Comments on Wellington Crescent Bike Lane Pilot Project

On March 3, 2026 the Manitoba Eco-Network, Trees Please Winnipeg, Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition, and Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment – Manitoba Chapter submitted joint comments to Winnipeg Executive Policy Committee on the proposed Wellington Crescent Bike Lane Pilot Project.

A copy of the letter can be found here and the text is reproduced below.

Dear Chairperson Janice Lukes, Mayor Gillingham, and Councillors of the Standing Policy Committee for Public Works,

We, the undersigned local environmental organizations, are writing to you in support of the recommendations made by the Public Service in their administrative report on Item No. 4: Wellington Crescent (Academy Road to Stradbrook Avenue) – Bike Lane Pilot Project.

We are keen to see active transportation infrastructure investments move forward in Winnipeg as one part of our responsibility to mitigate climate change. As the report from the public service indicates, this pilot project is aligned with the climate action targets that the City committed to in OurWinnipeg2045. The City’s Community Energy Investment Roadmap identifies that transportation is the biggest source of emissions in the city, and that investing in active transportation infrastructure is an important way to reduce these emissions. This is also aligned with Strategic Opportunity #3, Advancing Sustainable Transportation, in Winnipeg’s Climate Action Plan. 

Ensuring that people feel safe cycling, walking, and using other modes of active transportation is key to sustainable transportation. We know that the City’s Pedestrian and Cycling Strategies identify Wellington Crescent as a priority gap in Winnipeg’s cycling network. We are unsurprised to learn from the recent engagement report that 83% of cyclists feel unsafe on Wellington Crescent. Many of us (as staff and board members of these organizations) are cyclists ourselves and have experienced close calls with cars on Wellington. We stand with the cycling community in grieving the death of Rob Jenner in June 2024.

Pilot projects are an important part of figuring out what works as we adapt to the realities of a changing climate and our responsibility to act. We were disappointed when this project was delayed three times last year, rather than being implemented in summer 2025 as originally promised. We do not support the proposal that Councillor Lukes has discussed in the media of cancelling the pilot project to begin design work for permanent infrastructure. The pilot will provide important information to inform future permanent infrastructure, as well as offering vital safety improvements for cyclists, pedestrians, and neighbourhood residents in the interim.

We urge you to pass this report as written by the public service and implement the temporary infrastructure without further delay.

Sincerely,

 

Manitoba Eco-Network, 

Trees Please Winnipeg, 

the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition, and 

the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment – Manitoba Chapter (co-chairs Ann Loewen, MD, and Riley Deblonde, MD)