Active transportation and accessibility advocates packed a committee meeting at Winnipeg city hall on Wednesday to urge councillors to approve temporary bike lanes on Wellington Crescent.

The public works committee is expected to vote on the proposal Wednesday night. If approved, the recommendation would still need to be considered by full Winnipeg city council.

More than 50 delegates registered to speak at the meeting, which began Wednesday morning and stretched into the evening.

City staff are recommending installing the lanes this spring between Stradbrook Avenue and Academy Road, using painted lines and flexible plastic posts to separate cyclists from vehicle traffic.

But public works committee chair Coun. Janice Lukes wants to scrap the temporary lane plan and move straight to building permanent protected bike lanes instead.

Renderings released by the city show temporary bike lanes running along the stretch of Wellington Crescent, a busy corridor that connects central Winnipeg neighbourhoods and forms part of a popular cycling route between The Forks and Assiniboine Park.

The proposal would also reduce the speed limit to 40 km/h and narrow the roadway from four lanes to two east of Grosvenor Avenue.

Supporters say the changes are urgently needed following the June 2024 death of cyclist Rob Jenner, who was hit by a speeding driver while riding on Wellington Crescent.

The driver, who reached speeds of at least 159 km/h on Wellington on the morning Jenner was killed, was sentenced last year to three years in prison.

Savannah Shore told councillors Jenner’s death has made many cyclists afraid to ride on city streets.

“Changes need to be made before anyone else loses their life to senseless speeding,” Shore said.

Shore said she and Jenner worked together at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and the loss still affects her.

“Rob Jenner was my colleague. We parked our bikes next to each other in the loading dock at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights,” she said.

“I have not ridden my bike to work again since he was killed.”

City staff estimate the temporary project would cost about $400,000. The lanes would remain in place until permanent infrastructure is built.

But Lukes wants $5.9 million earmarked for permanent bike lanes moved into this year’s budget, with construction potentially happening in 2027.

“It’s going to be a fundamental change in the way traffic moves — pedestrian, cycling and vehicular traffic in this section,” the Waverley West councillor said. “And I want to rip the Band-Aid off once.”

Some cycling advocates worry abandoning the temporary plan could delay safety improvements.

Matthew Carvell, who lives nearby, told councillors the stretch of Wellington is currently dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians.

“It’s a huge gap there in the cycling network,” Carvell said. “It just seems like a very obvious fix to put in something today, because we know it’s unsafe.”

Lucky Adams, another supporter of the project, said improvements are urgently needed.

“People are in danger,” Adams said. “It’s urgently needed.”

The temporary plan would also prohibit turning at some intersections and remove about 29 parking spaces along the corridor.