© 2024, Christian Cassidy
July 16, 1956, Winnipeg Free Press
Gladys Edwards became a hero to some in 1956 when she halted the seemingly unstoppable march of the city's one-way street system through residential sections of the core area. She fought city hall and won, even if only for a few weeks.
Before I go into details about Edwards' battle to save Maryland Street, here is some background on the implementation of the city's one-way street system.
June 26, 1954, Winnipeg Tribune
As tens of thousands of people moved to far flung suburban developments in the 1950s and 60s it was up to the city's traffic commission to find ways to get all of those cars into and out of the city's core each weekday.
Unlike some North American cities, Winnipeg did not develop a large-scale freeway system that required entire neighbourhoods to be demolished. Still, it tore down hundreds of homes to create new arterial roads and bridge approaches and brought in a one-way street system to keep the traffic moving. (Road projects that did impact neighbourhoods include the Disraeli Freeway in 1960 and the Cumberland Corridor in 1970.)
The city's one-way street system was introduced by its traffic commission on an experimental basis on June 29, 1954 with the pairing of Princess/Donald Street and King/Smith Street, (see map above). Buoyed by its success, the city made every north-south street in the downtown from Main Street to Memorial Boulevard a one-way by 1956.
Many drivers, property owners, and businesses complained bitterly about the changes but it was clear that council would not be swayed and in any dispute the traffic commission always won.
The city's one-way street system was introduced by its traffic commission on an experimental basis on June 29, 1954 with the pairing of Princess/Donald Street and King/Smith Street, (see map above). Buoyed by its success, the city made every north-south street in the downtown from Main Street to Memorial Boulevard a one-way by 1956.
Many drivers, property owners, and businesses complained bitterly about the changes but it was clear that council would not be swayed and in any dispute the traffic commission always won.
September 23, 1955, Winnipeg Free Press
In September 1955, the traffic commission tried to tackle the twice daily traffic jam on the Maryland Street Bridge which at the time was just a single span.
It began by making Maryland Street traffic a one-way travelling southbound between Portage and Wolseley avenues. (It could not be brought all the way to the bridge because of traffic flow issues around the Misericordia Hospital that still had to be worked out.) A series of 'no left turn' intersections and the removal of some on-street parking helped the flow and forced north bound traffic off the bridge through Cornish Avenue over to Sherbrook Street.
Phase two of the plan was to go into effect the following year. It would make both Sherbrook and Maryland streets one-ways from Portage to Notre Dame avenues.
Residents and small business owners showed up at traffic commission meetings to argue that Marlyland Street in particular was a quiet residential road not meant for the traffic loads and parking disruptions that would be brought about by the new system. It fell on deaf ears.
The traffic commission's final plan was sent to city council to rubber stamp at its July 16, 1956 meeting, but that is not what happened. As one Winnipeg Free Press columnist noted, "In all the best smoke-filled rooms, the city's smoothest lobbyists were agreed. You couldn't stop the one-way street plan.... That is up until Monday night."
It began by making Maryland Street traffic a one-way travelling southbound between Portage and Wolseley avenues. (It could not be brought all the way to the bridge because of traffic flow issues around the Misericordia Hospital that still had to be worked out.) A series of 'no left turn' intersections and the removal of some on-street parking helped the flow and forced north bound traffic off the bridge through Cornish Avenue over to Sherbrook Street.
Phase two of the plan was to go into effect the following year. It would make both Sherbrook and Maryland streets one-ways from Portage to Notre Dame avenues.
Residents and small business owners showed up at traffic commission meetings to argue that Marlyland Street in particular was a quiet residential road not meant for the traffic loads and parking disruptions that would be brought about by the new system. It fell on deaf ears.
The traffic commission's final plan was sent to city council to rubber stamp at its July 16, 1956 meeting, but that is not what happened. As one Winnipeg Free Press columnist noted, "In all the best smoke-filled rooms, the city's smoothest lobbyists were agreed. You couldn't stop the one-way street plan.... That is up until Monday night."
There was a single delegation that showed up at the meeting to speak in opposition to the Maryland Street one way plan. It was 36-year-old Gladys Edwards, a mother and housewife who lived in a bungalow at 721 Maryland Street near Notre Dame Avenue.
