City to close six more streets for safer walking, biking

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This article was published 22/04/2020 (2004 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The city is looking to expand its street closures to make space for people who want to get outside as the weather warms without fighting vehicle traffic.

Coun. Matt Allard said as many as six streets are being prepared for similar restrictions to the ones imposed on four others earlier this month which limit motor vehicle travel to one block between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The new closures are an expansion of designated bicycle and active transportation routes that are typically in place on Sundays and holidays from June to September.

The infrastructure renewal and public works committee met Tuesday, where Allard (St. Boniface), who chairs the committee, said closures on Egerton Road, Churchill Drive, Kildonan Drive, Kilkenny Drive, Assiniboine Avenue and Glenwood Crescent are under consideration.

Ryan Palmquist, a spokesman for Allard, said in an email that the committee’s goal is to have the restrictions in place in the next two weeks and that the streets were chosen because of their similarities to Lyndale Drive, Scotia Street, Wellington Crescent and Wolseley Avenue, which are under the same restrictions 12 hours a day.

The city plans to collect data on the restrictions in the future, Palmquist said.

“We don’t have quantitative data on the existing closures now or from the past,” he said.

“However, we will be collecting data on the closures. Anecdotally, (public works) staff are observing many users out on these streets and, for the most part, people are observing social distancing and… sharing the road well.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_