Disraeli Open House at Bronx Park- Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Guest blog post by a listener who was at the Bronx Park CC "Disraeli Open House":

Disraeli Open House - Don't Ask, Don't Tell

- P.R. Project Fails to Answer Real Questions, Shows No Accountability

By: Staff Writer -- I mean, By: Adam Knight

Full disclosure; I live off of Talbot Avenue in Elmwood and use a portion of the Disraeli freeway every day to get to and from downtown. So if my opinion seems in any way slanted, there is my bias - right out in the open. With that said, I will now do my best to provide diligence and balance as far as this "online article" goes.

And for the record, I am not in my parents' basement dressed in my pajamas as I write this Mr. Sinclair.

Yesterday at approximately 8:30am I just happened to be listening to CJOB in the morning and managed to catch the tail end of the news bite announcing that there would be the first of two Open Houses that night at the Bronx Park Community Centre on Henderson Highway, just before Kimberly. (For the record, the news bite did not give Bronx Park's address, I only know that because of my familiarity with the area.)

I digress.

To my surprise I learned that the Open Houses were being run from 4pm to 7pm, meaning that were I to attend I would be required to leave my office right at 5:30pm, fight traffic up Disraeli (note the irony) and do my best to get there in time to catch the last hour of the question and answer session.

Oh wait, there was no question and answer session.

What there was were some very detailed maps of the freeway, showing the new design plan - including the "Active Transportation" walking bridge over the Red River portion - a lot of very nice Power Point videos being shown on the projection screen, some coffee politely being served, and a lot of pleasant-to-the-eye stand-up placards that gave nice talking points about what "the bridge and the development will bring to the area."

Here's what wasn't there.

* A forum where decision makers in regards to this design and plan could explain their thought processes in going with this plan.

* An explanation as to why there was no prior consultation for the homes, businesses, homes and properties that will need to be expropriated by the City of Winnipeg (at an expense over and above the cost of production on this bridge) prior to this plan being finalized

* Anyone in the actual decision making process in attendance to show some accountability for their decisions

At the end of the day, after speaking with the engineers in attendance and the people who were in charge of the actual nuts and bolts design I came to the following conclusion:

This bridge and roadway will be well built, pleasing to the eye and will be a boon to the City of Winnipeg for years to come.

However, the way that the City has come to this decision needs to be questioned and vetted more thoroughly.

Needs to be. Not should be. Not "we'll be conducting a study down the road going over the process at the end of construction."

Everything about how this Open House was conducted confirmed in my mind the lack of actual interest that anyone in City Hall (from the Mayor Sam Katz himself on down to the only Council Members in attendance, Mr. Jeff Browaty and Mrs. Lillian Thomas) in answering any questions or taking any accountability for the decision making process.

The argument can and will be made that "We elected these people into office to make these type of decisions." and I agree with that statement wholeheartedly.

But in order to get re-elected into these positions of authority it is incumbent upon our elected officials to justify some of the logistical questions that seem obvious to anyone who actually has to use this bridge during the business hours.

What are those questions?

1) Since we're spending all of this money anyways, and expropriating these homes to make room for this expanded bridge - why is it still only going to be 2 lanes each way? With all of this extra room and planning, how can someone not see that the traffic flow coming from the North Kildonan area has grown significantly in the past 10 years and will continue to do so. Is the City so desperate to expand the Downtown Presence of citizens that they want to continue having a bottleneck of traffic leaving their offices from 4 to 6 PM every day?

2) While keeping the bridge open during construction is a laudable and necessary goal, the construction process will certainly still be causing severe traffic jams during this time - forcing people to seek alternate routes. Given this obvious to a child observation, why wasn't the idea of replacing the Louise Bridge (aka the Phil Walding plan) made a top priority?

This isn't a new idea, people living in Transcona who make the trek to downtown everyday have been crying for this to happen for years. There would be no need need for expropriation, no severe adjustment to current traffic flow and it would give a smarter alternative for the people trickling off Disreali from North Kildonan to downtown.

3) Why is the City holding Open Houses from 4PM to 7PM - you know, during the times when the people who will be more often using the new bridgeway are currently using the existing bridgeway and will be unlikely to make the extra time to stop in and learn about the process?

More than any other question I had made me feel that this entire process is completely disingenuous.

I spoke to every City Official who would talk to me last night, and no one could give me a straight answer to my last question. The best answer I got was "Someone higher up felt this was the best time."

Is that person here? "No."

Bottom line for this taxpayer? I agree that the Disraeli needs an overhaul. And as I said before, i even think that this plan is likely a good one. No one's ever going to make everyone happy all the time.

However, what I learned in my first Public Relations class at Red River College was - if you make the process more transparent, and have people willing to step forward and say "Here's the decision we made and here's why" .... People generally have less to complain about.

I guess the people who organized the City's Open House exercise in Public Relations didn't take that class.