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Below is a compilation of letters sent to the City of Winnipeg Police or City of Winnipeg Public Works regarding inadequate traffic infrastructure. None of the letters have ever been responded to by the city and very few changes have occurred. Below is a list of letters by date and topic.
Aug 8, 2011 - Request to Public Works to Dual Sign Playground Zone Signing Aug 8, 2011 - Request to Public Works to Fix Speed Reduction Signs on Main Street Sept 4, 2011 - Request to Police For Better Speed Reduction Signs Jan 5, 2012 - Request to Public Works to Replace Missing Speed Limit Signs Jan 6, 2012 - Request to Public Works to Fix Speed Reduction Signs on Grant Mar 1, 2012 - Request to Police For Better Speed Signing on Bishop Grandin Mar 18, 2012 - Request to Public Works for No Left Turn Signs at Ellice and Empress May 28, 2012 - Request to Public Works for Meeting Regarding School Zone Signs
August 8, 2011 Luis Escobar-Mgr of Transportation 101-1155 Pacific Ave Winnipeg, Man R3C 3P1 Dear Sir,
Chris Sweryda
Dual signed playground zone sign after school zone signs on John Forsythe EB approaching Dakota. This is a non arterial road that doesnt allow parking along this stretch.
Closer view of dual signed playground zone signs on John Forsythe EB approaching Dakota after the dual signed school zone signs.
August 8, 2011 Luis Escobar-Mgr of Transportation 101-1155 Pacific Ave Winnipeg, Man R3C 3P1 Dear Sir,
light coordination is also dependent on the speed limit as well as the activation timing for the WB5 advance warning flashers used to indicate a traffic light ahead is about to change to amber. The use or non-use of curve ahead signs and the recommended speed tabs are fully dependent on the speed limit. School zone signs in 50 zones are 60x60cm and 75x75cm in 60 or higher zones. With so much infrastructure and safety being dependent on the speed limit, proper speed limit signing should be the basics of signing any road and especially at a speed reduction. The greatest amount of infrastructure difference is between 50 and higher speeds which means a reduction to 50 must be signed in the best possible way. For the above reasons, I ask the City of Winnipeg to please lower the RB1 50 sign on NB Main at Assiniboine to between 2-3m as per the MUTCD guidelines, add a second RB1 50 and RB5 (50 ahead) sign on the median and to use oversized signs. I also ask for additional RB1 50 postings to be placed on Main NB north of Broadway, north of York, north of Portage and north of the Disraeli Freeway to further reinforce the speed limit through this area. Please find attached pictures of various signs found around the city of Winnipeg that might further help aid you in making your final decision regarding this specific location. I look forward to any response you may be able to give me regarding this matter. I can be reached by the address below or by phone at 801-9239 or e-mail at csweryda@hotmail.com. Thank you for your time. Sincerely,
Chris Sweryda
Signing Pictures
Main Street NB from Assiniboine with speed sign on right side only for four lanes of through traffic.
Top of cross-bar indicates 3m maximum height allowed in MUTCD. The 60 sign before the reduction is at perfect height, but the 50 sign for the reduction north of Assiniboine is too high.
Curve ahead signs on Waverley SB approaching Scurfield. Signs are oversized and dual signed.
Dual signed not a truck route (RB62) and dual signed-oversized No Exit signs before a 3rd No Exit sign. Signs measure 60x60cm (Oversized) and a standard sign measures at 45x45cm.
