Neighbourhood Greenway Reduced Speed Pilot
Neighbourhood greenways are on-street routes designated to comfortably and safely move both cyclists and pedestrians and motor vehicles. Greenways typically include a range of treatments from low-impact things like signage, bike signals, and pavement markings to varying degrees of traffic calming including a best-practice speed limit of 30 km/h.

Winnipeg currently has 11 greenways, all of which operate with a speed limit of 50 km/h. We are currently piloting reduced speeds and traffic calming on four existing greenways to evaluate the impact on conditions for cyclists.

Eugenie Street from St. Mary’s Road to Youville Street [see design details]
Warsaw Avenue from Thurso Street to Pembina Highway [see design details]
Machray Avenue from Fife Street to Main Street [see design details]
Powers Street from Dufferin Avenue to Partridge Avenue [see design details]
The pilot will to be in place for one year at each location.

We will be collecting traffic data throughout the pilot and, in Summer 2022, will ask area residents and users of the greenways to tell us about their experiences with the pilot program. We will use this information to make recommendations on the future of reduced speed greenways.

Background

In 2020, the Standing Policy Committee on Infrastructure Renewal and Public Works directed the City to pilot reduced speeds on five existing neighbourhood greenways(External link). Working with area Councillors, the City selected four greenways (all of which already have some existing traffic calming treatments and enhanced pedestrian crossings) for the pilot program. (A fifth street was initially proposed as part of the pilot, but was removed.)

The speed limit will be lowered on each of the five planned pilot locations, and each will also receive a variety of new traffic calming interventions ranging from new signage and barricades to speed humps and enhanced pedestrian crossings.

Technical guidance and case studies from other cities tell us that these measures should reduce vehicle speeds and volumes, increasing safety and comfort for cyclists and creating a more desirable environment for both cyclists and pedestrians.

Learn more about successful greenway programs in Vancouver(External link), Portland(External link), and Minneapolis(External link)
Case study: In the early 2000’s, the City of Portland set out to ensure at least 80 percent of their residents had access to a neighbourhood greenway within a half-mile of home by 2015 (watch the project video that explains their plans and progress(External link)). As their greenway network grew, the Portland Bureau of Transportation saw a number of benefits for their community – including some they didn’t anticipate. As expected, vehicle volumes along the greenways lessened and bike volumes exponentially increased. But the changes didn’t stop there. Schools started reporting more kids riding bikes to class more often, and also saw younger kids learning to ride a bike earlier. Today, Portland has a robust greenway network that is growing year over year(External link).

While the pilot program may slightly increase travel time for some, the intent is for these streets to shift to serving local-only motor vehicle traffic and increased cycling and pedestrian through traffic. We also recognize traffic may slightly increase on surrounding streets, but other cities’ experiences and technical data tell us the increase should be minor, which would mean an acceptable trade-off for increasing safety and vitality of these important route types.

NEWS FEED
DESIGN DETAILS
July 8, 2021 - Update
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07 Jul 2021
The Neighbourhood Greenway Reduced Speed Pilot will begin next week.

Crews will be installing signage and traffic calming measures, including speed humps, between July 12 and 24. We are installing the program on Machray Avenue and Powers Street the week of July 12, and Eugenie Avenue and Warsaw Avenue the week of July 19.

Residents along the routes should have received notification of the upcoming changes by mail.

Please watch for speed limit and educational signage along the routes. Once you see these, the pilot is officially “open” on that street.

Please visit the Design Details tab to view the changes we will be implementing.

Be sure to stay informed by subscribing to project updates.