Rules of road still apply on Sunday bike routes, police say

Attention joggers: running on the road could land you a ticket even if you're on a Sunday bike route, mostly free of traffic.

The city has four Sunday bike routes that ban through traffic and allow cars to travel only one block, but that doesn't mean it's a free-for-all for cyclists and joggers, according to Winnipeg police.

"Whether it's running or cycling or walking, just because it's Sunday and it's the bike route, it makes no difference. The rules of the road apply to everybody," said Const. Eric Hofley. "Just because it's Sunday, doesn't mean you have free access to walk across the road any which way."

Wolseley Avenue, Wellington Crescent, Lyndale Drive and Scotia Street are closed to drivers between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Sundays and holidays.

For the first time this year, drivers can be ticketed $185 for driving down the streets during those time periods.

But police are also stopping joggers and cyclists who are using the Sunday bike routes and not following the rules of the road.

On Sunday morning, a group of joggers in Wellington were asked to get off the road and use the sidewalk instead.

"There's an expectation that you're following the rules. You're near the curb or you're going the right way. I know last week we had reports of people cycling the wrong way on Wellington Crescent," said Hofley.

Sunday bike routes will be enforced until Thanksgiving.