New resources will help cyclists navigate Winnipeg’s evolving active-transportation network

Spring has sprung in Winnipeg — bringing with it not only tulips and potholes, but also an increase in the number of cyclists on city streets.

For fair-weather bike riders, now is the first chance to try out some of the $20.4 million worth of improvements made to Winnipeg’s active-transportation network last year: everything from improved signage to new multi-use pathways to the traffic-calming circles that caused a small furor when they were installed in October. Part of the federal government’s stimulus plan (although financially supported equally by all three levels of government), the unprecedented investment in AT saw 70 km of on-road infrastructure and 30 km of new paths added to the 275 km of existing routes throughout the city; 35 new projects in total.

With the changes to the local landscape come new resources aimed at helping cyclists of all experience levels navigate their way through the city safely and easily.

Offered through the City of Winnipeg’s Leisure Guide, two courses on commuter cycling skills will be held May 14 and 29 from noon until 4 p.m. at the Sport for Life Centre, 145 Pacific Ave. (The first is full but there’s still room for the May 29 course; it costs $36 to attend and those interested must register in advance by calling 311.)

The classes are being taught by Curt Hull and Dave Elmore, members of local volunteer cycling advocacy group Bike to the Future. Both men have been certified by CAN-BIKE, a nationally standardized safety program created by the Canadian Cycling Association.

Hull says the courses are for "any cyclist who wants to ride confidently on the roadway." Each will include two hours of classroom time and two hours of on-road training through residential neighbourhoods and on high-traffic streets, with Hull and Elmore showing participants how to practice four key principles: manoeuvrability, visibility, predictability and communication.

"Since I’ve started to exercise the CAN-BIKE skills, the way motorists treat me has improved dramatically," Hull says. "In fact, the way they treat me as a cyclist is much better then the way they treat me as a motorist."

Also hitting streets this month is a new cycling map of Winnipeg, developed by eight local groups — including BTTF — in partnership with the City.

"Active transportation has been a really important lesson in the power of community involvement," says BTTF member Anders Swanson, a year-round cyclist who helped develop the new map. "It takes lots of eyes and ears to map a city."

An updated, revamped version of a 2009 map, the new resource shows all the AT infrastructure added over the last year and includes a street index. It also notes the type of surface people will encounter on routes in an effort to provide information that will be relevant not only to cyclists, but also to those walking, using wheelchairs or pushing strollers.

"What I think is really innovative about the map is how it incorporates all kinds of people’s needs," Swanson says.

The 2011 Winnipeg cycling map is free. It will be available in local bike shops, and an online version will be released shortly.

Winnipeg’s new AT infrastructure is helping put the city on a different kind of map, too. This past November, biking directions for eight Canadian cities were added on Google Maps, Winnipeg among them. The feature shows riding routes colour-coded according to their suitability for biking and is constantly being updated; users are encouraged to email in tips.

"We were really excited to be a part of that," Swanson says. "We really are redrawing the landscape."