Ceremony heralds growth of active transportation network in city’s north

North Winnipeg’s active transportation network is set to grow, with construction planned for a nearly two-kilometre extension of the Northwest Hydro Corridor Multi-Use Path later this summer.

A few community members, Mayor Scott Gillingham and other representatives from the city and province and Trails Manitoba gathered Tuesday at Daylan Marshall Gate Park for a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of Phase 2 of the project, which will extend the existing multi-use pathway north and south.

The original Northwest Hydro Corridor opened in 2023 and runs nearly three kilometres along the hydro right-of-way from Leila Avenue to Church Avenue, just west of McPhillips Street.

Phase 2 will extend the corridor north from Leila Avenue to the greenspace behind Daylan Marshall Gate and south from Church Avenue to Selkirk Avenue. Once completed, the pathway will stretch approximately 4.2 kilometres in length.

“This trail has become an important gathering place for the community,” said Old Kildonan city councillor Devi Sharma. “I see some of the residents out from the neighbourhood today, and I know how excited (they) are about this second phase.”

Mark Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg, cycled to the ceremony and said the organization has long advocated for the expansion.

Cohoe said he often takes groups out on the pathway.

“When you’re out in the community on the pathway — maybe going to shop at the Superstore, maybe you’re going for a meal, or families are going to a park or a soccer game — that’s where you meet your neighbours. You’re out of that metal box shell, and it’s face to face. That’s how we really knit our network together.”

The $3-million project will add new features along the route, including lighting, benches, offshoot connections to the Wellness Institute and Simkin Drive and a new sidewalk on Admiral Avenue.

“One thing Manitobans understand is that getting active doesn’t have to happen in the gym,” said JD Devgan, New Democrat MLA for McPhillips. “Sometimes it’s walking to school, sometimes it’s biking to work and sometimes it’s just taking out the family for an evening stroll in the neighbourhood or on a trail close to home. So good infrastructure makes those choices easier.”

The expansion will also include new pedestrian crossings with rapid flashing beacons at Templeton Avenue, Mountain Avenue and Burrows Avenue, along with additional traffic-calming measures near the pathway.

“It’s always good when Northwest Winnipeg gets a little bit of love from their governments,” Devgan said. “This is the kind of investment that pays dividends for generations.”

The project is funded, in part, by a $330,000 contribution from Trails Manitoba and is expected to provide additional connections for pedestrians and cyclists in the area, including a future link to the path network in the growing Amber Gates area.

Coun. Janice Lukes, chair of city council’s public works committee, said northwest Winnipeg has long been one of the city’s most underserved areas for active transportation.

Lukes (Waverley West) said the city’s growing investment in active transportation has helped make projects such as the Northwest Hydro Corridor expansion possible. Winnipeg’s active transportation budget has grown from $1 million in 2015 to $12.2 million this year, with $50.1 million forecast over the next five years.

“Not everyone has an option of getting in a vehicle and moving, whether it’s age, whether it’s choice, whether it’s health issues, and this provides options to people,” Cohoe said.

zoe.pierce@freepress.mb.ca