Winnipeg Roads & Infrastructure

[cllew]

I use to blow snow on the city sidewalk for a few houses on either side of me until I was yelled at for doing it at 9 am one morning and being told it was too early to be doing that.

My thoughts were I am out and dressed up anyway. May as well get my moneys worth of use from the blower.

There are questionable uses of city/contractor machine time though. I was coming down Marion on the weekend, and there was Bobcat with a snowblower doing the city sidewalk on the south side in front of the vacant frontage where the stock yards were. I don't think I have ever seen anybody walk on that side of the street in summer or winter but because it has a sidewalk it gets cleared.

There was also a private clearing contractor on CJOB around 4 pm saying that most of the machine operators on the tendered part of the city snow routes don't know how to operate their machines in winter. He was saying if you use the right angle on the blade the ice ruts should peel up.

[bomberjet]

^ I used to clear sidewalks for a couple winters using a Bobcat on those huge blower crews (where they blow the snow into the back of trailer trucks). Scraping sidewalks downtown with the bucket was such a pain in the ass. You had to get the right angle on the blade of the bucket to get it to peel up. Sometimes it wouldn't happen.

Doing streets with a grader. I don't see how you couldn't find that sweet spot and get the snow to peel. Maybe the cold really does get it to stick to the street that bad, I don't really know.

But to your point about lack of experience. I basically got thrown out there one day when another guy didn't show. No experience doing snow, two summers of doing landscaping. So I could see how that could easily happen (I was once one of them). Gotta keep the plows going to get that money rolling in. The rates for the bobcat were close to $200/hr IIRC. Which is nuts.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by esquire

Sure it might work better in other Canadian cities, nearly all of which get more breaks in the weather that allow a bit of melting to occur, not to mention (in most but admittedly not all cases) less snow.

You can do it in Toronto because it is usually melting anyway (so you don't really need to do it if you can wait a few hours) and because the average lot is very narrow by Winnipeg standards. Even so, on the rare occasions where the temperature doesn't go above zero for a couple of days, there are usually stretches of sidewalk that don't get cleared, making walking more hazardous in Toronto as a result. The sidewalks are extremely icy today, even on some downtown streets with businesses on them.

[khabibulin]

All the sidewalks in downtown Gatineau are also crazy slippery and icy. Winnipeg is not alone in having to endure difficult walking conditions along the sidewalks in the winter.

QUOTE=Andy6;6399304]You can do it in Toronto because it is usually melting anyway (so you don't really need to do it if you can wait a few hours) and because the average lot is very narrow by Winnipeg standards. Even so, on the rare occasions where the temperature doesn't go above zero for a couple of days, there are usually stretches of sidewalk that don't get cleared, making walking more hazardous in Toronto as a result. The sidewalks are extremely icy today, even on some downtown streets with businesses on them.[/QUOTE]

[Cyro]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

But to your point about lack of experience. I basically got thrown out there one day when another guy didn't show. No experience doing snow, two summers of doing landscaping. So I could see how that could easily happen (I was once one of them). Gotta keep the plows going to get that money rolling in. The rates for the bobcat were close to $200/hr IIRC. Which is nuts.

It's funny..I had never sat in a piece of machinery or pushed a wheel barrel around until I had my 1st landscaping job with Shelmerdine when I was younger, 2 seasons.

They just said, "Get in that Bob Cat and try it." the rest is history. Then they asked me to drive a Hino 3 tonne,and start dumping loads at sites. Next, get on that tractor/back hoe and lets pull some trees...dig a hole..ok..Trial under fire, but I enjoyed every minute of it..

Went on to regular construction after that..

Coincidence..

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by Cyro

It's funny..I had never sat in a piece of machinery or pushed a wheel barrel around until I had my 1st landscaping job with Shelmerdine when I was younger, 2 seasons.

Haha, me too except I was with McEwan Bros.

[Cyro]

McEwan Bros,..... Shelmerdines arch rival..lol..

That's great to here.

[steveosnyder]

It looks like there will still be access off of Lagimodiere strictly for the Credit Union at Almey... Great -- the City should keep a dangerous intersection open just for one business to use.

http://www.winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/ViewD...tc/2014/a13283

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

It looks like there will still be access off of Lagimodiere strictly for the Credit Union at Almey... Great -- the City should keep a dangerous intersection open just for one business to use.

http://www.winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/ViewD...tc/2014/a13283

That's so ridiculous it's not even funny. I thought they would've changed it to a right turn only thing. The City really messed up with having the Credit Union there. Such an odd spot. I also seen the land across from the CU was either up for sale or development. what a mess...

[northern_hoser]

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

It looks like there will still be access off of Lagimodiere strictly for the Credit Union at Almey... Great -- the City should keep a dangerous intersection open just for one business to use.

http://www.winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/ViewD...tc/2014/a13283

With the closure of Plessis at Dugald, and the subsequent increase of traffic on Regent on a regular basis, alot of people have been using those roads to get to Lagimodiere, myself included. Is this a for sure thing or just a recommendation right now?

[cllew]

The people on Almey have been asking for closure for years (from when Costco opened if not sooner). As they are not gong to fight it, Russ Wyatt is going to put it through.

