Bike lanes were a bit of a wash
A $100,000 plan to make Winnipeg roads safer for cyclists has literally washed off city streets, forcing officials to search for a more durable brand of paint.
Back in May, the city created extra-wide "sharrow" lanes on seven major streets to give cyclists and motorists a little extra breathing room.
Sharrows were created on Higgins Avenue, Roblin Boulevard, Grant Avenue, Regent Avenue, Plessis Road, Dakota Street and Dunkirk Drive. Bicycle symbols were painted on the streets and metal signs instructing motorists to "share the road" were erected along boulevards.
But most of the paint washed off by the middle of June because the city used a water-based paint.
"An attempt was made to use an environmentally friendly product for an environmentally friendly project. We're now looking for a better product," said city spokesman Terry Aseltine.
Water-based paint performs well when applied to houses, Aseltine said. But the city did not anticipate the pounding the paint would take after it was applied to asphalt.
The city is now searching for a more durable alternative, but probably won't get around to repainting the sharrows until 2009.
The new lanes, which cost the city $100,000, are part of Winnipeg's $3.2-million plan to create new bike paths and active-transportation corridors. Construction on most of those projects will begin later this month or in September, according to a trail-building update prepared by city active-transportation co-ordinator Kevin Nixon.
But trail groups were upset to see the sharrows disappear only weeks after they were painted.
"This is really disappointing. This was one of the first things the city did in terms of on-street improvements for cycling, and the paint came off in June," said Janice Lukes, executive director of the Winnipeg Trails Association.
Lukes said she is also frustrated to see the late-summer or fall start dates for construction of other trails and active-transportation corridors, such as new bike lanes on downtown streets, new trails alongside Bishop Grandin Boulevard and the extension of Northeast Pioneers Greenway.
Lukes also questioned whether sharrows are a good solution to Winnipeg's bike-trail woes.
"Paint doesn't make me feel safer from an SUV or a semi-trailer. Maybe it does for die-hard commuters, but I have kids. I want a barrier," she said.
Winnipeg has increased its funding for trail-building in recent years, boosting the annual budget from $200,000 in 2006 to $1.5 million in 2007 to $3.2 million this year.
The latter figure includes spending on trails as well as on-street improvements for cyclists.
Bike to the Future sent two Letters to the Editor in response
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Re: Bike lanes were a bit of a wash
The issue is not that the paint washed off the road, but that the sharrows pilot project the city implemented this summer was doomed to failure from the start due to lack of thorough thought and follow through.
Sharrows are not synonymous with bike lanes. A bike lane is a fully marked, designated travel lane for exclusive use of bicycles on a roadway, with all the legal requirements of any other travel lane.
Sharrows are not the solution to the cycling infrastructure deficit in Winnipeg. Cities like New York and Toronto are closing streets, tearing up boulevards and taking away lanes from cars to accommodate bikes in a safe, on-road way. Why not Winnipeg?
The politicians at all levels tell us they support Active Transportation, but this has not been reflected in the financial or visionary commitment towards making a comprehensive on-road cycling network in Winnipeg. We need more staff and a vision to make this a reality.
Jackie Avent
Co-Chair, Bike to the Future
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From Jeremy Hull, Provincial Committee Director (writing as an individual)
Published on September 15th: http://winnipegfreepress.com/editorial/story/4226198p-4864175c.html
Re: Bike Lanes Were a Bit of a Wash [Bartley Kives, Sept 12/08]
Four years after the City of Winnipeg received the report it commissioned on Active Transportation, and two years after the report was adopted in principle, the City has done little to support cycling in this city.The few things that have been done have been poorly planned and implemented, as the sharrows example shows. These sharrows not only washed away, they were placed too close to the curb, often in lanes that were too narrow to actually share, according to accepted standards for road design. Meanwhile, major priorities for cycling improvements, such as the Pembina corridor, are ignored.
We have lots of pavement in Winnipeg, but we need to reallocate some of it for the use of bicycles. When we rebuild roads and bridges, and when we plan new suburban subdivisions we need to automatically consider and encourage cycling as a means of transportation, instead of building bicycle paths to nowhere as is being done in Waverly West. And we need a public education campaign to get cyclists and motorists sharing the road safely. With yet another spike in gas prices you would think city politicians would get the message – more and more of us are cycling more often. It’s time city council woke up and read the good news: more bicycles mean less traffic congestion, a cleaner environment, fewer street repairs and a healthier, more attractive city.