Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1022
It was a street/road...
1/16/2023 at 11:50 AM
Over thirty years ago it did both, but the idiots driving on it like it was an speed track and the city managers who were too lazy to cut back the foliage produced a deadly combination. Resulting in a couple of teens killed in a head-on collision back in the very late 80's on "the dike road".. It was once a great way on easily getting from the North hill to West end, fast. After the accident, access between John and 26th street was cut off at Hilton Ave. and made into a loop, to allow access for an exercise & ski trails (complete with stations and equipment) and the soccer/football/rugby field along 18th Street. However, cheap dike upgrades in the late 90's narrowed the roadway on top, thus making it unable to be a two-way street and was gated on the ends. Short stints of reopening John Ave had happened during "special events" when which the road was a one-way off of Hilton to gain access to the skating oval and view the Manitoba Hydro "Waterfall of Lights" that replaced the neglected exercise trail and sports field. The "big flood of 2011" ended any ideas of any public events to done down by the river and with the skating oval moved over to Hilton, so improvements to the roadway itself has been permanently shelved. An perfect opportunity was missed by the city when Federal and Provincial funding granted improvements to the dike to widen it and allowing a proper roadway linking 18th Street to 26th (or at the least, taking Hilton Ave. over to 26th).
That's the history of John Ave. sitting West of 18th Street. The fate of the Eastern length went the same way after the big flood that destroyed the Eleanor Kidd park and the gardens. The city gave up any hope after 2014 to rebuild the park and like the west side, the land it's access to it was abandoned. Upgrades to the dike after that didn't allow proper two-way traffic, closed the road. Another opportunity to upgrade missed.
It's sad fact on the map it still indicates that it's labeled at an Avenue, but in reality it should be removed an be listed as a trail.
Just my opinion, I could be wrong.