by Janice Lukes, Winnipeg Trails Association

For the next few months, much will be happening related to the $20M in Active Transportation (AT) projects. I aim to provide regular updates on important information as it develops.

This 'stimulus' funding is stimulating a lot of fast action & fast decisions. Things are fluid and will be constantly evolving. I'll attempt to keep you informed of key initiatives. You can really help to improve the final results by being involved -- see how below.

This past week, I attended 4 significant meetings which I will attempt to share information on. In the below points, please note my end-of-each-meeting Summary Comments.

1. Vélo Québec Workshop Meeting

• This meeting refined details around the upcoming Vélo Québec workshops.
• The City of Winnipeg is holding two Technical Training one-day workshops (the same workshop each day) -- 20 people per workshop on January 26th & 27th.
• The workshop will be for City & Provincial planners, engineers, and representatives from the ~9 consulting firms the city has hired to build the $20M of AT infrastructure.
• The workshop's format (Planning Active Transportation Infrastructure for Pedestrians & Cyclists) will be somewhat similar to this: http://www.velo.qc.ca/english/bikewaysdesign.php?page=training.
• The City is funding all expenses related to the workshops (instructors costs, technical manuals, etc).
• The workshops will be delivered by Marc Jolicoeur, PEng and Research Director of Vélo Québec. Marc arrives on the Monday, and is toured around Winnipeg to look at the streets / city, etc. One of our goals in the workshop is to have him speak to effectively dealing with major arteries (Pembina Hwy, Portage Ave, Main Street, etc).
• Marc has delivered workshops throughout Canada and Quebec for 7+ years.
• Each participant will receive a technical handbook of Bikeway Designs: http://www.velo.qc.ca/english/index.php?page=publications. Note: This is the 3rd edition of the manual, and a 4th edition will be published in Spring 2010 = extensive expertise / best practices in designing on road cycling infrastructure.
• Note: Winnipeg does not have any technical standards / best practices related to bikeways because none have ever been built on Winnipeg streets.

Summary Comments:

This workshop is occurring because of 'dynamic' discussions between the City, the Winnipeg Trails Association, Bike to the Future, One Green City and the Active Transportation Advisory Committee ... and the City's funding. While only so much information can be delivered in a one day workshop, we know Vélo Québec's insight and technical manuals will be a definite help to attaining a higher level / better quality of what is going to be built.

2 & 3. Communication Advisory Committee Meeting and follow-up Sub Committee Meeting

Basically, the meeting was a Status Update on the ISP activities and a request for a sub-committee to form to focus on more specific communication details (development of communication materials, brochures, messaging, etc.)

The City's new Public Relations expert (Ed Shiller -- http://www.edshiller.com/ed.asp and his team will be handling all PR related to the $20M Infrastructure Stimulus Project (i.e. promotion of AT, Open Houses, the new AT Blog on the City's website, etc). While we are not yet clear on how many people are on the City's PR team, Ed and 3 other PR staff attended this meeting. It appears there are more resources they can call on.

The Communication Advisory Committee meeting consisted of

• Mr. Shiller's team (him and 3 PR people),
• some of the City's Active Transportation Advisory Committee members (7 non city people),
• the City's Infrastructure Stimulus Project (ISP) team (5 people): Kevin Nixon (AT Coordinator) and Bill Woroby (City Public Works Project Manager who has extensive PM experience on large projects). Kevin and Bill oversee and work with: Ruth Marr (Marr Consulting), Lisa Holowchuck (Scatliff Millar Murray), and Bob Kurylko, (PEng and Project Manager at Stantect). Ruth, Lisa, and Bob oversee and work with 7 consulting firms who each have ~5 of the 37 projects. Ruth, Lisa, and Bob are working to ensure consistency, etc, with the 7 consulting firms.

This was the first Status Update many of us have had since the funding was announced, and I will highlight the key points.

