Traffic calming quick-builds: Making safer communities with concrete and art

In 2025, Winnipeg launched a Traffic Calming Quick-build Program, using temporary traffic calming curbs (TC curbs), posts, and paint to address safety issues quickly and affordably. TC curbs have been effective in numerous Canadian cities, reducing vehicle speeds and volumes at a fraction of the time and cost of a permanent change to a roadway or intersection. The focus for TC curb installations were at crosswalks and at multi-use paths, where there were higher safety risks for vulnerable road users. The TC curb installations were dovetailed with traffic calming murals. The murals both improve safety and beautify the neighbourhood. Asphalt art, such as artistic paint in crosswalks or intersections, reduce rates of collisions, injury, and speeds. The traffic calming murals were designed and painted by local residents, in partnership with a local non-profit who provided a series of workshops throughout the spring and summer. This approach to the traffic calming murals provided public education and outreach about road safety and created multiple opportunities for community members to be involved in the project, contributing to road safety culture.