September 4, 2011 Winnipeg Police Service P.O. Box 1680 Winnipeg, Man R3C 2Z7 Dear Winnipeg Police,
Dual and oversized signs not only creates a fair location to conduct enforcement, it also greatly improves the safety of the road. Maximum 50 signs are not placed after a speed reduction to 50 because of the 50 unless otherwise posted rule leaving a speed reduction to 50 as the only means to inform motorists of the lower speed. A great amount of infrastructure is dependent on the speed limit. The City of Winnipegs internal signing manual specifies that pedestrian crossings are to be signed with warning signs in speed zones of 60 and higher and dual signed on divided roads. School zone signs in 60 and higher zones are 75x75cm and 60x60cm in 50 zones and are dual signed on all divided roads. Taking these policies into consideration, one road I chose to study was Corydon. For EB Corydon, there is a speed reduction at Kelvin Ave which is signed only on the right side of the road on light standards that measured 5.9m from the edge of the road. Continuing on Corydon EB there are a total of four school zones and ten pedestrian crosswalks before Pembina Hwy. All of these school zones are signed with 60x60cm signs and the crosswalks all lack advance warning signs due to this being a 50 zone; a zone entirely dependent on the speed reduction at Kelvin. This one example is indicative of the citywide issue and demonstrates the need to have fully visible speed reduction signing. These issues seriously call into question the enforceability of many of the WPSs enforcement locations The WPS claims to fully care about the publics safety through the just slow down campaign which can only be fully effective with proper signing. People cannot be expected to slow down unless they have proper signing telling them to do so. When I confronted a WPS officer conducting one of these speed traps, his response to these issues was nothing more then to say that people shouldnt drive beside large trucks. This is a grossly inadequate answer and I wish to ask the police service how the average motorist is expected to see these speed limit signs when not even minimum standards are met and how the WPS and City can claim that enforcement is not a cash grab when no other measures are taken to improve safety. When motorists drive past these inadequate speed limit reductions and see WPS enforcing, it is not the opinion of Public Works that is tainted as much as that of the WPS who are seen as the ones exploiting these signs. For these reasons, I ask the WPS to please commission public works to review all speed limit reductions in the city, move any signs that do not meet placement requirements and to change all reduction signs on arterial and truck routes to oversized and to dual sign all reductions on divided roadways. I wish to be informed on what measures the WPS is taking with public works to address these issues. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response. Sincerely,
Chris Sweryda cc: National Motorist Association cc: Manitoba Public Insurance cc: Transportation Association of Canada cc: Winnipeg Media Outlets
Pictures 2A & B:
Dual signed not a truck route (RB62) and dual signedoversized No Exit signs. Jefferson EB at McPhillips and Seven Oaks EB at Main. Both are for a single lane of traffic.
Picture 3:
Large vehicle in curb lane blocking vehicles in median lane from seeing speed reduction sign that is posted on the right side only.
Picture 4:
Picture 5:
Dual signed MIT signs on North Perimeter Hwy WB east of Pipeline Road. (Google Streetview)
Picture 6:
Curve ahead signs on Waverley SB north of Scurfield are dual signed and oversized.
Pictures 7A-C:
Top of cross-bar indicates 3m maximum height allowed in MUTCD. The 60 sign before the reduction is at perfect height, but the 50 sign for the reduction north of Assiniboine is too high on Main NB.
January 5, 2012 City of Winnipeg Public Works 110-1199 Pacific Ave Winnipeg, Man R3E 3S8 Dear Sir,
January 6, 2012 City of Winnipeg Public Works 110-1199 Pacific Ave Winnipeg, Man R3E 3S8 Dear Public Works,
Located after the Grant and Nathaniel area is a pair of dual signed speed signs on Grant WB west of Montrose which also includes a sign that tells drivers their speed. This type of signing needs to be before the problem speed area, not after. This speeding problem is as much a responsibility of the city to properly sign as it is for the motorist to obey the signs. People simply cannot reduce their speed if they arent properly informed of the limit. A speed sign can be purchased for $55. Since the lowest camera ticket starts at $216, just two of the thousands of tickets could pay for the purchase and installation of the four speed signs required to dual sign the reduction and add confirmation signs after Harrow and Wilton. These improvements would cost about 0.0004% of the speeding ticket revenue collected from the Grant/Wilton camera in 2010 alone. These signs need to be installed for the safety of all pedestrians and traffic on Grant Ave. If the city truly cares about safety instead of revenue, its time to show it with real safety measures which include proper signing. Please contact me after review of this letter as I would like to know what measures the city will be taking to improve signing. I look forward to your response and can be reached at 204-801-9239 or by csweryda@hotmail.com. Sincerely,
Chris Sweryda
March 1, 2012 Winnipeg Police Service P.O. Box 1680 Winnipeg, Man R3C 2Z7 Dear Winnipeg Police,
