We learned earlier this month, too, that all the hemming and hawing about reopening Portage and Main was for naught: there have been no measurable impacts on commuting times through the intersection. In the end, the decision to reopen was made because the city couldn’t afford the alternative — repairing the underground concourse. Just another infrastructure project pushed so far into the future that, like many others, the only option was to abandon it.

Even the annual festive lights over Portage Avenue will stay dark this year, due to the city installing incompatible light standards they promise are temporary.

People are spending up to four hours on hold when calling the water and waste department, and the available hours for paying traffic tickets have recently contracted, forcing Winnipeggers to plan and organize entire days around simple errands and queries regarding city services.

We need to look at how our city councillors are voting on matters that reveal their vision for our city. This should be a simple process, but as the Free Press reported on Wednesday, the city webpage with that info hadn’t been updated since January.

With an election looming next fall, it’s on us, as citizens, to make up for the lack of creativity and proactive work being done for our benefit at city hall in a very specific way. We need to look at our incumbent councillors with a lot more scrutiny, and we need to assess their commitment to and stamina for working for the betterment of our city.

We need to realize the people representing us aren’t necessarily championing and voting for things that bind us together, and in doing so are contributing to the decay not only of infrastructure, but of the social fabric that makes a city worth making a home in.

winnipegfreepress.com/rebeccachambers