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Throughout three visits to the town of Neepawa, students from the University of Manitoba’s Masters of City Planning Program have been consulting with residents and investigating the town to come up with some suggestions to make Neepawa a more Age-Friendly Community. This December town hall meeting marks the final presentation of their findings and an opportunity for residents, particularly older residents, to give their feedback not only to the presenters but to representatives from the town and the province who were also on hand.

Some of the key issues they identified were a lack of safe pedestrian crossings in many areas, and a lack of bike or multi-use lanes forcing a lot of cyclists onto sidewalks. The geography of Neepawa’s Main Street, a high-traffic provincial highway which divides the community between north and south, causes a lot of challenges when it comes to crossings. Also, Neepawa’s rapidly increasing population creates a need for what they call “gentle density” around the downtown areas to allow for a more walkable community.

The presentation focused on four areas of town: Mountain Avenue, which is the retail hub of the town; the Flats, a nearby recreational area; Main Street, which is the name for the portion of Highway 16 which cuts through Neepawa; and Hamilton Street, a primary cross street and also the street which will be extended to lead to the new hospital. That extension of Hamilton Street was seen as a prime location to put some of the suggestions into action, as it could be part of the initial planning stages and not incur as many additional costs to the town.

Following feedback received at this meeting, the project will provide a final report to the town in January.