Planning for precinct continues
Development for new area supposed to start in 2018
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This article was published 07/11/2016 (3466 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Plans for a new neighbourhood in northwest Winnipeg were recently shown to residents as the development process moves forward.
Landmark Planning and Design Inc. invited members of the community to a precinct plan public open house on Oct. 5 to discuss and listen to input to know what is essential to make the planning of the area successful. This was the second of three public meetings to be held.
More than a year ago, private owners approached the planning company to prepare a development plan for Precinct G, an 800-acre area located in northwest Winnipeg. The area is bordered on the east by the CP Winnipeg Beach line, on the west by McPhillips Street, along the future route of the Chief Peguis Trail to the south, and ending at the City boundary to the north.
“Engaging with the community is best practice for community development,” Donovan Toews, from Landmark Planning and Design Inc., said. “This is a plan, not the development itself. This is a plan that will regulate development and prepare the structure for developers.”
A recent study conducted by a consulting company hired by the City estimates that in the next 25 years, Winnipeg will have grown by 200,000 residents. This growth demands that communities must be planned in a way to accommodate people’s needs and ensure that quality of life won’t decrease.
“A lot of the conversation is should we do infill or should we do communities?” Toews said, “This is not the way we should be thinking about the city. We need to do our infill development and we need to do new communities, and we need to improve how well we do it, and that’s a challenge.”
Toews said there’s a need for communities to be integrated with pathways, sidewalks, bus and cycling routes, and they must be planned for increasing density.
The City’s OurWinnipeg initiative requires that development plans ensure sustainability and functionality to undeveloped areas before any building begins. A precinct plan must be prepared outlining every detail, such as existing land ownership and lot patterns, present and future roads, demographics, and transportation requirements, among other requirements.
One component of concern to residents is the increase of traffic in the area. To address this, two street network concepts have been developed for Precinct G, each connecting to existing streets — Fernbank Avenue, Red River Boulevard West, Murray Avenue, McPhillips Street and the future Chief Peguis Trail.
The concepts include local, collector and arterial roads and expressways. Toews said transportation research is underway to determine the effectiveness of each road network concept to ensure a safe and efficient street network will be built for residents.
“The idea with those roads is that with each level, you’re allowing less and less access,” he added. “So local (roads) is full access. Collectors (roads) — you don’t want to have driveways in your collectors, it creates problems with cars backing out. Arterial — you have connections, but you have spacing — and expressways is even less, so every 800 metres minimum separation distance.”
Safe, active transportation is another important feature for Precinct G. The plan is that the walking and cycling network will connect residents both within the community and to external centres. Recreational parks and walking pathways are also included in the plans.
On the northeast corner of the land, there is a former landfill that will become a park connected to the neighbourhood by pathways. In addition, there are several community centres and parks within a few kilometres of the area.
“The whole neighbourhood will be laced with smaller parks and trails,” Toews said, adding the lot will have several lakes around the residential areas. “Lakes are needed for land drainage, it’s not only for good looks, they are for both, and we want the paths to come along the lakes.
“Paths along the lakes and interconnected neighbourhoods are really important, and every one of these collector roads must have a sidewall on both sides so people can walk comfortably.”
Toews added this plan works to minimize impact to the existing neighbourhoods around Precinct G regarding minimizing how much new traffic will be introduced in existing streets.
“Big part of this design is getting people to where they want to go,” he said. “So if they want to come up to the park or the lakes, and particularly if they want to come down to the service centres, both the roadways and the pathways funnel people down that way.”
Landmark Planning and Design Inc. are expecting to hold another public open house to discuss the final Precinct G plan by spring of 2017.