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by northern_hoser

With the closure of Plessis at Dugald, and the subsequent increase of traffic on Regent on a regular basis, alot of people have been using those roads to get to Lagimodiere, myself included. Is this a for sure thing or just a recommendation right now?

It's a for sure thing. It will be closing January 1, 2015. The Reenders extension through to Peguis is supposed to be completed by then, so that's this coming summer. Maybe get pushed back a year if Reenders doesn't get done this year. but from what I've seen, it's supposed to happen

The problem most have at Almey is the set of lights on Lag. Which should be expressway with no lights. Especially since it will only be serving the bank and whatever goes in across Almey from there.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

It looks like there will still be access off of Lagimodiere strictly for the Credit Union at Almey... Great -- the City should keep a dangerous intersection open just for one business to use.

http://www.winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/ViewD...tc/2014/a13283

Winnipeg never accepted the use of service roads, about the only place I can think of one is along #1 in Windsor Park/Niakwa, there may be a few others but most cities use them quite a bit.

[Bdog]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Winnipeg never accepted the use of service roads, about the only place I can think of one is along #1 in Windsor Park/Niakwa, there may be a few others but most cities use them quite a bit.

Yeah, pretty rare here. Only other ones I can think of are in front of Grant Park Mall, along Waverley and McGillivray in the industrial park, and Lag at the north Perimeter. Most of these aren't even service roads though, but actual roads/ remnants of old roads.

[steveosnyder]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Winnipeg never accepted the use of service roads, about the only place I can think of one is along #1 in Windsor Park/Niakwa, there may be a few others but most cities use them quite a bit.

A service road wouldn't be too bad. This is a lighted intersection on an "express way" (if we can still call Lag that) for one business -- hardly what I would call a service road.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

A service road wouldn't be too bad. This is a lighted intersection on an "express way" (if we can still call Lag that) for one business -- hardly what I would call a service road.

If it's changed to be an "on demand" signal with loops or radar sensors for the east side, the lights should stay green on Lag until a car needs off of the credit union access road.

[steveosnyder]

Originally Posted by cllew

If it's changed to be an "on demand" signal with loops or radar sensors for the east side, the lights should stay green on Lag until a car needs off of the credit union access road.

I agree -- this is what they should do. But it still doesn't change the fact that it's wasteful of City infrastructure.

I got a great idea, let's put one of these at the end of my driveway... It will only change to green when someone is pulling out, so it's not wasteful at all -- traffic on my street has really been picking up.[/SARCASM]

The scale might be different, but the idea is the same; this is stupid.

[cllew]

It's very hard to get rid of traffic signals in Winnipeg, they are too much of a hot button with the public.

In 2007 the Signals dept wanted to remove the ones at Washington Ave and Watt St in EK as they were put in the summer of 1961 as a knee jerk reaction to a traffic fatality by the old City of East Kildonan over the objections of the Metro Corporation. The signals were now obselete and the cost in 2007 was $95000 to upgrade them.

The administation wanted to put in stop signs on Washington and a pedestrian corridor as the intersection did not meet the counts to justify a signal (less than 25% of the minimun for a signal). The cost for a corridor was $28000, and it would be available 24/7 versus the 10 hours 5 days a week of the signals.

Lillian Thomas who was area councilor at the time, instead went to the principal of Polson School and the Priest at Holy Eucharist and when they said they did not like the idea, she said that was good enough for her and she convinced the rest of the EKTCC to vote it down.

[yellowghost]

The sad truth is that Winnipeg will NEVER have a true freeway. The best you can hope for is that future projects are budgeted with things like bridges, cloverleaves in mind. For example, Chief penguis street to be extended westward and eastward no? Is it planned to get joined with other streets at its new ends with cloverleaves or traffic lights? If the plan is cloverleaves, then it take much longer for the city to aquire the money for the project. But even if it is...you still have all those intersections in between to slow down traffic. I have seen a significant reduction in traffic flow since I started driving in 1992. I wonder sometimes what streets like pembina, Keewatin, Henderson..etc. will looks like in 20 years in a rush hour. I am afraid a tradegy is the only way action will be taken in this matter. Perhaps if somebody of importance dies because paramedics cannot arrive in time because they just litterally cannot get thru the traffic.

[alittle1]

Originally Posted by yellowghost

The sad truth is that Winnipeg will NEVER have a true freeway. The best you can hope for is that future projects are budgeted with things like bridges, cloverleaves in mind. For example, Chief penguis street to be extended westward and eastward no? Is it planned to get joined with other streets at its new ends with cloverleaves or traffic lights? If the plan is cloverleaves, then it take much longer for the city to aquire the money for the project. But even if it is...you still have all those intersections in between to slow down traffic. I have seen a significant reduction in traffic flow since I started driving in 1992. I wonder sometimes what streets like pembina, Keewatin, Henderson..etc. will looks like in 20 years in a rush hour. I am afraid a tradegy is the only way action will be taken in this matter. Perhaps if somebody of importance dies because paramedics cannot arrive in time because they just litterally cannot get thru the traffic.

So, is anyone willing to make the sacrifice at Almey and Lag, then maybe Russ will close it.