During an exclusive year-end interview, St. Vital Councilor Brian Mayes was taken aback when told the truck route on Goulet Street had become dysfunctional after a botched bike lane construction- and said he’ll be asking questions.
Referring to St. Boniface councilor Matt Allard, Mayes noted “Different councilors promote different things” like bike lanes. But he agreed the result of Allard’s pet project in his own ward should not impact key truck routes that all Winnipeggers- and especially vehicles coming from St. Vital, Transcona and East Kildonan- rely on.
Mayes, who has not traveled on Route 115 westbound in a few months, said, “I’m not the ward councilor so I don’t really know what’s going on there… I can certainly follow up on that.”
“You’ve been good at policing some of these projects” said Mayes, acknowledging that councilors can get so busy they lose track of the bigger picture that ActionLIne reporting helps fill them in on.
The ‘bigger picture’ is that drivers on the east side of Winnipeg coming to St. Boniface or headed towards downtown and to west Winnipeg have seen vehicle lane capacity on Goulet from the curve to Traverse Ave. reduced by 33% – and the rushed bike lane project resulted in a crudely patched, uneven, sloped and narrowed truck route. Plus, the bike lane is barricaded.
Mayes indicated he would speak with Councilor Russ Wyatt (Transcona), whose east-side constituents are also affected by the Goulet botch-up.
In a previous interview with Marty Gold, Wyatt blamed a malignant culture inside the City Hall bureaucracy for pushing the Goulet project through despite a biased public consultation process that excluded key stakeholders- including the trucking industry, hospital area residents, and Norwood Grove businesses.
Mayes also spoke about the first year of Mayor Gillingham, the pitfalls he sees in the zoning overhaul, and why the Parker Lands housing development is among the bizarre exclusions under Trudeau’s funding criteria.
Listen to the full interview with Coun. Brian Mayes on Thursday, when we post Episode 38 of The Great Canadian Talk Show podcast, Season 3.
See Our Video Report– City Secret Revealed: Marion Bike Lanes Plan Will Steal 99 Parking Spots
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