A tragedy that happened almost two years ago at Wellington Crescent started the battle for the interim cycling infrastructure, and it is still ongoing. The first temporary infrastructure was slated for the spring of 2025.

“I feel like a lot of neighbours feel disheartened, because we’ve seen shenanigans after shenanigans,” said Joe Curnow, a member of Neighbours for Safe Wellington Crescent.

In late March, the cycling community is gearing up to delegate at the City Hall once again, trying to appeal the motion in front of city council on March 26.

As of March 4, the executive policy committee put a halt on the pilot project, giving the green light to the permanent project.

“I want to rip the band-aid once. Because it’s going to be a big change for everyone,” said Councillor Janice Lukes.

Professor of the Department of City Planning at the University of Manitoba says the pilot project allows more flexibility and opportunities for studying the infrastructure.

“Most people would consider a pilot project a much better way of getting feedback rather than just asking people what they want when they haven’t seen anything different,” said Dr. Richard Milgrom, an associate professor in the Department of City Planning at the University of Manitoba.

The round of consultations, Milgrom says, sets at least a nine-month delay to the installation of any infrastructure, and says it is unlikely to see consultation prior to pilot installation.

“The permanent installation will be literally concrete. It will be something that is difficult to move. So, if you don’t get it right and you have to rip it out, that’s a very expensive endeavour,” said Dr. Milgrom.

The permanent infrastructure is set to appear on Wellington Crescent in 2027. This wait period has left the advocates frustrated, as they say the safety concerns need to be addressed now.

“It’s very baffling to be honest. Because what the community has been demanding for years, we need it urgently. Immediate safety intervention,” said Curnow.

Dr. Milgrom said, “But now we are in a situation where we are going to have a civic election, it’s going to be a different council by the time they get around to approve it. And then we have another year with no safety for cyclists on Wellington Crescent.”