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$55-M Kenaston plan unveiled

By: Mary Agnes Welch

13/09/2009 6:27 PM | Comments: 25

Manitoba Minister of Transportation Ron Lemieux (right) along with Winnipeg Deputy Mayor Justin Swandel talk to the media about Kenaston Boulevard plans.

RUTH.BONNEVILLE@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Enlarge Image

Manitoba Minister of Transportation Ron Lemieux (right) along with Winnipeg Deputy Mayor Justin Swandel talk to the media about Kenaston Boulevard plans.

With Banjo Bowl traffic jammed up behind them, politicians unveiled nearly $55 million Sunday to link Kenaston Boulevard to the Perimeter, a move they said would help ease traffic on the notoriously busy road.

The money will cover the extension of Kenaston through Waverley West, widening of parts of the road and the extension of Waverley Street, which will swing around to the west and link with Kenaston.

But the cash comes with several questions — it’s still not clear what kind of underpass or overpass will get built at Bishop Grandin and Kenaston, and there’s no money yet to actually connect Kenaston with the Perimeter with a cloverleaf of some kind.

And, there is little movement on widening Kenaston through River Heights, where the road shrinks to two lanes and traffic usually bottlenecks the worst. Plans for that section are in limbo until a First Nations claim to the Kapyong Barracks can be resolved in court.

But politicians said work could begin as early as this year on the extension through Waverley West, with construction wrapped up in 2012.

"With all the traffic we have, it’s important to invest in roads," said Winnipeg South MP Rod Bruinooge.

Ottawa, the city and the province are splitting the $55 million cost roughly three ways. The city is chipping in nearly $22 million with Ottawa spending $18 million. The province is spending $15 million to run Kenaston through Waverley West, a suburb the province owns and is developing.

The political leaders, including St. Norbert Coun. Justin Swandel, said the Kensaton expansion also boosts the inland port project, which aims to better link continental rail and truck routes with the airport. They said a better-flowing Kenaston should ease congestion on Pembina Highway and Waverley Street.

The announcement on Sunday — an unusual day for a federal press conference — is the latest in a flurry of goodies the Tories are doling out across the country. Federal politicians announced $83 million for recreation centres and bike paths last week in Winnipeg, and there are rumours Prime Minister Stephen Harper may make a stop in the city early this week as part of a swing through Western Canada.

But politicians poo-pooed suggestions that Sunday’s announcement was part of a pre-election plan by the Tories to boost their profile before a possible vote of non-confidence topples their minority government.

Just as provincial Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Ron Lemieux was explaining the long negotiation process involved in reaching the Kenaston deal, a gust of wind knocked down a Canadian flag behind the politicians.

"If the government falls like that flag..." quipped Lemieux.

Later, Bruinooge said the federal cash is contingent on the Harper government winning the looming election or surviving long enough to write the cheque.

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca

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25 Commentscomment icon

They plan to expand Kenaston to the perimeter so people from out of town can make it to the new IKEA being built.. how will that decrease traffic?

The city planners and traffic engineers are just following through on how they usually do business: design infrastructure poorly to begin with, and "fix" it at double or triple the cost later when money might be available. The local terms Pembina "Highway" and Disraeli "Freeway" are truly laughable. Elsewhere they would imply limited access high speed arteries. And by the way, I'm a professional that works in Planning, Property & Development - I see first hand what ill-conceived concepts and designs come out of our offices...the fools in City Council who provide direction are just as much to blame.

Kenaston is a joke! It used to be a fast expressway to get to st james from the south end. Now it's just crappy road with too many traffic lights! The speed limit is 80, but guess what? Everyone is going 60 and lower because of the lights. What's the point of going fast if you have to stop every 10 seconds.

Having friends from Southern Ontario in for the weekend, they were quite shocked at our road system.

-The fact there is no quick way to from the north end to the south end

-How rough our roads are

-How there are no high speed corridors. No matter what road you take you are riddled with 50-60 zones and stop lights galore. Even my GPS which is very accurate in cites such as Toronto & Ottawa tells me the wrong arrival time about 10 minutes in this city, not able to compensate for the frequent and lengthily traffic light stops.

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Sandy.... I completely agree with your comments about Bruinooge. The guy is a total disgrace as an MP. Duguid is a thousand times the better candidate however I greatly disagree with his parties policies. For this strong PC supporter, it's a no show on election day.

May I ask, would the natural result of a successful native land claim for the Kapyong Barracks area be that Kenaston would forever be 2-land, like Highway 59 where it passes through the Broken Head Ojibaway Nation?

Not having a viable route to the west and north west sections of the city would really throttle citizens and business in the south west of Winnipeg.

Such a permanent bottleneck would be wonderful for people speculating on property in downtown Winnipeg, and it would be a boon for sales of gasoline, but it would be terrible for residents of Winnipeg, employers, and transportation companies.

Gamma Ray the cities you name, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver are all far more spread out than Winnipeg.

To give a little detail about Toronto, since I lived there for a long time, it has 4 or 5 downtowns. People can live 70 minutes from Yonge & King downtown (in Mississauga), while employed work in one of a dozen a major head offices 5 minutes from their home, with the second largest mall in Canada also 5 minutes from their home.

Same deal with Scarborough, North York, Markham, etc., just as many major head offices, but the malls are not as big.

With London, England, only a few tens of thousands of people live in The City of London. Even The City of Westminster depends on bedroom communities. Commuter rail links and bedroom communities are what allowed London to grow so big while still providing tolerable living environments.

Over centralization is a primary factor keeping businesses locating in Winnipeg. So many of our cultural activities occur in high crime neighbourhoods.

Plus parking in downtown Winnipeg is already far more expensive than the free parking in suburban Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Once we loose the surface lots, the price will double and we'll be at an even greater disadvantage.

Elected officials who want their city to grow have to provide environments suitable to new and existing citizens, and economic environments suitable to business.

Catering to the people who own land downtown, for personal use and speculation, will kill the city

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...BrianL "The rest of us have to subsidize inefficient public services for rich people living in massive houses in a sprawling suburb". ........ You obviously are ignorant to to the amount of property tax people living in the South part of Winnipeg pay. Do they get better snow removal , garbage pick up, fire and police service? The answer is no and in cases of patrolling police even less. Great when you pay four to twelve thousand bucks and more year in property taxes. You subsidize nothing in Winnipeg South. The residents are paying many times their fair share.

How about providing an accompanying map?

what a joke. The only reason that Kenaston is ever backed up any more is the lights... lots and lots of lights. There will be zero help from extending this street. This is so ridiculous kenaston to bishop to waverly used to be so easy and fast out but then some moron decided hey! Lets take that nice straight high traffic 80KM/H Waverly, reduce it to 60 and throw this hugely awesome curve in there. Man will that ever be a smart way to increase traffic flow.

Idiots... why dont you just spend this money on building new streets in New york? At least then we wont be burdened with the cost of maintaining them on a budget that already struggles to keep up.

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