A tale of two roads

St. Vital

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/06/2024 (707 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In late March I was pleased to get $495,000 approved for a traffic study of St. Mary’s Road from the junction with St. Anne’s Road north to the intersection with Tache Avenue. Winnipeg Transit staff will be doing a corresponding traffic-flow study of St. Mary’s from north of Tache to downtown, so the two projects should produce some meaningful recommendations for traffic flow on St Mary’s; specifically including transit and bike options.

However, a different group of civil servants is now recommending that any improvements can wait until 2050, a 29-year delay beyond the 2021 target date for St. Mary’s improvements set out by the City’s 2011 Transportation Master Plan.

This would simply be frustrating, except for the new city report calling for the widening of Kenaston Boulevard from four lanes to six, between Taylor Avenue and Academy Road. The widening alone is estimated to cost $119.5 million. The most recent St. Mary’s Rd estimate is $70 million.

What a contrast in approaches. City staff has recommended moving immediately to widen Kenaston, not waiting 26 years. Why? Well Kenaston gets over 40,000 cars per day and widening is supposed to happen after a road hits 35,000 (but St. Mary’s get 34,200 vehicles daily). The Kenaston widening was ranked priority 14 in the City’s 2020 Infrastructure Plan (but of course St. Mary’s was ranked 21). Kenaston was supposed to be widened by 2016 under the 2011 Transportation Master Plan. Kenaston will be a frequent bus service route after it is widened, but St Mary’s is already a frequent bus service route. There are many reasons to vote either for or against the Kenaston widening, but the contrast with treatment of residents of the southeast quadrant of the city is very troubling.

I do not think we can add additional traffic lanes on St, Mary’s, but the city could at least add cutaway lanes for transit (as recommended in a 2005 study) or widen the sidewalk to create a space for cyclists. Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface) has expressed serious concerns with more traffic lanes cutting through Norwood but has been very supportive of trying to take some measures to help transit users, cyclists and drivers.

I am pleased that the long-delayed study of St. Mary’s finally has some funding allocated, so thank Mayor Gillingham for supporting this budget amendment. However, what would really please me is seeing some work done well before 2050.