Winnipeg's most dangerous intersections for cyclists

Intersections along Portage Avenue, Main Street and Pembina Highway top the list of Winnipeg's most dangerous areas for cyclists.

Between Jan.1, 2009 and Dec.31, 2014 there were 917 reported crashes involving a vehicle and bicycle seven of which were fatal, according to aCBC analysis ofdata gathered byManitoba Public Insurance as part of a 2016 Public Utilities Board rate application.

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Top 5 worstintersections forvehicle-bicyclecollisions, 2009-2014:

1. Main Street andRedwood Avenue with7seven collisions.
2. Dalhousie Drive andPembinaHighway with 6collisions.
3. Moray street andPortage Avenue with5collisions.
4. SherbrookStreet andWestminster Avenue with5collisions.
5. Main Street andSutherlandAvenue tied withArlington Street andLogan Avenue, with5collisions each.

Top 5 worst roads for vehicle-bicyclecollisions, 2009-2014:

1. Portage Avenue with73 collisions.
2. Main Street with72 collisions.
3. Pembina Highway with43 collisions.
4. Notre Dame Avenue with37 collisions.
5. Ellice Avenue with34 collisions.

Local cycling advocate Andrea Ttrault said thefindings are consistent with her own observations.

"[This] supports the idea that cyclists really want to be taking the most direct route that they can when they're commuting to work. I think that there's this romantic idea that we like to take these meandering paths through wooded forests, and so on, to get to work, but the reality is we're just using our bike to get to work like anybody would use a car to get to work," she said.

Ttrault saidgiven the situation, cyclists need to take their personal safety into their own hands.

"As a cyclist, I know that I'm vulnerable and so I am extra vigilant, I am extra careful, I make sure that people see me and I try to take the safest route that I possibly can," she added.

Bike Winnipeg said many cyclists are also motorists and sometimes ride down these roads simply out of habit.

"Often if you're driving along there, you're used to just going along the roadways, sometimes you think [...] the roadway you drive down every day, is also the only option to bike down the other day," said Marc Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg.

"For mixed use corridors we want to make sure we're giving transportation options for all users, whether they're walking, biking, taking transit or driving," he said.

How do Winnipeggersget to work?

According to Statistics Canada's 2011 National Household Survey, the main mode of transportation for employed Winnipeg residents aged 15 and olderare broken down as follows:

• Drive a car, truck or van:229,155 people.
• Passenger in a car, truck or van: 24,380people.
• Public transit: 48,530people.
• Walking: 18,095people.
• Cycling: 7,075people.
• Other: 4,550people.

A lack of data

Mark Cohoe saidhe would like there to be more comprehensive collisiondata when it comes to cycling-vehicle interactions on the roads to provide a clearer picture of the situation on the ground.

"Is it a right hook? Are we seeing similar collision types with similar types of intersections across the city?" he said.

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CBC requested statistics regarding the proportion of cyclistsfound to be at fault in the case of a collision with a vehicle, but spokesperson Brian Smiley said MPI does not consistently track at-fault data in cases of bodily injury claims under the no-fault insurance system.

In addition, the MPI data provided for this storyrounds the locations of collisionsto the nearest intersection and is therefore an approximation of actual collisionlocations.

Turning point

Despite the frequent crashes, Andrea Ttrault believes Winnipeg has reached a turning point in terms of the popularity of cycling as a legitimate mode of transportation.

"You just see way more people riding their bikes now than certainly even threeor fiveyears ago, absolutely, I think that more people are out on the road and that in and of itself is going to make people a lotsafer because [cars]just get used to us being there."

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Winnipeg's most dangerous intersections for cyclists

8 years ago

Duration 1:38

Intersections along Portage Avenue, Main Street and Pembina Highway top the list of Winnipeg's most dangerous areas for cyclists.