Skip to main content

On speed and citizen advocacy


— Presented to CoW’s Executive Policy Committee —

I’m a downtown resident and have used a bicycle as my primary mode of transportation year round since 2009.

I’m here in support of Item No. 4 Speed Limit Reduction on Wellington Crescent. Full stop. From where it starts to where it ends. And on Kingsway. And Grosvenor. And Stella. And Flora. And Manitoba. And Magnus. And… and... and....

Many previous delegates have demonstrated how such a change is both in compliance with City of Winnipeg’s own documents, plans and policies and how, overall, making changes to both laws and infrastructure to prioritize human life over commuter convenience serves a building more livable city for all residents.

Frankly, I’m offended that I need to be here. And I’m offended that all this effort is being expended over merely reducing the speed limit, not even spending money to adjust the infrastructure yet. I’m offended that all this effort is being expended over just one street in a privileged neighbourhood when there are dozens of unsafe streets, especially in lower income neighbourhoods, used by many people whose finances prevent them from joining the convenience class of car drivers.

It’s deeply troubling that it should take dozens of Winnipeggers showing up in force over the course of 4 meetings to convince our city to prioritize human life over the convenience – measured in seconds – of those whose unfettered use of fossil fuels contributes to the dismantling of the possibility for a future habitable earth.

I’m offended that we should be compelled to lay before you our personal testimonies of our terror at close brushes with death at the hands of speeding or inattentive motorists or worse the grief of lost loved ones in hopes that our heart-string-tugging pain will convince the apparatus of the City to make interests of citizens of this city a priority where a wealth of data has not.

  • 30 km/hr has been amply proven to save lives, reduce emissions and noise pollution...
  • 30 km/hr clearly complies with the city’s own stated ambitions to be a more livable city...
  • 30 km/hr also supports the city’s unactualized climate plans...

The trendlines for city planning worldwide lean in the direction of citywide reduced speed limits: Winnipeg is failing its opportunity to be at the beginning of this trend instead of dead last…

The majority of the “but what about”s are easily defeated by making choices that centre human safety, not commuter convenience.

14 pedestrians and 2 cyclists have been killed this year. Preventable deaths. And we’re sitting here still trying to convince you human safety ranks above seconds of convenience.

How many of those anticipated onerously slow trips down Wellington at 30 km/hr have we already spent listening to the dozen delegations at City Centre Committee, the more than 2 dozen at Public Works, and the nearly 5 dozen today?

I beg of you to do “all things necessary to implement the intent of the foregoing” -- without delay. And to make this but the first of a cascade of actions to reduce motorist speeds and protect pedestrians and cyclists in this city.

Thank you for your time.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Whose death matters?

In June of 2024, a man was just riding his bike to work. Early in the morning when traffic should be low to nonexistent. Wearing a helmet and a reflective vest.  A racing driver lost control and plowed him over.  Anyone who bikes in this city was grieved and outraged.  This stretch of roadway is designated as a bike route. There's a little green sign with a bicycle icon to tell you that. The wide road that invites speeding certainly doesn't. How does a person even drive 159 km/hr on a sleepy residential street within city limits? (Because the street is too damn wide.) For about as long as it has existed, the cycling advocacy organization has identified this stretch of roadway as a route in critical need of remediation to make it safer.  So, within a week, temporary safety measures had been rolled out. Reduced speed limit signs were erected, poly posts narrowed the roadway and speed cameras made sure folks took it seriously.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha. No. 20, 40,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Money

The high incidence of money talk here is surprising to me, given the scarcity of either hard cash or savings accounts. Not that no one has money here, but living a basically subsistence existence off a jungle farm with only one major crash crop a year means you never have a whole lot of cash -- either on paper or in hand. We're currently entering the season of money here in Bekondo, when the cocoa crop is mostly harvested, dried and sold to buyers. Christmas is party time, not because of Christ but because of cash. It's a lively time for parties, running a generator to power lights and music, trucking in drinks to flow with goodwill. It's the time when schools put their foot down and demand tuition fees be paid or students leave. It's a time of increased crime because people are travelling to visit family and money is around. Taxis double and triple in price -- because they can -- until December 25th, after which the frenzy abruptly stops and prices return to normal (so...
Post a Comment
Read more

Infidel again

I just finished reading Infidel and I have to say I greatly respect this woman. What a story. And what a character, to have endured it all and emerged a determined, principled, passionate but not bitter or unyielding woman. A quote from her book: People are always asking me what it's like to live with death threats. It's like being diagnosed with a chronic disease. It may flare up and kill you, but it may not. It could happen in a week, or not for decades. The people who ask me this have usually grown up in rich countries, Western Europe and [North] America, after the Second World War. They take life for granted. Where I grew up, death is a constant visitor. Which reminds me -- on a related topic, one of the things that bothers me about Islam is how often its followers' reactions to offences are so disproportionate. A Western journalist composes editorial cartoons satirizing the Prophet Mohammad; violence erupts in the Middle East, including attacks on the Danish and Norwe...
2 comments
Read more