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Keep the momentum up  A rant by: FreedomFries Right now our city is actually putting an effort into getting our wheels in motion. We added the MTS centre (sold out almost every moose game!), Canwest Global Park, the new Skate Park going up at the Forks, and more. These are all great things to get people coming downtown, and helping revitalize our city. So why did we all of a sudden stop with the idea of Light Rail rapid transit system in Winnipeg? That would have been such a cool addition to the city. They talk about having specialized bus lanes instead, ("WOW") I would travel half way accross the world to see a "Bus Only" lane. The truth is, having a bus only lane for rapid transit won't get more people using public transportation. You'll have the same people over and over using the bus. Now if we had a Light Rail system that would whip people from the suburbs to the heart of downtown, that would raise some interest. I have friends that make fun of me for taking "Transit Tom" to work, and even they said if we had a Light Rail system they would use it because of the uniqueness. Let's not stop the ball from rolling, let's keep putting money into the city. So our taxes go up a little, taxes are always gonna go up, I say we pimp this city out with the latest and greatest! << Back Add a Comment Comments ( Add a Comment ) Anonymous says: 2005-08-24 23:11:48 We got all those nice new things like the mts centre etc... when glen murray was in office. As soon as that dumb sam katz came in all the money that had been saved up for the light rail transit was spent. Notice how all his buddies are profiting though.... the extremely rich don't take buses do they. ArtVandalez says: 2005-08-24 23:25:34 Why do people make foolish comments and then hide names? Don't they feel that people should know who it is that makes all the stupid remarks? Sambo has something no mayor has ever had in this city. INTEGRITY. He's a proven business man which means he is not a quitter. He's a true Winnipegger with compassion for the city. These allegations of him spending money on lining his “friends” pockets are ludicrous. Did you hear that on Bob fm and take it as a reliable source? What you have to remember is that Sam is new to the world of politics. This is a good thing. He hasn't been tainted. He's our pure white virgin and Winnipeg raped him of his innocence. Sidetracked. Although a lot of BigB's points are incoherent ramblings, He's right Sam is what we have needed. What did Murray give us? All i remember is gay flags all over the city and parades every two weeks. Must we not forget the downtown block party? You have to think about how big of a blowout that was. The moral of the story is that gays and politics don't go well together. nekochan says: 2005-08-25 16:39:18 Hey art, come here for a second. I need to adjust your giant white mask, it's a little askew. Much like your views. THETRUTH says: 2005-09-29 02:32:49 All I know is that Sam is interested in giving things to people that pay taxes and support the city. I was poor but I got off my ass and got a job and worked my ass off till I could afford a nice neighborhood. should I feel guilty Sam wants to pave my street? Hell no I paid for it.Here we sit in the welfare Capital of the world every year we give more to these people and even more line up to get on it. something has to give soon. it is not helping anyone. they shoulg help these fools get jobs and start paying taxes so that mine go down. If everyone paid taxes our city would be alot better cantthinkofanickname says: 2005-11-11 18:51:38 You ever see the Simpsons episode where they get a monorail system? They check out these towns in butt-f**k nowhere that had a monorail (see: rapid transit) and they're total ghost towns because the city spent all this money on something no one used. Can you see the similarities here? It'll be a novelty for about a week for many people and less than that for most. It would be nice to have rapid transit, but Winnipeg is a car city, face it. Anonymous says: 2005-11-12 01:49:31 OK mr. creative. But the truth is that winnipeg is not one of those hick towns u speak of. WE've got potential. And a rapid transit is an excellent start. Anonymous says: 2006-04-15 20:05:26 It's ironic that Winnipeg should keep entertaining the rapid transit pipe-dream when it can't even maintain its streets properly. I'm surprised some of the rapid-transit proponents aren't pushing for a couple of subway lines into the bargain. There's probably no North American city Winnipeg's size with worse streets and roads. Not only don't we have anything resembling a single limited-access freeway where vehicles can cruise along unimpeded for 3-4 km. at 80 kph, but the regular routes are full of potholes and uneven pavement, while most traffic signals are unsynchronized. And every time some new route is opened, it doesn't take long before traffic flow is interrupted by a new set of stop lights. Kenaston south of the CN main line is a typical example. As for a light-rail system, I defy anyone to find a city that has one without already having a better roads than Winnipeg. And at the rate this city builds traffic arteries, it would take until 2050 before any rapid transit was finished, and by that time it would be obsolete. Just look at how long it's taken to finish twinning the Perimeter Highway first begun in the early 1960s. Never mind the grandiose plans. Just fix the roads, build long-overdue underpasses, and add extra lanes to routes like Kenaston and Pembina. By doing so, all forms of transit will become more rapid for drivers and passengers. Anonymous says: 2006-04-15 21:36:35 It was not a light rail system. It was an improvement to the current system with bus ways. If the city does it they should do it right. Not half ass like they do everything. Katz is a great mayor and one day winnipeg will get a decent transit system Annie says: 2006-04-16 01:26:28 We need an overhead or subway train of some sort in the Peg. We must keep up with the times and the future. One of the biggies of the future is the environment. Wouldn't these new modes of transportation cut down on the air pollution, parking problems, car accidents in winter, and the huge