FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2026
WINNIPEG, MB — For over 18 months, Winnipeg residents have organized, attended consultations, and demanded a safer Wellington Crescent. The City’s response has been to entertain motions that would delay the very improvements the community asked for—even as the road safety budget has concurrently been reduced by $2.5 million.
Bike Winnipeg welcomes the City’s public service recommendation to lower the default speed limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h, and we agree with Councillor Janice Lukes’ statement that Wellington Crescent needs permanent bicycle infrastructure immediately. However, the timing of these announcements will only delay urgently needed safety improvements on Wellington Crescent and across Winnipeg.
Wellington Crescent Bike Lane: Permanent Safety Can’t Mean More Delay
Bike Winnipeg supports a permanent, protected bike lane on Wellington Crescent. The community has been asking for safe cycling infrastructure on this corridor for two decades. However, a permanent solution will require years of planning, engagement, budgeting, and construction, all of which would benefit from real-world data gathered during the proposed pilot project. The equipment for this pilot has been mostly purchased and shovels can hit the ground after the melt, so let’s keep the momentum moving forward.
The pilot was designed to deliver immediate safety benefits while informing a long‑term design. If cancelling it results in no safety improvements in 2026, people walking and cycling on Wellington Crescent remain exposed to conditions that have already led to death, injuries and close calls. That would betray the extensive public consultation already completed, which showed 83% support for safety improvements on this corridor.
“We want the same thing Councillor Lukes says she wants: permanent, protected infrastructure on Wellington Crescent,” said Michael Abon, Board Director, Bike Winnipeg. “But cancelling a ready-to-go pilot in the hopes of fast-tracking a permanent solution that hasn’t even begun design isn’t a plan. It’s a gap where people get hurt.”
Temporary safety measures and permanent planning are not mutually exclusive. Winnipeg can and should move forward with near‑term protections while finalizing a permanent design. Delaying action yet again further erodes public trust and undermines the City’s stated commitment to reducing pedestrian and cyclist deaths and serious injuries.
Citywide Speed Limit Reductions: Support the Change, Accelerate the Timeline
Bike Winnipeg supports reducing residential speed limits. However, our position—first brought to City Council in 2013—is that 30 km/h is the appropriate default for residential streets where vehicles mix with people on foot or bike. The evidence is clear: a pedestrian struck at 50 km/h has roughly a 1.5 in 10 chance of survival; at 40 km/h, 6 in 10; at 30 km/h, 9 in 10 (World Health Organization). A reduction to 40 km/h is a step in the right direction, but it is a compromise with physics, and physics does not compromise. We urge both the City and the Province to consider a 30km/h default speed limit for residential streets and to expedite the regulatory changes required to make this change.
“Every delay means more preventable injuries and deaths will occur. Speed reduction should be treated as an urgent, citywide safety intervention, not something that can wait until after the 2026 City election,” said Robyn Dyck, Board Director, Bike Winnipeg.
Moving Forward
City Council must proceed with immediate safety improvements on Wellington Crescent and accelerate implementation of reduced residential speed limits. Safety delayed is safety denied. Winnipeg residents deserve streets that protect human life now—not years from now.