U of W stops Spence St. traffic for pedestrian mall development
Stores, cafes and new student housing envisioned for the area
Robert Ballantyne, Staff
Photo by Warren Britton.
University of Winnipeg students no longer have to worry about crossing Spence Street from Portage to Ellice Avenue — jokingly known as “hop, skip and jump alley” because of its speeding traffic — thanks to a new community-pedestrian mall development to be built in the area.
On August 8, the U of W permanently closed off traffic on the Spence thoroughfare, except for transit busses and emergency vehicles.
The Spence Street development is expected to include a bike path, student housing and a pedestrian mall with storefronts and other to-be-determined, walk-to attractions.
However, U of W students and surrounding downtown area residents will have to wait a long time until the project is completed.
“The full development won’t be seen for 10 years to come,” said U of W president Lloyd Axworthy. “We want to do it right.”
The project, which will be built in phases, will first see an information kiosk set up by September to redirect Spence traffic. Trees, flowers and other greenery are expected to be in place by the end of year one.
“You’ll see significant change within 18 months to two years,” said Jennifer Rattray, director of U of W’s strategic initiatives.
The pedestrian mall could also go a long way to lessening campus security concerns, as the U of W area becomes very isolated when downtown crowds exit en mass to the suburbs after business hours.
“I think it would be great to have life in the neighbourhood after 5 p.m.,” Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz said of this problem. “Studies show that where people congregate, the area becomes a safer place to be.”
Katz also said that the city has studied the effects of closing traffic on Spence and found “no negative” impacts.
Yet, exact plans for how Spence will develop and draw foot traffic are still in the discussion stage. The university expects funding to come from grants via all three levels of government.
Katherine Unruh, the U of W’s communications director, confirmed that students will not be paying for the Spence project through increased fees.
However, Kate Sjoberg, president of the U of W’s Students’ Association, is concerned that the university could waver on this promise in the future.
“I would never want to see this [project] used as a justification to raise fees at a later date,” said Sjoberg.
The U of W currently has a student population of over 8,700, which is expected to grow to more than 10,000 by 2008.