bonus. . .less time wasted going to and from work. More free time on our hands. What are we waiting for? JetPilot says: 2006-04-16 09:51:32 It probably might be neat to have an LRT in Winnipeg, but from the talks why was the North part of Winnipeg excluded??? If they do build one it should include the North area. But first something should be done about our crappy pothole streets, before the LRT gets sucked right in. How much will our damn taxes be increased??? tmbrwlf says: 2006-04-18 22:23:45 first as a truckdriver I can tell you there are cities with streets just as bad or worse than ours all over Canada and the U.S. As for rapid transit what Ottawa has is what we need dedicated bus lanes set apart from the regular road way. Ottawa has the same screwed up road system as we do and they made it work Anonymous says: 2006-04-24 09:23:10 Hey tmbrwlf you say you are a truck driver. Probably a semi right? Well semi's do not go down residential streets. Our residential streets are the worst in Canada. Start driving down some of the streets in Winnipeg and you will know. I have travelled to many cities in Canada and off of truck routes. We do have the worst streets in Canada. scrumtrulescent says: 2006-04-24 14:15:44 Anonymous: ever been to Newfoundland? tmbrwlf says: 2006-04-24 21:38:08 God I hate ppl who are to chicken to use their name. Yes I drive semi but I also have friends all over Canada so I do end up in the residential areas either in their car or without a trailer. If you think our roads are bad try the older parts of Toronto or Montreal or all of Hamilton Next time use your name chicken BigB says: 2006-04-26 13:37:16 Why does the tinywolf have to bring highway tractors into every discussion? I drive a Porsche and i am proud of it. Perhaps i could start bringing it up every time i post. If you want to complain about the conditions of Winnipegs roads drive through the north end. I was picking up some rock and noticed that they have cobble stone on Magnus. We are talking about ppl that pay at most $400/year in property taxes and they get nicer roads then me when i pay $4000. The issue isnt that we have bad roads, it's that they fix the wrong roads. Where are the priorities!!! -big b (Porsche owner) Anonymous says: 2006-05-26 17:04:14 It's funny, cause I'm a 'pegger' who's working in Vancouver for the summer on their Rapid Transit from Richmond, to the airport and to downtown Vancouver. I'm working on the 5km portion (less than a quarter of the entire system) which is located on airport property, of which the airport is kicking in over $300M. To do a Rapid Transit right, you have to blow ALOT of money. Vancouver already has dedicated bus lanes, as well as bike lanes and car pool lanes, and they are stil putting in the rapid transit! Winnipeg DOES NOT have the worst residential roads in the country, trust me on this one! I can take you down some roads here which are FAR worse than any road in winnipeg. Botom line: vancouver is still WAY better than Winnipeg because they do things right instead of arguing about it over and over. Also, the people don't complain nearly half as much as all you in Winnipeg. I'm not looking forward to coming back... Dave BigB says: 2006-05-26 17:23:28 Davey, you are confused. The differences between Van and Peg are huge. Starting w/ mass population. We couldnt afford LRT, fact. As for you mentioning bad roads in Richmond? I spent a stint of this winter working in Richmond. I think you are confused with what a bad road actually is. Anonymous says: 2006-05-28 00:03:03 Yeah, that's Richmond. Richmond is not Vancouver. And you are right, Winnipeg can't afford to buld a rapidtransit, hence me mentioning that to build it right, you have to throw a lot of money at it. BigB says: 2006-05-29 20:25:41 Weak, oh so weak! Rigel says: 2006-10-09 20:04:05 Vancouver, with an urban population of 1.8 million, needs all the help it can get to move traffic, especially since it has nothing to resemble a genuine freeway system. It may have a few high speed routes, but if you drive 150 mi. south to Seattle, you'll see what proper freeways are like. Granted the Seattle-Tacoma area has twice Vancouver's population, but at least it recognized the need for freeways long ago. Meanwhile, Winnipeg has neither freeways nor rapid-transit. All most drivers ask for here is properly-maintained streets, particularly with the extreme weather conditions we have here. What other N. American city of more than a half million has a temperature range of +35 to -35? Yet the people in charge of streets and highways seem to overlook the fact, and have let things deteriorate to a point where it'll take at least five years of a dozen projects a year just to get things half-decent. So forget rapid-transit; just fix the roads. |
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I won't mock you on taking the bus. You have seen my previous postings stating on what I think they should be used for. I will merely state the fact that rich cities can afford elaborate rail systems. We have honey-flavoured beer. Isn't that enough? Will nothing satisfy you Mr. fries? I could see if Calgary wanted to waste money on rail or subway or something. It's a newer city. But for Winnipeg with its screwed up roads (poorly mapped out) and no budget to spend on frivolous things why would they consider something like this. I mean, if it actually is an attraction do we really want to have the type of people that are into taking holiday to come see a railway coming here? I mean if I’m a commuter (which I wouldn’t be) there would be nothing more agitating then a little kid yelling across the rail car to their 'artistic' parent about how great the beeping is. I don't want to see us "friendly Manitobans" getting a different reputation. Because I can really see people getting punched out over that. I mean, I don’t go to PEI to see their stupid bridge that closes when it rains or the wind blows. And I don’t go to BC to eat fresh sushi. I go for the hot Asian chicks. If we want to attract people to Winnipeg we should continue to do everything Sammy Katz tells us to. Clean up downtown and Winnipeg has to get in the business of making money. Oh ya, I love George Bush almost as much as i loved Ronny Regan. Bring on the arguments.