Construction isn’t scheduled to begin until next year on permanent bike lanes along Wellington Crescent in Winnipeg, but new speed limits have already taken effect.
Signs went up during the first week of July, dropping the limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h from Academy Road to River Avenue.
Speed limits on sections of Stradbrook and River avenues, where one-way portions lead into and out of Wellington, have also been lowered, a city spokesperson told CBC News on Tuesday.
Council approved the speed limit changes on June 25.
That follows a vote in March, when council voted to scrap a plan to immediately install temporary bike lanes, and instead begin work on designing permanent infrastructure.
In response, Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Sherri Rollins brought forward a motion to salvage something from the original plan, including the reduced speed limit. That was passed in a 10-6 vote.
Road safety advocates have been urging the city to make improvements along Wellington east of Academy since cyclist Rob Jenner was hit and killed in 2024.
The city’s original plan was for painted lines and flexible plastic posts to be installed to define the bike lanes and allow drivers to get used to the eventual permanent changes, which would begin in 2029 after design work was completed.
The city’s goal now is to start construction next year.
The permanent bike lanes are expected to cost $5.9 million.
Wellington Crescent is already two lanes between Academy and Grosvenor. The stretch beyond Grosvenor, where it is four lanes, will also be reduced to two when the bike lanes are added. (Google Street View)