Route 90 widening project drives forward

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This article was published 25/01/2012 (5248 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Residents are dealing with mixed emotions as the City of Winnipeg moves forward with plans to widen a stretch of Kenaston Boulevard to six lanes.

A city committee recently recommended a preliminary design option to widen Route 90 on alternating sides.

The blueprint includes widening on the west side south of Tuxedo Boulevard and the east side north of Tuxedo, as well as the expansion of the St. James Bridges.

If the project gets the green light, the city will need to buy more than 40 homes from local residents.

Area councillor John Orlikow said the decision will likely go to council later this month.

Ken Klassen, who has lived in the area since 1982, said he has been disturbed by a lack of consultation with the community on the issue.

Klassen said despite hearing reports of increased traffic projections on Kenaston rising up to 40% during the next 20 years, he purchased traffic records from the city, listing 24-hour weekday counts, that show no significant increase in the past 20 years at the St. James Bridges.

“Traffic levels have flatlined in the last 20 years. And consider that we’ve seen so much commercial and residential development in areas such as Linden Woods and Waverley West during that time. Before these developments, there was farmers’ fields,” he said.

Klassen said not enough focus has been put on developing Winnipeg Transit options for the expansion.

“This is all about cars. Trying to bulldoze a freeway through River Heights is not a good solution, as it’s expensive and disruptive to the neighbourhood,” Klassen said, noting he’s “in limbo” as the city “may or may not need my property.”

Bruce Duggan, whose Carpathia Road home is earmarked for expropriation, is processing things on a micro and macro level.

“Personally, I’m trying to learn to love something that can’t love you back. I’m failing,” said Duggan, who has lived in the home for the past six years.

“I love our house, but I know this isn’t rational, as it’s a building. When we moved in, our house wasn’t in great shape. We’ve spent lots of time fixing it up.”

Duggan said that, while he accepts his house will be torn down, he’s urging the city to find a widening option that destroys the least number of private homes.

Duggan said a plan to include demolition of the Manitoba Youth Centre building — which is owned by the province — would achieve that goal.

“Because the former post office, just north of the centre, is empty, and has a big empty parking lot behind it, the centre could be altered to take in that area, without a great deal of difficulty,” Duggan said.

“Alternatively, the centre could be relocated to the Kapyong Barracks land. Either way, it would require the provincial government coming to the table and being willing to include the centre in the discussion.”

He added that dealing with the sequence of traffic lights along the strip would be a more successful move.

Orlikow said there have been discussions about the city acquiring the youth centre from the province, but it’s not a preferred option.

“Firstly, we’d still have a problem lining up with the bridge. Secondly, the cost of relocating it would be astronomical. I don’t think it would be cost-effective,” he said.

Orlikow called the recommended widening option “very prudent.”

“This has been a long, arduous process and has been quite unfair for those homeowners who have been waiting for four years. Now they can start the process,” he said.

Orlikow said factors such as berm heights and potential use of cul-de-sacs are still on the drawing board.

simon.fuller@canstarnews.com