Temporary 30 km/h speed limit coming on 15 Winnipeg streets as summer bike route program approved

Winnipeg city council has approved a revised bike route plan for this season, which will allow vehicle traffic on 15 designated routes at a reduced speed limit.

Signage introducing the 30 km/h speed limit on the bike routes will be installed over the first three weeks of May, the city said in a Friday news release.

The adjusted speed limits will be in effect on the routes 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the time the signs are installed until Oct. 31.

The city started what it then called the "open streets" project in spring 2020, during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It expanded on existing Sunday and holiday restrictions that limited motor vehicle traffic on a handful of streets during certain hours, in order to prioritize active transportation.

The 2020 program initially allowed both pedestrians and cyclists to use the designated routes. However, the city's public works department said last year allowing pedestrians on the road would violate Manitoba's Highway Traffic Act.

Under the program in previous years, motor vehicles were only allowed to travel for one block during designated hours on the routes.

This season, the one-block limit for vehicles has been replaced by the speed limit reduction for most of the designated routes.

Pedestrians will once again be prohibited from using the streets this year, unless no sidewalk exists, in which case they can walk on the side of the road, facing traffic, no more than two side-by-side.

Some additional site-specific measures, like barricades, turn requirements and traffic restrictions, will be added to this year's routes after the city's spring cleanup is complete, Friday's news release said.

As well, two routes — Scotia Street and Wolseley Avenue — will maintain the one-block limit on vehicle traffic during certain times.

Those measures will be in effect daily in July and August, and on weekends only for May, June, September and October.

The following streets will be part of the 2022 open streets program:

• Lyndale Drive from Cromwell Street to Gauvin Street.
• Wellington Crescent from Academy Road to Guelph Street.
• Wolseley Avenue from Raglan Road to Maryland Street.
• Churchill Drive from Hay Street to Jubilee Avenue.
• Egerton Road from Bank Avenue to Morier Avenue.
• Kildonan Drive from Helmsdale Avenue to Irving Place.
• Kilkenny Drive from Burgess Avenue to Kings Drive, and Kings Drive between Kilkenny Drive and Patricia Avenue.
• Alexander Avenue from Arlington Street to Princess Street.
• Ravelston Avenue from Wayoata to Plessis Road.
• Linwood Street from Portage Avenue to Silver Avenue.
• Harbison Avenue West from Henderson Highway to eastern end point.
• Youville Street from Eugenie Street to Haig Avenue.
• Rover Avenue from Hallet Street to Stephens Street.
• Scotia Street from Armstrong Avenue to Anderson Avenue.
• Ruby Street from Wolseley Avenue to Portage Avenue/Banning Street from Portage Avenue to Notre Dame Avenue.