Two cyclists’ deaths raise concerns about active transportation infrastructure
By: Dre DeBattista
A man accused of a deadly hit-and-run which killed two people last month was granted bail.
Judge Wanda Garreck released Kuldeep Singh Gill following a bail hearing, Friday, Oct. 3.
My sorrow for Kerry Ashley Bonner and Egor Popov quickly turned to anger as I heard of the preventable circumstance these two cyclists found themselves in.
The dozens of broken links in Winnipeg’s active transportation network are unpredictable. They confuse people, discourage cyclists, frustrate drivers, and put cyclists and pedestrians at risk. Route 90 near Enterprise Drive—where a pickup truck ran over Bonner and Popov—has no sidewalk, bike lane or multi-use path. The posted speed limit is 80 km/h.
The City of Winnipeg has failed its citizens by neglecting to build the infrastructure to keep people safe from the dangers of the highway.
“Deaths or injuries on the city’s transportation network are never acceptable,” said Adam Campbell, a City of Winnipeg communications officer in an email. “We take all incidents on the transportation network seriously.”
But if deaths are taken so seriously, why hasn’t the city issued a public statement with a plan to address these deaths? It’s simple really. If they accept responsibility, they could be held accountable, and our city isn’t willing to put that on the line to protect its citizens.
Barriers should be in place to keep the regrettable decisions of inebriated or distracted drivers from killing people.
Commuters make up 89.5 per cent of workers in Winnipeg, according to a recent Statistics Canada report in 2025, which is the highest rate compared to other Canadian cities.
With a growing population, Winnipeg must innovate to transport more people.
New bike lanes in Osborne Village received praise by Ron Johnson in Momentum Magazine last month. But routes are only as good as their weakest links–and there are many.
Jim Voth, Chair of Automotive Trades at Red RRC Polytech, has been cycling to campus from his Transcona home for 18 years and said in an interview his route hasn’t improved since the first few years.
Voth usually rides from April through October, but he doesn’t ride as much as he used to because of health issues.
He starts his commute around 5:30 a.m. to avoid traffic. His route takes him down quiet side streets with no dedicated bike lanes.
Then he has to get across Highway 59 and through the St. Boniface Industrial Park before making it downtown.
Voth recommends the City of Winnipeg should build an active transportation corridor to complete the link, perhaps along Mission Street and the adjacent rail line.
His route avoids taking a detour through Elmwood and Point Douglas, where there are more frequent stops and heavier traffic.
He takes Alexander Avenue’s two-way bike corridor most of the way from downtown to campus. This wasn’t an option for him when he started riding to work.
At the end of the day, Voth finds navigating rush hour traffic challenging. He said downtown is easy and St. Boniface is easy. It’s Mission Street where he encounters the most traffic.
“There’s quite a bit of commercial traffic, and then people who want to avoid the busy places use it,” said Voth. “Sometimes people use it just because they want a racetrack.”
Twenty-eight years ago on a quiet street, Voth recounts a car hit his family on their bikes.
His son went flying about 20 feet. His wife and daughter were spun out into the middle of the road. He doesn’t remember a thing from the day.
He said everyone recovered, but he’s the only one in his family who still rides a bike.
The bike routes closer to the campus zig down busy roadways and zag up residential streets.
No matter where bicycle commuters live, they have to mingle with motorists or take a detour.
Voth said the downtown part of his commute had the best infrastructure, but even downtown has its gaps in cycling routes.
The City of Winnipeg has added over 30 kilometres of protected and buffered cycling lanes in the last decade.
However, cyclists still come second when construction spills out into a bike lane. When painted bike lanes are still in use alongside their protected neighbours, and when those protected bike lanes suddenly spit them out into traffic.
I know because I’ve been using the downtown bike lanes to commute over the past seven years.
Every morning I pass by the painted bike lane on Fort Street to use the safer two-way protected bike lane on Garry Street going North into downtown.
The route takes me onto Notre Dame Avenue, where I take my first right onto Albert Street entering a one-block-long painted bike lane travelling against traffic.
For several weeks this summer, construction interrupted the lane forcing me into oncoming traffic. Then the lane disappears.
I continue down the brick road against traffic, and I arrive at an uncontrolled intersection to get to the protected bike lane on McDermot Avenue.
I have two options: walk my bike six blocks or take an eight block detour.
So I go ahead, turn right off the bike route onto King Street and hand-signal left across three lanes to turn onto William Avenue—where coarse gravel from a multi-year construction project spills out onto the road and two lanes of shared traffic narrow to one in front of the campus.
I shoulder check hoping today isn’t the day an angry driver sideswipes me.
I turn right, careful to avoid drivers erratically pulling out of the parking lanes and making U-turns on either side of me.
The dozens of broken links in Winnipeg’s active transportation network are unpredictable. They confuse people, discourage cyclists, frustrate drivers, and put cyclists and pedestrians alike at risk.
Before you say “this doesn’t affect me,” remember you’re a pedestrian at some point on your commute, and how many times has a cyclist whizzed by you—uncomfortably close—on a sidewalk, because they didn’t want to be stuck in traffic? When was the last time you were worried about your child or little brother riding around the neighbourhood?
The bottom line is disconnected and unsafe bike routes disenfranchise people who don’t have access to a car.
This is a form of systemic classism and should not be tolerated.
Get involved with Bike Winnipeg, your local community bike shop or contact your city councillor to protect cyclists and pedestrians, before the city suffers more casualties.