One last safety measure would be to use larger than the current minimum sized (60x75 cm) signs. Other cities are using signs between 75x90 cm and up to 90x120 cm at areas identified as having speeding problems. All divided highways in the provincial jurisdiction outside of Winnipeg already have these larger signs. The results appear positive since the RCMP have never publicized speeding problems outside the city in the way Winnipeg Police have about Bishop Grandin and other areas. The best comparison for Bishop Grandin would be Anderson Blvd in Calgary (see attached pictures). Just like Bishop Grandin, Anderson is a major 80 km/h four lane divided arterial road servicing communities in the south end of the city. Also in comparison, Anderson has an extended section near its west end that lacks traffic signals and would allow for excessive speeds. The difference is that this portion of Anderson has extra large speed limit signs dual signed and with proper placement. It's obviously effective, because a Google search was unsuccessful in finding any links to information from Calgary Police regarding a speeding or collision problem on Anderson. This is obviously the solution for Winnipeg and I ask Winnipeg Police to begin taking steps necessary to see Winnipeg Public Works bring in these initiatives. It is my understanding that Winnipeg Police have claimed they do not get involved in signing issues and leave this as a Public Works matter. This method simply does not work and is not done in other cities. A traffic engineer in Halifax has indicated that his city has installed extra large speed signs as requested by police at problem speed locations. A worker in Abbotsford stated that Public Works and Police have monthly meetings and discuss how to improve road infrastructure. This is just to name a few and is obviously an initiative that Winnipeg Police needs to take, if safety is truly a goal and not revenue. Public Works cannot identify problem speed areas and make appropriate changes without the input of Police. E-mail addresses of members of Winnipeg Police appeared on Public Works e-mails regarding the removal of the median warning signs before intersection cameras. If Winnipeg Police can be involved with sign removal, they can certainly serve a role in seeing signs installed for safety. "If we're able to reduce the amount of speed, we're able to increase safety"Mark Hodgson, Winnipeg Sun, July 3, 2011. I wish to be informed on what measures the WPS is taking with Public Works to address these issues. I can be contacted at csweryda@hotmail.com. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response. Sincerely,
Chris Sweryda P.S. My previous letter from about six months ago regarding inadequate speed reduction signing has not yet been answered. If there was a response that somehow didn't make it to me, I would appreciate if it could be resent. Please let me know if my initial letter needs to be resubmitted. Thanks. cc: Manitoba Public Insurance cc: Winnipeg Mayors Office cc: Winnipeg Public Works
Comparison Pictures
Bishop Grandin EB east of Waverley has only one minimum sized speed limit sign on the right that is too far off the road and too high. The power station in the background is the normal Winnipeg Police enforcement location. The WB side of Bishop Grandin has the same problems as the EB.
Anderson Blvd (Calgary) EB west of 24th Street SB has oversized speed limit signs dual signed on both sides of the road. The lower signs at a shorter distance from the road puts the signs in the driver's line of sight. Note the dual signing on the opposing direction at the next light pole up.
Below are pictures of dual signed speed limit signs from other cities across western Canada that are both larger and smaller then Winnipeg. Winnipeg is truly alone for not utilizing the advantages of dual speed limit signing placed in proper proximity to the road. Kelowna (British Columbia) Edmonton (Alberta)
Saskatoon (Saskatchewan)
Regina (Saskatchewan)
March 18, 2012 City of Winnipeg Public Works 110-1199 Pacific Ave Winnipeg, Man R3E 3S8 Dear Public Works,
The intersection of Empress NB at Ellice (Left) is missing the near-right no left turn sign. Ellice WB at Berry (Right) has the nearright as well as the far side no left turn signs present.
Advance signs preceding the intersection are very efficient at giving drivers a warning of the upcoming restriction and when posted more than a block before the intersection, drivers are able to make the desired turn at the intersection before the one with the restriction. Advance signing is not present for the turn restrictions on Empress at Ellice but is commonly found at other locations throughout the city.
There are two advance signs placed preceding the no left turn on Ellice WB at Berry. The first sign (Left Picture) is placed on Ellice WB west of Century. The second (Middle Picture) is placed on Ellice WB west of King Edward just before the intersection. An advance turn control sign is also placed on Stafford SB south of Dorchester (Right Picture) to give advance warning for the no left turn at Corydon.
The no left turns on Empress at Ellice are unexpected by motorists because there are no other turn restrictions in the Empress and St. James area. The times that the restrictions apply are 7:00-22:00 everyday which is very unusual considering almost all other locations where a turn restriction isn't full-time, apply 7:00-9:00 and/or 15:30-17:30 Mon-Fri. Outside of these normal expected hours, many drivers will see a time exception tab and utilize the habit of disregarding the sign. The unusual hours that the Empress/Ellice turn restrictions apply, the absence of other restrictions in the immediate area and the nonexistence of near and advance signing have all played a role in creating a very high non-compliance issue for drivers at this location. To capitalize off of the deficiencies, Winnipeg police have been seen on a daily basis enforcing this location. Heavily enforced hours are often early in the morning and late at night which in the absence of daylight and near side signs, will make drivers much less likely to observe far side signs causing unfair ticketing. I have spoken to people who have been ticketed as early as 7:01 in the morning (one minute after the restriction begins) which shows no discretion by Winnipeg Police when it comes to enforcing at this intersection. Staff at the nearby Winners which is the parking lot used by police have commented that enforcement is seen everyday. I ask Public Works to install near-right side signs and advance warning signs preceding this intersection for both the NB and SB directions. Please notify me at csweryda@hotmail.com with an estimated time for when these signs could be expected to be installed or any reasons why this request can not be accommodated.
Sincerely,
Chris Sweryda
(Update: As of June 2013, there has been no response to this letter sent in March of 2012)
May 28th, 2012 City of Winnipeg Public Works 110-1199 Pacific Ave Winnipeg, Man R3E 3S8 Dear Sir,