The city will not set speed limits for bikes on active transportation paths, a decision cyclists say took valuable time away from real issues needed to make roads safer.

More than a dozen cyclists gathered at city hall prior to a public works committee meeting Tuesday, displaying the white “ghost bike” that honours Rob Jenner. Jenner, a cyclist, was killed in a crash with a speeding vehicle on Wellington Crescent near Cockburn Street on June 6, 2024.

During the meeting, members of the group urged the committee to urgently enact changes to make bike travel safer on Wellington. They argued key city staff should have been able to focus on that topic instead of researching options for an active transportation speed limit that officials ultimately deemed too difficult to enforce.

SUPPLIED Rob Jenner died in hospital after a crash with a speeding vehicle on Wellington Crescent near Cockburn Street on June 6, 2024..

“We would like to be here to talk about 30 km/h (speed limits) in residential areas … I do not want to be the next one killed on my way to work,” said Linda van de Laar.

In December, city council ruled out calls to immediately reduce the speed limit to 30 km/h from 50 km/h on Wellington Crescent, from River Avenue to the western end of Academy Road. At the time, some councillors cautioned against elected officials imposing the change without having city traffic experts study it first. Council did direct staff to report on solutions to improve cyclist safety on the route that can be implemented this year.

That report was originally due in April but was delayed until June.

“It’s (now) one month before the anniversary of Rob Jenner’s death and there’s no sense (that) the urgency to fix a hole in our infrastructure as significant and deadly as Wellington Crescent is shared by our city leaders … We won’t see action until past the time of year when Rob needed it,” said Andrew Kohan.

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Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said future changes must be thoroughly studied before the city proposes a plan to alter Wellington.

“It is a very, very high volume regional road, so the public service wants to make sure it’s safe and they’re going to take their time … They’re taking their time to do a proper, comprehensive outreach and review,” said Lukes.

The Waverley West councillor said she expects city staff may recommend converting a lane of Wellington Crescent into a bike path and lowering the speed limit.

Lukes said the city has spent millions of dollars on safer active transportation routes in recent years.

“It is a very, very high volume regional road, so the public service wants to make sure it’s safe and they’re going to take their time … They’re taking their time to do a proper, comprehensive outreach and review.”–Coun. Janice Lukes

“Is it balanced right now from vehicular use to active transportation? I’d say absolutely not. But we’re evolving. We can’t do it overnight,” she said.

The cycling advocates did support a city staff recommendation to rule out setting a speed limit along active transportation paths for electronic bikes, scooters, and other similar devices.

Public works cast a final vote to follow that advice on Tuesday afternoon.

According to a city report, the municipal government lacks the authority to set separate speed limits on paths that form part of a road, highway or street under the Manitoba Highway Traffic Act, meaning speed limits could only be added on completely separated paths.

The report suggests any such speed limits would be difficult to implement.

“(That) would require significant new signage, be difficult to enforce, and likely have low compliance among higher speed users,” it notes.

Councillors ordered the report after some residents complained a growing number of motorized bikes were rushing past pedestrians at unsafe speeds, creating a growing safety hazard, said Lukes.

She agreed a bike speed limit isn’t a promising option to address that concern.

“I think we can use our police service for better things that are more urgent,” said Lukes.

NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS FILES The memorial honouring the life of cyclist Rob Jenner who was killed in a crash with a speeding vehicle on Wellington Crescent in 2024. Winnipeg cycling activists are unhappy that calls to reduce the speed limit on the route from 50 km/h to 30 km/h have not been implemented by the city nearly one year after the tragedy.

The report notes most bikes aren’t even equipped with speedometers and don’t require registration, making tickets difficult to issue.

Instead, city staff plan to create an educational program to teach all users how to safely share active transportation paths, with a focus on bicycles and electronic devices yielding to pedestrians. The city’s pedestrian and cycling strategy may also be updated to require new paths to have separate spaces for electronic devices/bicycles and pedestrians, “when possible and feasible.”

If the above measures don’t work, the report suggests the city could start making paths wider to better accommodate multiple modes of travel.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

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