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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Mayor boosting bigger vision for rapid transit
Mayor Sam Katz will fly to Ottawa at the end of the month to sell the Conservative government on a Winnipeg rapid transit system that could include an "automated people mover" similar to what's in place at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The mayor plans to meet with federal ministers to secure more funding for a rapid transit network that could include both a bus corridor from the University of Manitoba to the south end of Main Street and an ultra-lightweight rail system that would allow passengers to continue all the way through downtown to the University of Winnipeg.
"In a perfect world, you would see one university connected to the other," Katz said in an interview Wednesday, divulging more details about a downtown rail line city officials previously described as ultra-lightweight aluminum rail. "They have it in Las Vegas. They have it in Minneapolis. Just last week, I was looking at it (and) it may make total sense for our city."
In September, when the city and province announced plans for a $327-million bus corridor between Queen Elizabeth Way and the University of Manitoba, Katz surprised reporters by stating "light rail is just around the corner."
In January, city officials confirmed they were studying ways of augmenting the bus corridor with some form of light rail. Katz said Wednesday that a report about the enhanced rapid-transit plan could come before council next month.
In the meantime, the mayor will fly to Ottawa after the March 25 council meeting to meet with Conservative ministers about Winnipeg's rapid transit corridor. The city has only secured funding for the $138-million first phase of the busway component, from Queen Elizabeth Way to Jubilee Avenue.
The cost of the second phase of the busway is pegged at $189 million. But when the city handed Ottawa a list of "shovel-ready" projects that could benefit from a fresh influx of federal infrastructure dollars, the "total estimated cost" of the rapid-transit corridor was listed as $600 million, not $327 million.
The mayor said Winnipeg could be in line for additional rapid-transit cash without having to pony up more funds of its own.
"Other cities are getting significant contributions toward rapid transit," Katz said, mentioning only Toronto by name. "I want the federal government playing a role in rapid transit. I want to see it happen sooner rather than later."
Ottawa has already promised Winnipeg $17.9 million in rapid transit funding through a transportation contribution to the province announced in March 2008.
But the more recent pledge to spend an additional $7 billion on Canadian infrastructure -- a major component of Ottawa's recession-fighting strategy -- handed Winnipeg an opportunity to seek hundreds of millions more.
The mayor's office says the infrastructure wish-list Winnipeg presented to Ottawa included six "shovel-ready" projects, ranging from the $600-million rapid transit corridor to a $7.5-million upgrade of Transcona's Gunn Road.
'People mover' eyed
$327 million: Cost of the southwest Winnipeg bus corridor announced by the city and province back in September.
$600 million: "Total estimated cost" of Winnipeg's bus corridor, according to a city infrastructure wish list presented to Ottawa in January.
Why the difference?
It may be wise to ask for more money than you need. But the city is also exploring the concept of an "automated people mover" that could extend the rapid-transit corridor's reach to the University of Winnipeg, says Mayor Sam Katz, who plans to fly to Ottawa at the end of the month to discuss rapid transit.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 5, 2009 B2
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