All of the consulting firms are now hired and have been allocated a 'bundle' of projects - based on geography, type of project, etc. They have been provided a list of 'Evaluation Criteria' (5+ pages) to base their designs on, and a guideline of the general steps that will be followed:

Project Guideline

Stage 1 - Background Information and Conceptual Design
A. Route Familiarization & Community Profiles
B. Develop Options: What / Why
c. Traffic Analysis (if appropriate)
D. Public Consultation
E. Evaluation
F. Conceptual Design
G. Final Analysis and Costing
H. Recommendations

Stage 2 - Preliminary Design
A. Preliminary Design - cost

Stage 3 - Detailed Design and Construction
A. Final Detailed Design
B. Tendering, Contracting & Construction

Complexity by Design

The projects have also been categorized due to complexity by design - which also relates to the 'Tender Ready Timing' and 'Consultation Intensity' (i.e. complex ones will take longer to figure out and be tendered later in the summer, and infrastructure that will really change the way vehicles move will require more intense consultations). The categories are:

• Complex with many options (e.g. Sherbrook / Maryland Bikeway, York / St Mary's Bikeways, etc).
• Moderate with more than one option (e.g. Seine River Pathway, Transcona Pathway, Grosvenor Ave Bikeway, etc).
• Easy with no or few options (e.g. Omand's Creek Bridge, Bison Dr. Pathway, etc).

Permits / Approvals Matrix

All of the projects are being reviewed to see which ones require permits / warrants / Federal approvals / traffic studies, etc. (i.e. pedestrian crosswalk studies, removal of street parking / lanes, navigational waterway approvals, Fisheries & Oceans approvals, etc.) The requirements are being bundled project-by-project to expedite the process.

Tendering Deadlines

The goal is to tender projects as they become truly 'shovel ready' starting in February and going through to June.

Community Consultation

At the meeting there was extensive discussion that, prior to public consultations, key stakeholder groups meet with the consultants to provide input into developing options (part B of Project Guideline) -- consult with Transcona Trails, Save Our Seine, Bike to the Future, etc, prior to going to the public consultation process. This hopefully will occur; the intent seems to be there. It was confirmed that public consultations would be held in various shopping malls and other yet-to-be-determined locations throughout the city. There are no dates yet, but they will start soon, and will also be bundled -- a community consultation on say, 5 to 6 projects.

Public Launch

On Tuesday January 26th, at the Mayor's annual State of the City Address, Ed Shiller's team will launch promotional materials and a display on the City's $20M AT projects. This display and supporting promotional material will be the 'travelling roadshow' that will be used in future community consultations at malls, etc.

• The 2+ hour meeting concluded with a PR / Communications sub-committee forming to assist Ed's team in developing these materials. This team met on Friday, and is providing information for the City's rapid turnaround for the January 26th launch.

Summary Comments:

• The update part of the meeting reiterated the complexity of building $20M worth of infrastructure that the City has never before been built, and building it in one construction season -- mind-boggling!
• For any of you who have worked with the City on any type of project, you have a clear understanding of how City 'process' and 'timelines' work.
• But, without a doubt, the $20 million will be spend on building something. (It is a use-it-or-lose-it funding scheme.)
• The real question is how it will be spent.
• In light of setting expectations, I think we all need to be very realistic and know that not all of it will be built perfectly, and that there will be a need for 'improvements' over the years to come.
• And recognize that it is critical to attend as many of the Public Community Consultation process as possible when the dates are announced.
• The Public Relations / Communications part of the meeting (and Friday's follow up meeting) was almost surreal. Here we have 4+ people from the City's PR team working with us to develop PR materials on trails, bikeways, etc. I think I've waited 8 years for these discussions to occur! :-)

4. Mark your calendars

Monday January 25th at 7:00 PM at The Forks (more details next week. This is short notice, but opportunities abound!

We will be hosting an informative evening open to your membership, the public, and organizations interested on perspectives where walking and cycling infrastructure was built and embraced with a fervour!

Quebec is Canada's leading province in Active Transportation and Cycling Tourism. Marc Jolicoeur will share his perspectives on the hows / whys of Quebec's great walking and cycling successes.

Minneapolis is second only to Portland in the United States as a city whose people and governments are embracing walking and cycling. Jay Walljasper will share his perspectives on Minneapolis's success. Minneapolis just recently received buckets of stimulus funding also!

We are thrilled that both these speakers come from climates and terrain similar to Winnipeg and will share their time / insight / expertise with us on the eve of spending $20M in our city!

We will also be treated to a 'visual visionary' presentation from one of Winnipeg's local artists and cycling advocates, Anders Swanson.

Summary Comments:

Please make a point to attend this session to learn more about what other successful communities are doing to develop walking and cycling routes. It will help you provide educated input to the upcoming public consultations on what Winnipeg will be building. There are multiple partners participating in this event, and we will announce shortly -- but huge thanks to Paul Jordan (WTA Chair), the Province of Manitoba, and Anders Swanson for helping initiate this evening!!

The projects

BttF's response to the $20million funding announcement for Winnipeg AT

2009 year-end update from the Winnipeg Trails Association