Letters, May 1

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/05/2024 (906 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Issues at River and Osborne

Re: Time to talk about River and Osborne (April 29)

The photograph that accompanied Brent Bellamy’s Time to talk about River and Osborne really did say it all. Bumper-to-bumper traffic gridlock, with one brave and determined cyclist about to risk life and limb to cross the dreaded slip lane.

As Bellamy states, “Recognizing that a prosperous future for the Village requires a change in priorities.” This concept must be adhered to for planning and development. Vehicles that use Osborne as a commuter route should be getting the message. That’s not what it’s built for. Gridlock is gridlock. What difference does a few seconds make?

Most unfortunate that Winnipeg’s public works committee failed to take action and initiate a scramble crossing pilot project. Now is the time to address this pedestrian safety issue.

Marilyn Bird

Winnipeg

Mr. Brent Bellamy’s articles on urban design have a tendency to dream and not be practical. This article on River and Osborne becoming a scramble intersection makes some good reasoning for such an intersection without a so-called right turn, slip lane, but the article makes three statements I take as a load of bunk.

His statement on kids using this intersection to walk to school makes no sense, as the two public schools closest to the intersection are Gladstone School, 500 Gertrude Ave. and Fort Rouge School, 115 River Ave. Most of the residents west of Osborne should use Nassau Street to walk to school at Gladstone School, with kids walking from the east side using a calm residential street to the half-light intersection south of Stradbrook. Fort Rouge School probably does not have a catchment area west of Donald Street, although there is a community centre on Mayfair just west of Donald.

His, and many others, reasoning on slip lanes is something I agree with, but the easiest slip lane for pedestrians who are blind to use is at River and Osbourne, because the island is quite large given the bus stop. Just one long block west on the north side of River is the most ridiculous slip lane and tiny island taking the driver to 55 Nassau by Roslyn Road. About 20 years ago, a landscape architect student did a wayfinding study with several people who are blind around the square of Stradbrook, Osbourne, River and Nassau. I freaked the student out when, to avoid the hazardous slip lane and island, I listened for traffic and sprinted across River about 20 feet from the northeast corner. If you did not find the island, one would end up in the middle of an intersection, mind you, not so busy. It was safer to do what I did. Get rid of that useless slip lane first for kids and persons with disabilities!

It is great the Osborne Village BIZ has undertaken the work to come up with a strategy to make it easier for customers to get around on Osborne to attend businesses and public attractions like the Gas Station Theatre. It is also important to provide safe cycling elements to the street, but moving quickly on installing the bike lanes and scramble intersection is very dangerous for at least pedestrians who happen to be blind and people with other disabilities.

Given my time restraints and given the many intersection elements, there are many details related to accessibility at intersections, but I want Mr. Bellamy to understand from this person who is totally blind having used many of the streets in the Osborne Village: Other than a couple of very physically fit young adults who may use a scramble intersection to go diagonal, we need to maintain a straight line of travel in order to stay safe as pedestrians using intersections. Scramble intersections have rounded curb cuts confusing the blind walker as to the straight line direction. With bike lanes in all four directions, a person who is blind can end up walking in the bike lane which happened to me on the St. Boniface/Queen Elizabeth Bridge when I was walking to the Winnipeg Rowing Club on Lyndal Drive — cyclists shouting at me for invading their space. The bike lane and sidewalk approach at River was far too wide open to figure out the right path.

It seems to me a scramble intersection will have a longer wait for pedestrians, and like drivers and cyclists, pedestrians hate waiting around to get their turn to cross the street. A person who is blind will need to wait two intervals to avoid a difficult diagonal crossing. Accidents will still happen, hopefully fewer. At least a full consultation with persons with disabilities needs to happen. So, the public works committee made the right decision, and those who want to move quickly are not making good decisions, no matter that other cities have scramble intersections which are probably not universally accessible.

Ross Eadie

Winnipeg

At risk of being labelled anti-kids getting to school safely and anti-grandmothers shopping safely, I can’t help but observe just how anti-car Mr. Bellamy is and what an unfriendly city he wants to create for drivers, all in the name of a romanticized view for Winnipeg.

Osborne is very busy in the village area. According to our most recent traffic flow map, it sees as much traffic as Regent, Henderson, Notre Dame, much of Lagimodiere, and even Portage in the downtown area. The article fails to mention where all that traffic is to go.

We get instead a naive “Sometimes saving an extra minute in an evening commute shouldn’t be our priority.” Where the “extra minute” comes from is unknown, but it seems likely that cars will idle at the intersection much longer or drivers will use alternative routes through neighbourhood streets. Never mind arriving at work late since delays also affect morning trips.

Despite supposed concerns for shops, the article ignores how drivers will get into busy stores around the corner on River absent the slip lane. A regular right turn, if even allowed, would further slow through traffic, including transit. Are those shops to be sacrificed for the “greater good,” along with commuters just trying to get between home and work or downtown amenities?

Jim Clark

Winnipeg

Hit the brakes

Re: Intersection proposal (Letters, April 29)

Thank you to letter writer B. Hamende of Okotoks, Alta. for your “two cents” suggestion regarding new highway construction near Carberry. I would add a further two cents, making the cost now four cents, to change the speed limits on the section of highway between Falcon Lake and the Ontario border.

The plans that are underway for twinning this section of highway would cost several hundreds of millions of dollars and cause many years of disrupting construction, to say nothing of the enormous carbon emissions of cement production and road construction. Simpler and less sexy solution to the safety problem that now exists … slow down.

East of the border the speed limit in Ontario is 90. Keep it 90, or better yet 80 instead of the current 100 all the way to the point west of Falcon Lake where the four line divided highway begins, and then let it bump up to 100. It would cost more than four cents to put up some speed zone signs, but not too much more. It would save lives.

Manitoba would collect revenue of the few angry folks who speed through the reduced speed zone section, so in the end the cost would be in the black. Slowing down isn’t very well loved by all, but the alternatives are horrific highway accidents or high construction and carbon costs.

Dale Klassen

Falcon Lake