Demolishing Arlington Bridge a step closer

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/01/2025 (240 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg is on track to take on another $20 million in debt to begin the long-awaited replacement of the closed Arlington Bridge.

Council’s executive policy committee approved a $22-million plan to demolish the bridge, which is between Logan and Dufferin avenues, and start designing its replacement, on Friday. The plan would also draw $2 million from Winnipeg’s share of federal gas tax revenues this year, pending final council approval of the 2025 budget.

Mayor Scott Gillingham confirmed the plan is to eventually replace the bridge.

“That’s what we’re moving toward. There’s funds here now to… demolish the decommissioned bridge because we are paying money every year just for maintenance to keep that decommissioned bridge up. There’s also funds there to do design work as a next step to moving forward to building the bridge,” said Gillingham.

The Arlington Bridge, which opened in 1912, closed suddenly on Nov. 21, 2023, due to structural concerns, raising questions about its future.

In November, the city released a proposal to replace the bridge at its current location. It would cost $166 million, plus up to $27 million more in interest, and require six years to build.

Coun. Jeff Browaty, council’s finance chairman, said the bridge is a critical link between communities and must be demolished to protect the rail lines below it.

“It’s going to have to come down. We know that. I’ve spoken to engineers… and they’ve suggested if we don’t do it now, it’s going to be more expensive to take it apart later. I think this is a smart investment to deal with it now,” said Browaty.

Council’s public works committee had approved a motion that would earmark $30 million of future years’ funding for the bridge, along with a “first charge” to allow $20 million to be spent this year.

Gillingham said officials worked to refine early cost estimates after that vote, leading the new total to drop by $8 million.

The mayor’s inner circle also approved a call to let Downtown Community Safety Partnership move into the shuttered community connections space at Millennium Library for a pilot project from April 1, 2025 to May 31, 2025.

DCSP proposes to base some members of its community outreach advocacy resource team in the space to provide services, such as connecting vulnerable folks with housing, addictions treatment and mental health supports.

While the organization proposed a one-year program, Gillingham said a trial period will help determine how the initiative would work, with an option to extend it to March 31, 2027.

The mayor said the program will help vulnerable people previously served by a mix of library staff and community safety hosts at the same site.

“The work that DCSP is doing at its core is helping connect people to services that they need … This empty space now can be used by DCSP, first of all, at no cost to deliver very similar services,” said Gillingham.

A budget cut shut the program down on Dec. 31. Restoring that program for one year would have cost the city about $628,000.

The mayor rejected criticism that having DCSP take over the space would increase the focus on policing the site.

“I disagree with that. DCSP was walking through and patrolling that space on a regular basis anyway,” said Gillingham.

The budget changes also add $1 million to a communities fund in each of 2025, 2026 and 2027, or $66,666 for each ward annually.

“It was just a way to perhaps address a whole mixture of neighbourhood issues… It can include things like recreation amenities in city parks, it could be capital improvements for organizations,” said Browaty.

EPC’s budget amendments also advance a call to cancel a snow-clearing pilot project, which would have raised the threshold to plow residential streets to 15 cm from 10 cm, starting in October, and last throughout next winter.

The proposed 5.95 per cent property tax hike, the highest one-year increase since the 1990s, is set to remain in place.

“The reality is we need the revenue for the City of Winnipeg to deliver services… The city has grown by 71,000 people in three years,” said Gillingham.

Council will cast the final vote on the budget Jan. 29.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga