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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Transit turmoil: Don't let corridor offer go: premier
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger is urging Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz to accept a federal-provincial offer of $130 million to complete the second phase of the city's rapid-transit corridor before the money disappears.
One day after Katz's inner circle formally endorsed a plan to designate light rail as Winnipeg's preferred mode of rapid transit and seek P3 Canada money to build a flexible streetcar line, the premier said he would still like to see the city accept infrastructure-stimulus money to complete phase 2 of the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor.
The $138-million first phase of the corridor, a 3.6-kilometre link between Queen Elizabeth Way near The Forks and Jubilee Avenue at Pembina Highway, is under construction and should be finished in 2011. The $220-million second phase, a six-kilometre extension to Bison Drive near the University of Manitoba, is in limbo as the city and province squabble over transit plans.
Earlier this year, Katz persuaded council to endorse a plan to remove rapid transit from an infrastructure-stimulus wish list. On July 21, council faces a vote to endorse light rail and develop a transportation strategy that includes flexible streetcars capable of riding on streets as well as on dedicated transit corridors.
But Selinger said Thursday it would be wise for the city to accept "money in the bank" to complete the southwest busway now and consider conversion to LRT later.
"You can always design these things to be convertible to new technology," Selinger said, citing a city-commissioned study that concluded there are no major obstacles to converting bus corridors to light rail. "We really don't know what the price is for LRT, but we have a very good idea about BRT (bus rapid transit)."
Selinger said the city should accept bus rapid transit money now to secure the land required to build phase 2.
Katz wants to build a light-rail line because consultants have told the city it costs $50 million per kilometre for streetcar light rail compared to $38 million per kilometre of bus corridor. The mayor has declined to surmise how much a light-rail system that will also include tracks on streets would cost, or how the city would pay for its share.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 9, 2010 A7
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