Like many of her neighbours, Edwards was concerned about the detrimental effects the one way system would have on Maryland Street and she reeled them off before council: the increased traffic loads and the dangers it would pose to area children; making the street a truck route would cause additional noise and vibrations to houses along it; the additional cost of adding traffic lights on Maryland at Ellice, Sargent and Notre Dame avenues; and the loss of on-street parking on one side of the road.
After each concern she asked councillors if they had done studies on the matter or even spent time to think through the impacts. Her questions caught them flat footed and some reluctantly admitted that they didn't seem to have all of the information they needed to make a decision.
Edwards presented an alternative. She suggested that Sherbrook Street, which due to its street car line was already wider, had traffic lights at major intersections, and was much more commercial in nature, be widened further and become a two-way street.
Alderman Slaw Rebchuk who represented the North End said that after looking at a zoning map of the area it was clear to him that Maryland Street was a residential street and that the impacts needed to be studied further. He presented a motion that the traffic commission's report be amended so that only Sherbrook Street be made a one-way north of Portage Avenue.
It passed without a single dissenter.
Like many of her neighbours, Edwards was concerned about the detrimental effects the one way system would have on Maryland Street and she reeled them off before council: the increased traffic loads and the dangers it would pose to area children; making the street a truck route would cause additional noise and vibrations to houses along it; the additional cost of adding traffic lights on Maryland at Ellice, Sargent and Notre Dame avenues; and the loss of on-street parking on one side of the road.
After each concern she asked councillors if they had done studies on the matter or even spent time to think through the impacts. Her questions caught them flat footed and some reluctantly admitted that they didn't seem to have all of the information they needed to make a decision.
Edwards presented an alternative. She suggested that Sherbrook Street, which due to its street car line was already wider, had traffic lights at major intersections, and was much more commercial in nature, be widened further and become a two-way street.
Alderman Slaw Rebchuk who represented the North End said that after looking at a zoning map of the area it was clear to him that Maryland Street was a residential street and that the impacts needed to be studied further. He presented a motion that the traffic commission's report be amended so that only Sherbrook Street be made a one-way north of Portage Avenue.
It passed without a single dissenter.
The Free Press in particular covered Edwards' victory as a David vs. Goliath battle.
Alderman Paul Goodman, chair of the traffic commission who was said to have looked 'baffled' as the vote against its plan was being taken on the floor of council, gave Edwards her due. He agreed that the commission needed to do a better job in future explaining the merits of its proposals.
Traffic planners were less conciliatory. Deputy traffic engineer Andrew Sharp vowed that the traffic commission would reintroduce the plan at the next council meeting. He said that reducing traffic congestion only worked if the one way designation of both Maryland and Sherbrook streets was extended beyond Portage Avenue to Notre Dame.
City council again reviewed the street commission's plan at its July 30, 1956 meeting. Unfortunately, the Edwards family was on vacation at the time and could not attend.
Still, some of Mrs. Edwards' arguments from the previous meeting came up during the debate. In the end though, the traffic commission's insistence that their traffic plan only worked if both streets were one-ways north of Portage Avenue won the day. The vote was 11 - 5 in favour.
Traffic on Maryland Street would have increased again in 1970 when the Cumberland Corridor created a new intersection that allowed cars from both Notre Dame Avenue and the portion of Sherbrook Street north of Notre Dame Avenue, which is still two way traffic, to flow onto it.
What became of Gladys Edwards?
She wrote a letter to the Free Press in August 1956 about the one-way street system (see above) and another in 1964 about the city's heavy use of road salt that was killing the grass on boulevards. She also contributed tidbits to Gene Telpner's Coffee Time column in the Winnipeg Free Press in the early 1960s.
The trail goes cold in 1965. That is the last year digitized Henderson Directories are available online and her last mention in Telpner's column. There is no further mention of her or her husband, Eric (Alf) Edwards who worked at Bristol Aerospace, in local papers, including obituaries.
She wrote a letter to the Free Press in August 1956 about the one-way street system (see above) and another in 1964 about the city's heavy use of road salt that was killing the grass on boulevards. She also contributed tidbits to Gene Telpner's Coffee Time column in the Winnipeg Free Press in the early 1960s.
The trail goes cold in 1965. That is the last year digitized Henderson Directories are available online and her last mention in Telpner's column. There is no further mention of her or her husband, Eric (Alf) Edwards who worked at Bristol Aerospace, in local papers, including obituaries.
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