Latest news with #WinnipegStreets
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
3 breakdowns in 2 weeks for Winnipeg's lone line-painting machine
Winnipeg's lone street-line painting machine broke down three times within the last two weeks. Drivers may have noticed faded or missing lines on many Winnipeg streets. But despite the breakdowns, the city says its crew is on track to give all streets a coat of paint this year. At a meeting of city council's public works committee on Thursday, public works director Jim Berezowsky said the machine is 19 years old and nearing the end of its life. "Fortunately enough, the breakdowns were quick and efficient to get up and running," he said. The City of Winnipeg approved funding in last year's budget to purchase a new line-painting machine, but public works committee chair Coun. Janice Lukes said it could be a long time before it arrives. "Paint is not the answer for everything safety-related, but it is one of the tools in the toolkit to ensure safety at intersections on high-speed, major corridors around schools, pedestrian crosswalks and the like," Lukes said in an interview Friday. The city typically paints lines on roads once per year and applies a second coat to about a quarter of them, depending on weather and road conditions, according to a report presented to the committee on Thursday. Crews have completed approximately 25 per cent of line painting and about 30 per cent of intersection painting so far this year, city spokesperson Julie Dooley wrote in an email statement. "This is on-par with where we'd want to be at this point of the season," she wrote. A new machine could cost as much as $1 million, and is expected to arrive in 2026. The city is also considering whether to buy the same type of machine, which only uses paint, or one that can use a longer-lasting epoxy-based lane marking material. The city issued a request for tender for a contractor to help apply a second coat of paint on all streets — at a cost of up to between $1.4 million and $1.9 million. Dil Subedi, owner of Windsor DC Driving School, says the current state of the city's streets makes it difficult to teach student drivers. "It's very stressful," Subedi said. "They cannot just keep the car in the lane if the lines are not clear. So they keep drifting over … it's very challenging for both of them, both the learner and the instructors." Painting street lines typically costs between $800 and $1,100 per kilometre, according to the report. That is higher than rural highway painting, due to urban issues such as traffic volume and signal delays. Dooley says the crew is working on a compressed schedule to maximize the time spent painting. "Depending on weather conditions, covering more than 25 per cent of streets with more than one application of paint may be possible," Dooley wrote. In 2021, the city was able to complete a second application of paint to lane markings across the entire city.
CBC
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
3 breakdowns in 2 weeks for Winnipeg's lone line-painting machine
Social Sharing Winnipeg's lone street-line painting machine broke down three times within the last two weeks. Drivers may have noticed faded or missing lines on many Winnipeg streets. But despite the breakdowns, the city says its crew is on track to give all streets a coat of paint this year. At a meeting of city council's public works committee on Thursday, public works director Jim Berezowsky said the machine is 19 years old and nearing the end of its life. "Fortunately enough, the breakdowns were quick and efficient to get up and running," he said. The City of Winnipeg approved funding in last year's budget to purchase a new line-painting machine, but public works committee chair Coun. Janice Lukes said it could be a long time before it arrives. "Paint is not the answer for everything safety-related, but it is one of the tools in the toolkit to ensure safety at intersections on high-speed, major corridors around schools, pedestrian crosswalks and the like," Lukes said in an interview Friday. The city typically paints lines on roads once per year and applies a second coat to about a quarter of them, depending on weather and road conditions, according to a report presented to the committee on Thursday. Crews have completed approximately 25 per cent of line painting and about 30 per cent of intersection painting so far this year, city spokesperson Julie Dooley wrote in an email statement. "This is on-par with where we'd want to be at this point of the season," she wrote. A new machine could cost as much as $1 million, and is expected to arrive in 2026. The city is also considering whether to buy the same type of machine, which only uses paint, or one that can use a longer-lasting epoxy-based lane marking material. The city issued a request for tender for a contractor to help apply a second coat of paint on all streets — at a cost of up to between $1.4 million and $1.9 million. Dil Subedi, owner of Windsor DC Driving School, says the current state of the city's streets makes it difficult to teach student drivers. "It's very stressful," Subedi said. "They cannot just keep the car in the lane if the lines are not clear. So they keep drifting over … it's very challenging for both of them, both the learner and the instructors." Painting street lines typically costs between $800 and $1,100 per kilometre, according to the report. That is higher than rural highway painting, due to urban issues such as traffic volume and signal delays. Dooley says the crew is working on a compressed schedule to maximize the time spent painting. "Depending on weather conditions, covering more than 25 per cent of streets with more than one application of paint may be possible," Dooley wrote. In 2021, the city was able to complete a second application of paint to lane markings across the entire city.
CTV News
28-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Winnipeg drivers facing frustration as construction season gets underway
CTV's Jeff Keele has the latest on Winnipeg's construction season and what drivers can expect on the road. June is still a few days away, but barricades and frustrated drivers are already lining Winnipeg streets with road construction season well underway. The City of Winnipeg says the repairs are necessary and crews need to get as much done as possible while the weather is good. 'We have a short window in our climate to get at it and to get it done and so we're trying to get going as early as we can,' said Michelle Stainton, a project management engineer with the city. In the 2025 budget, the city earmarked $169 million for roads. The plan is to do around 150 lane kilometres -- sixty of those are regional and major streets, the rest are local. The city says the work needs to be done to keep up with repairs and maintain roads. 'We're trying to get into a lot of places, so it is a lot more than if we throw all our money at reconstruction and we would never catch up and it would cost a whole lot more,' Stainton said. However, many drivers don't want to hear it, saying they are dealing with brutal conditions and long travel times. The city says it knows navigating through the lane closures is frustrating, but it reminds drivers to keep their cool and remember the people on the roadside 'This is their workplace and the people who are actually out there working are not the decision makers that got you into the place that you are,' Stainton said. The city says it notifies businesses about upcoming construction and attempts to work with them on the timing of the projects. As for commuters, it recommends planning trips using maps and apps to help you avoid the bottlenecks.
