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Area resident Paul Hesse is looking forward to using the Southwest Transitway.

The Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor is on track, on time and on budget.

Randy Fingas, a bridge projects engineer with the city, said the $138-million, 3.6-kilometre first stage of the project — the Southwest Transitway — will open for business on Sun., April 8.

The transitway will include three new stations: Fort Rouge (in the Fort Rouge Rail Yards); Osborne (on a new bridge over Osborne Street near Confusion Corner); and Harkness (at Harkness and Stradbrook avenues).

The new Balmoral Station, located next to the University of Winnipeg and upgraded in 2011, will be the Downtown Terminus for Rapid Transit routes.

Fingas said staff training, systems testing and service preparations have already begun to prepare for the spring opening date — which includes driver testing on the new route.

"We’re currently running bus operators (through the system), as it’s a whole new roadway system," Fingas said, reiterating a safety notice issued by the city last month for individuals to be cautious at street intersections along the corridor and to stop pedestrians and cyclists trespassing along the stretch, as test buses are approaching speeds of 80 km/h.

Area resident Shannon Sawatzky said he plans to take advantage of the new corridor.

"I feel using the new corridor will reduce my commute time to and from my downtown office, especially on the commute home, where the bus ride can take in excess of 40 minutes due to traffic congestion through Osborne Village," he said.

Sawatzky, who lives in Fort Rouge and also drives a vehicle, said building a park-and-ride lot somewhere along the route would maximize the potential of the corridor.

"A benefit to the city, especially the south end of Winnipeg, would be to develop a park and ride lot somewhere along the corridor. This could help significantly reduce traffic travelling into downtown from the south," he said.

Osborne Village resident Paul Hesse — who buses, walks and occasionally drives — is excited about the prospect of using the new transitway.

"The new stations are attractive and are a big improvement from transit as we currently know it in Winnipeg. All Winnipeggers will benefit from congestion improvement and better transit options," he said.

Hesse said the city is "moving in right direction with its rapid transit plans in its Master Transportation Plan," adding rapid transit "should not stop at Pembina Highway and Jubilee Avenue and should be extended to the University of Manitoba and the new stadium as soon as possible."

Area councillor Jenny Gerbasi said the new corridor will "add to reliability" and help reduce bottlenecks.

"This is the spine of the system and the beginning of the system, so it’s going to affect lots of other routes. It will also be a route for buses going back to the main station, so it’s taking buses off the road," Gerbasi said.

Fingas said capital funding has been earmarked for preliminary designs for the second stage of the project.

For more information, including route changes and schedule information, visit www.winnipeg.ca and click on the rapid transit link.

simon.fuller@canstarnews.com