Battle At Brookside 603t6z

Battle at Brookside Brookside Blvd is an entry point into the City of Winnipeg from the North Perimeter Hwy and is one of Winnipeg’s busiest roads. Many of Winnipeg’s trucking companies are based in the NW side of the city and all of them put a significant amount of truck traffic on this highway. Brookside is an essential part of Route 90 which is a major connecting arterial through the city. Due to this high traffic volume, Brookside has become a prime location for a Winnipeg Police speed trap. With insufficient speed g, the safety of the highway is greatly reduced and enforcement has become extremely predatory. Do to this being a prime “fishing hole” for Winnipeg Police, the City of Winnipeg has no interest in seeing improvements along this road. Luckily, there were other means available to improve this roadway that could not be obstructed by the City of Winnipeg.

Outline Section 1 – The Reduction 1A – Why does the Speed Reduce? 1B – g the Speed 1C – Enforcement

Section 2 – Sign Missing 2A – What Sign? 2B – with the City 2C – Police Reaction

Section 3 – The Solution 3A – with the Province

Section 1 – The Reduction 1A – Why Does the Speed Reduce? Just south of the North Perimeter Hwy, Brookside Blvd enters Winnipeg city limits. Winnipeg’s boundary line occurs at the north side of Mollard Ave which is well outside of any built up area. This is the boundary between provincial and city jurisdiction. Signs to the north of Mollard are installed and maintained by the province and signs to the south are the city’s. This invisible line also serves as the location of a speed change with the limit in city boundaries being 90 km/h and traffic to the north has a limit of 100 km/h. The Highway Traffic Board which approves all speed limits in Manitoba including Winnipeg has said that the only reason for this speed difference is that the City of Winnipeg wishes to have a lower speed on their side of the line. With no other reason then this invisible jurisdictional boundary line, the speed reduction on Brookside Blvd SB at Mollard appears to be very arbitrary with no obstructions or safety hazards to warrant this change in speed. This speed change in the middle of a field catches many motorists off guard.

Brookside Blvd north of Mollard facing south. At the north side of Mollard, the legal speed limit changes from 100-90 km/h.

1B – g the Speed Since the speed reduction occurs at an intersection, the signs must be placed either before or after the legal point of the reduction. At this location, the signs could have been placed by either traffic authority (city or province) depending on which side of Mollard the signs were to go. The signs were placed by the City of Winnipeg south of Mollard. Since Winnipeg follows minimal standards for speed g, the signs here are much different then they would have been had they been within provincial jurisdiction. The City speed signs are the smallest legal dimensions (60x75cm) and are easy to miss on high speed roads such as Brookside. All provincial speed signs on divided roads are larger (90x120cm) then minimum. In Winnipeg, other signs such as curve signs are very commonly found in larger sizes, but not speed signs. Another practice of the province is to place speed reduction signs on both sides of divided roads so that large vehicles in the curb lane don’t block vehicles in the median lane from seeing these essential signs. Brookside especially has this problem due to an extremely high volume of truck traffic. Despite this issue, the city chose to place the speed signs on the right side of road only and leave the dual g for more “essential” signs such as truck route markers and curve ahead signs.

Brookside Blvd SB from Mollard showing minimum sized speed sign on the right side of the road only. Photo Credit-Google Street-View (2009)

1C – Enforcement With such poor speed reduction g, Brookside Blvd has become a major “fishing hole” for the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS). Several times a week WPS officers could be seen running speed traps at Jefferson Ave which is the next street south of Mollard where the speed reduction is. This spot is especially lucrative because unlike many other speed reductions, there is no physical change in the roadway which would encourage people to lower their speed even if the signs were not observed (See 1B).

WPS routinely enforce SB Brookside at Jefferson. Note that the Winnipeg reduction signs south of Mollard are to scale with the Provincial sign to the north.

Section 2 – Sign Missing 2A – What Sign? At some point prior to the spring of 2011, the speed reduction ahead (RB5) sign fell over. The only sign remaining at this reduction was the speed limit sign (RB1).

Speed reduction ahead sign lying in ditch on Brookside SB south of Mollard on July 12, 2011.

The only sign remaining was the 90 km/h speed sign on the right only.

2B – with the City The first with the City regarding this downed sign was in June of 2011 when a complaint was made to 311. Throughout the summer, this sign continued to lie in the ditch despite more complaints to 311 in July and August. During the first week of September, public works was called directly. They stated that they would make a note but it will take time due to the work needed before opening the new Chief Peguis Trail extension. During this “extremely” busy time, the city was able to install more truck route markers in September along with many other signs.

Kennedy SB at Broadway-Google Street-View showing before installation of truck route signs.

Kennedy SB at Broadway-New truck route signs installed in September 2011. Note dual g.

Despite more complaints during September, the sign on Brookside never left the ditch. On September 6th, two letters were delivered to the City of Winnipeg outlining g issues and asking for improvements at speed reductions and playgrounds. Despite these letters requesting the city has remained unreachable which includes failing to return follow-up phone calls.

2C – Police Reaction Even with the speed reduction sign missing, WPS continued to aggressively enforce Brookside Blvd throughout the summer of 2011. Full speed traps consisting of two cruisers and about four officers with one continually using tripod mounted radar were a common sight. On average 4-6 cars would be pulled over at once and lined up to receive tickets. A letter was delivered to WPS on September 6th that outlined the issues of predatory enforcement at speed reductions which specifically referenced Brookside Blvd. This letter requested regarding infrastructure inadequacies; but WPS has ignored that request. On September 28th, WPS was approached at this trap and despite attempts to inform them of the missing sign, the officer simply indicated he had no interest in discussing missing signs. A motorist who had just received a ticket said he also told the officer about the missing sign and was told to take the issue up with the courts. At this time, calls were made to the District 3 station complaining about this trap which still continued to operate.

Section 3 – The Solution 3A – with the Province After all the past with Winnipeg Public Works and with WPS on September 28th, was made with Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation (MIT-Provincial Highways Dept). Since this reduction occurs on the jurisdictional boundary between the City of Winnipeg and MIT, it could be signed in MIT’s area to the north (See 1B). Since Winnipeg has failed to fix their downed sign after many months of predatory enforcement and complaints, a letter was delivered to MIT on September 29th. Similar to the letters sent to the City of Winnipeg and WPS, the issues were outlined with specific requests for improvements. The letter to MIT asked for the speed reduction to be signed to the north of Mollard with large sized speed signs on both sides of the road. Unlike the experience with the city and WPS, MIT responded on September 30th (next day) that they would install the signs. On October 19th, MIT installed new speed signs exactly as had been requested in the letter. The city never did fix their speed reduction ahead sign. The city’s single speed sign south of Mollard was left in place as a confirmation sign of the new speed after the reduction signs posted by MIT to the north. Fortunately, because MIT was installing the signs outside of the city boundaries, the city had no ability to obstruct their installation even though it did affect the speed of traffic entering city limits. This will cost WPS thousands of dollars worth of tickets and only the future will tell if this location remains a speed trap site. Winnipeg is a haven for this type of enforcement and MIT is unable to fix the situation since most locations are entirely within the city and therefore immune to the influence of signs placed outside city limits. Going forward it is hopeful that Winnipeg will eventually cease their method of revenue over safety and begin recognizing the need for proper speed limit g in the same ways MIT already does for the safety of all.

Current signs on Brookside Blvd at Mollard. Note that the MIT signs to the north are to scale with the City of Winnipeg sign to the south.

New MIT speed reduction signs on Brookside north of Mollard. Unlike in Winnipeg, MIT speed signs are larger then minimum and on both sides of a divided road. Photo Credit-MIT (2011)