New four-way stop for area

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/01/2016 (3650 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After 12 years and five attempts, I am pleased to say that the City of Winnipeg has approved the installation of stop signs at Warde and Ashworth, converting the current two-way stop to a four-way stop.  

This may anger some motorists, but the approval of this sign is the story of a group of neighborhood residents who supported the creation of a four-way stop to help with community safety.

There are already four-way stops at Ashworth and Meadowood, Wales, Nova Vista and Southglen. My predecessor as councillor, Gord Steeves, tried twice in 2004 to have the intersection of Warde and Ashworth converted to a four-way stop, but in both cases city administration would not support the request and the council committee did not follow the councillor’s suggestion. I made similar attempts in 2012 and again in 2014, but similarly the staff and councillors were not supportive.

I made another effort in 2015 requesting a new traffic study, and prepared a history of the site, including the collisions and the increase in traffic volume. Between 2004 and 2011 there was a 28 per cent increase in traffic volume through the intersection, and a report done in 2015 showed a further 25 per cent increase. I was assisted by the many residents who emailed me, as well as a petition that contained 70 names supporting the call for the four-way stop (there was a similar petition in 2003). In particular, I appreciated the backing of the Louis Riel School Division which expressed its concern with the safety of schoolchildren walking across the intersection to access area schools like H.S. Paul.

 
Many area residents pointed to the already existing four-way stops at Warde and
Paddington, as well as Warde and John Forsythe (which are both in St. Norbert ward); intersections which have the same or less traffic volume than Warde and Ashworth. The residents made the point that while Warde is a “regional” street (unlike, say, Wales) there are already four-way stops at the major nearby cross streets.  

I presented these facts to a city committee on Jan. 5, and the councillors agreed to grant the request. My thanks to the area residents for their support and persistence. So if you are driving east or west on Warde be prepared to make one more brief stop — and if you see a schoolchild passing across safely, give them a wave.