1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach Grow: Mayor A.D. proposes ‘Train on Main’
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SEPTEMBER 22, 1971—Steinbach is probably the largest community in Manitoba that doesn’t have a train and Mayor A. D. Penner thinks it’s time the town got one. The mayor says the train he has in mind could provide transportation for Steinbach shoppers, who may have to park their cars away from downtown, when a switch is made from diagonal to parallel parking.
The mayor’s “Train on Main” would operate from East Steinbach to the C.T. Loewen factory on Highway 52. Penner’s idea is to have the train provide free transportation to all stores in Steinbach for those who have to park their cars away from the downtown area.
The train the mayor has in mind is the type used at major airports and for sightseeing tours in large centres. The locomotive would be a rubber-tired vehicle towing two coaches, capable of transporting 50 people.
Although the train may be expensive to purchase and operate, the mayor feels it would be more practical than the alternative of developing downtown parking lots. A single well-lit paved parking lot in Steinbach would cost $200,000, without considering the cost of snow removal. The same money would cover the cost of the train and provide an operating budget, including two conductors, for 14 years.
The mayor also pointed out that highways department statistics show that parallel parking on Main Street would only result in the loss of 85 parking spaces between Kroeker Ave. and Highway 12. If transportation were provided, shoppers could park in little-used curb space at either end of town.
Mayor Penner says he expects people to call his plans for a train “crazy,” but feels it is a solution for a very serious problem.
“I am willing to listen to any other ideas members of the community may have.”
The mayor said there were several reasons he has changed his stand on parallel parking. Three years ago, he thought changing from diagonal parking to parallel parking was a ridiculous idea, because of all the parking spaces to be lost. Since then, discussions with the Steinbach Police Department and highways department officials have changed his mind.
The first thing that comes to mind is the safety factor, Penner says. In the past few years alone, the damage to vehicles caused by people backing out into traffic has skyrocketed from $12,000 damage in reported accidents in 1967 to double that in 1969.
“And that doesn’t include the minor bumps and scrapes that go unreported every year. I think parallel parking would be the best solution.”
The mayor also expressed concern that if parallel parking and a safer Main Street did not become a reality in the near future, some large business concern may offer an alternative to downtown Steinbach shoppers.
A shopping centre with the inducement of ample free parking and a variety of services could do untold damage to downtown merchants, the mayor said.
In the case of Steinbach, if free transportation were provided for shoppers who couldn’t find a parking space near a particular store, merchants would be retaining customers, they may otherwise lose.
Mayor Penner said town council would be taking a close look at the traffic problems on Main Street in the coming weeks, and he hopes members of the community will call him not only to express their opinions about parallel parking, but also to tell him what they think of his idea of a “Train on Main.”