There was confusion in late April when the Osborne Bridge closed its east sidewalk for repairs. Construction was already underway, but until then, the daily routine for pedestrians and cyclists had not changed.

All of a sudden, people found they could no longer walk to and from downtown through the legislature grounds. They could no longer access the new Assiniboine Avenue bikeway.

Officially, the plan was for pedestrians and cyclists to cross under the bridge.

When the Assiniboine River is low, there is a riverside pathway that connects Mostyn Place (by the Granite Curling Club) to Assiniboine Avenue (and the river walk). However, that walkway was underwater, and even when it’s open, it is very steep by Mostyn.

What happened next was predictable: there was massive jaywalking.

On the first day, I often saw crowds of a dozen or more people walking across together through breaks in traffic on Osborne Avenue. Mothers pushed baby strollers through idling cars. Cyclists rode their bikes through the chaos. Joggers ran through three lanes of traffic.

The media seemed surprised, but they shouldn’t have been.

Before the construction, pedestrians could cross Osborne at Roslyn Road. The construction made that impossible. Was there an adequate alternative? Sadly, no.

With the river walk closed, the other plan was for pedestrians and cyclists to travel north to Broadway before crossing. But there were no signs explaining that, and people prefer to get somewhere the shortest possible way. Many seniors didn’t have the energy for a 700-metre walk to Broadway and back.

Cyclists were also affected; they were cut off from the Assiniboine bikeway, which only opened last year, and most cyclists don’t feel safe cycling in the construction zone.

The police have, so far, not ticketed the jaywalkers, but they have ticketed cyclists on the bridge’s sidewalk.

Construction workers were also at risk when the river walk was underwater. I was shocked to see them also crossing the bridge through traffic. Their work is on the east side, but the construction trailers are parked on Mostyn, on the west. Luckily, no worker has been hit so far.

Slowly, people are adjusting. A long, high fence is now discouraging jaywalking, and when the river is low enough, the riverside path is open.

But, next year, the west sidewalk will be closed and the curling club, Great West Life and West Broadway will be similarly cut off from the east side.

What lessons should we learn from this? Government must better understand its citizens and their needs in order to serve them. 

Sadly, pedestrians and cyclists have been neglected during the repairs. The story is not much better with the Disraeli Overpass and bridge work.

Work on the Disraeli will slow traffic and put pressure on the narrow Redwood and Louise bridges.

“ We must learn from these projects and improve our planning. We must understand how people actually travel. We must acknowledge their desire to get from Point A to Point B as directly as possible.

At the end, a new cycling bridge will also open, but that’s the reverse of how it should happen.

The new cycling bridge should have been started and opened first. Then citizens could have left their cars and cycled, rollerbladed or walked over the river. 

This would have reduced their inconvenience and reduced congestion for everyone else. It would have cut emissions from cars stuck in traffic jams during the work. 

Instead, more people will be stuck in traffic. Government didn’t put people first.

Bridge work is necessary; the repairs will lead, ultimately, to improvements. 

When all is finished, there will be new bike lanes on the Osborne Bridge. The sidewalks will be slightly narrower, but still wide enough for pedestrians. The hope is that cyclists will be comfortable in the new, on-street bicycle lanes.

And, in late 2012, a new pedestrian crossing across Osborne, between Mostyn and Assiniboine, will open.

However, it’s too bad it could not have been done first.

Progress requires change and is often inconvenient. But, it should not cause danger and government must be more sensitive to its citizens.

We must learn from these projects and improve our planning. We must understand how people actually travel.

We must acknowledge their desire to get from Point A to Point B as directly as possible.

And we must not make pedestrians and cyclists an afterthought. Government should put its citizens first.

Paul Hesse is the Manitoba Liberal Candidate for MLA in Fort Rouge.

Published in Volume 65, Number 27 of The Uniter (June 29, 2011)