City breaks ground on active transit corridor

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This article was published 10/08/2022 (1394 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NORTHWEST WINNIPEG

The city has broken ground on the first phase of a new, multi-use active transportation path west of McPhillips Street.

The path will run 2.4 kilometres between Leila Avenue and Church Avenue, and will be 4.5 metres wide with benches, lighting and controlled crossings for pedestrians and cyclists at Leila Avenue, Inkster Boulevard and Jefferson Avenue.

“It’s been a long time coming, so it’s really good to see it moving forward,” said Mark Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg, whose input contributed to the project. “This is potentially a really important link for the northwest.”

Cohoe said the groundbreaking is a good start, but the next phases of the project will be crucial to improving active transportation options in an historically underserved area of the city.

“In the next couple of years, we’ll see it get from McPhillips Street Station to Templeton, and longer term — and hopefully we can push it in the next five or six years — is to get it across the tracks, so that you can connect down to Alexander and ultimately to Empress and the Assiniboine River,” Cohoe said.

Phase 2 of the project is scheduled for construction in 2024, but money for that phase has not yet been budgeted, nor have grants been allocated.

The current phase comes with a price tag of just over $2.5 million, which includes a grant from the province and Trails Manitoba of $450,000.

Cohoe said establishing a main vein for active transportation is an important step in improving and modernizing Winnipeg’s transportation infrastructure.

“It’s really crucial… For a lot of folks, this is going to mean that they have the opportunity to get out to shop, to recreation, to friends, to work, to job opportunities without hitting the roadways or hitting a road without cycling facilities on it. And that makes a huge difference,” he said.

The corridor may also serve as a meeting place for people, Cohoe said, adding people have already spoken to him about putting in community gardens along the path.

Much of the path will run through the city’s Point Douglas ward. The area’s councillor, Vivian Santos, embraced the project.

“As someone who is a huge advocate for exercising and physical and mental health, something like this project within the northwest quadrant of the city is so important. You have residents who don’t necessarily have access to pathways,” Santos said.

Santos warned that funding needs to be secured for the second phase as soon as possible.

“We can’t stop here… we have to continue to advocate for funding for this stuff,” she said.

Another section of the path will enter into Coun. Devi Sharma’s Old Kildonan ward.

“We do need more active transportation amenities in the northwest. This particular connection is very important. It’s going to connect to other neighbourhoods in the area that we’ve been lacking,” Sharma said.

Cohoe, Santos and Sharma all said they’d like to see road renewals include active transportation wherever possible, in order to improve active transportation routes surrounding the corridor.