When the city of Winnipeg unveiled its plan this morning to convert a lane of traffic along the busy Ashdown Avenue into a protected cycle track, shop owners, commuters, councillors, and cyclists quickly positioned themselves on opposing sides of a heated debate. Removing an entire row of on-street parking to make room for the separated lane drew the sharpest reactions. Supporters maintained that the change would eventually pay for itself through a clear drop in collisions within a few years.
Bernadette Cormier, who owns a neighbourhood bakery on the avenue, objected without hesitation. "About half of my morning customers pull in briefly, buy a coffee, and pull out again. Take away that parking and you take away my livelihood. The planners keep promising that arriving cyclists will replace my departing customers. Yet I have seen no reliable figures proving anything of the kind."
