Wyatt remains bus-corridor critic, urges LRT

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/05/2016 (3432 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Coun. Russ Wyatt says city hall is selling itself short with its latest proposal for an eastern bus transit corridor to Transcona.

Wyatt said now is the time Winnipeg should be building an east-west link across the city using electric light trains (LRT) instead of traditional diesel buses.

“Instead of building an eastern corridor we should be building an east-to-west corridor that connects the industrial and commercial areas of Transcona through St. Boniface and downtown all the way to the airport, Red River College and CenterPort,” Wyatt said. “Our city government is built based on a plan that is 30 years old when what is needed is a plan for the next 30 years.

“Bus rapid transit is the 30-year-old plan. We need a plan that will take us 30 years into the future.”

Wyatt was responding to city hall’s announcement on Friday for a request for proposals for engineering design teams to propose possible routes to link the downtown to Transcona as the city’s second bus rapid transit corridor.

The study will be financed using a $2.5-million fund council approved in the 2016 capital budget for future transit corridor planning and design. Submissions close August 10 and the city expects to award the contract by Oct. 5.

Construction of an eastern corridor is the recommendation of Winnipeg’s Transportation Master Plan, which envisions a total of four bus rapid transit routes constructed by 2031 and another two corridors sometime after that.

Wyatt, who lost a council debate to convert the southwest transit corridor to LRT, said it’s time to revisit the council decision of 10 years ago when BRT was chosen over LRT. Winnipeg experienced unexpected strong growth over the past 10 years, he said, and if that pattern continues, the rapid transit system should be LRT.

“In a province like Manitoba that prides itself on its hydroelectric capacity, LRT makes perfect sense,” Wyatt said. “With the new federal government investing in public transit throughout Canada, it would be foolish of us to not take advantage of this and build the best transit system for Winnipeg’s future.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca