North Winnipeg bike path plan comes with 'human costs,' neighbours say
Route that will cut between homes draws fire from residents in Point Douglas
The saga of a city-owned lot on Selkirk Avenue stretches back nearly 20 years — and the neighbours on either side of the lot aren't happy that a bike path will soon slice between their homes.
They say while they aren't opposed to bike paths, they believe the new $375,000 bike route comes with a price for them.
"There is another cost that has been overlooked — that of a human cost. The cost of a lowered quality of life due to the route of this pathway," said Kyle McCulloch, who lives in one of the houses beside the coming bike route.
The path will replace a well-used existing gravel route along the Red River, a couple of dozen metres away. The new route will be a section of a long-planned North Winnipeg Parkway active transportation corridor.
The city says the existing gravel path will remain "to reflect the community's interest in having access to a natural path adjacent to the river," but upgrading the existing route would be too expensive because of erosion.
That's why a new path is needed, the city says.
Maria Mielczarek and her husband have lived in their Selkirk Avenue home — which will be on the other side of the new bike path — for 32 years. They previously owned the house next door to theirs, but sold that to a family who then fell behind on their taxes.
The city took over that property — where the new path will go — in 2004.
"We pretended someone was living there. That means we cut the grass and plant flowers, sometimes tomatoes," Mielczarek said.
The city-owned home sat empty for almost two decades, falling prey to neglect and ultimately intruders, who stripped it of copper pipe and wiring and used the house as a place to use drugs.
Mielczarek and other residents tried to buy the home, but the city steadfastly refused to sell.
The city tore the house down last year, which Mielczarek says caused another set of headaches.
Her fence was damaged during the demolition and her home's sewage pipe was mangled when the contractors dug up the foundation of the house next door, Mielczarek says. She and her husband had to use the bathrooms of nearby family and neighbours for months.
After lengthy negotiations, the city agreed to pay for the repairs to the sewage pipe and there was partial compensation for the Mielczareks' damaged fence.
Plan 'boggles the mind': neighbour
Mielczarek calls the plan to run the path through the lot next to hers a "terrible idea," saying she worries about what traffic might come via a bike path next to her house.
McCulloch says the neighbourhood struggles with transient people who suffer from drug and alcohol abuse, and he fears moving the path from its riverside location to beside his house will cause problems.
"If you build a dedicated pathway through here, then you're saying this is the route you should take … which means more traffic, more problems for people on either side," he said.
The long history between the residents and the city over the property between his house and the Mielczareks' property has frustrated McCulloch, who moved into his home around eight months ago.
"It became a blight for 20 years. And then they tore it down and [it] became a new blight with a new empty lot. And now they're going to run this path through it. It boggles the mind — boggles my mind, anyway," says McCulloch.
McCulloch has had multiple interactions with city officials and the area councillor over why the existing path along the river wouldn't be more suitable for the route, but with no luck — the erosion issues are simply too costly to overcome, he's been told.
Balancing concerns with safe transportation: councillor
Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski) says he's sympathetic to their concerns, but an active transportation route through the neighbourhood is a priority.
"I don't want to argue with them, but we are trying to balance out a safe way for people to get to the downtown," Eadie told CBC News.
The existing gravel paths by the river were developed over the years by "informal usage," he said.
There is no budget available to protect them from erosion and a new asphalt route just a few metres away is a part of efforts to connect paths from the top of the neighbourhood to the bottom, Eadie said.
McCulloch has been assured the city will install a fence along his property line next to the bike path, but he still wonders why the path has to run between his home and the Mielczareks'.
"I am telling you, if they wanted to build a bike path in Tuxedo, they are not going to be blasting through somebody's home or in between people's homes and not have people go, 'what the hell are you doing?'"
Corrections
- An earlier version of this story said Kyle McCulloch moved into his home around eight years ago. In fact, he moved in around eight months ago.Aug 13, 2021 3:58 PM EDT