News in brief: Plenary Roads Winnipeg gets rapid transit job

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This article was published 16/05/2016 (3409 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Plenary Roads Winnipeg gets rapid transit job

Winnipeg’s rapid transit corridor is rolling along with building contracts being awarded to Plenary Roads Winnipeg.

The City of Winnipeg announced the contract on May 13.

According to the city, Plenary Roads Winnipeg achieved the highest score for its combined technical and financial submission for the project. The authority to choose a preferred bidder for the Southwest Transitway and Pembina Highway Underpass Project was given to the City’s chief administrative officer, who is currently Doug McNeil, in June 2014.

“When completed, the Southwest Transitway will allow Winnipeg Transit to bypass heavy traffic volumes on Pembina Highway, leading to greater on-time reliability, higher travel speeds, and improved service to the surrounding neighbourhoods,” Mayor Brian Bowman said in a statement.

The Southwest Rapid Transitway and Pembina Highway Underpass Project is a public-private partnership (P3) with a design-build-finance-operate-maintain model. This means that the private partner will develop the design for the project, construct it, finance it, and maintain it for a 30-year period.

The same model has been used for other infrastructure projects including the Chief Peguis Trail Extension and the Disraeli Bridges Project, of which Plenary Roads Winnipeg was also awarded.

The project has a total budget of $587.3 million, with funding being provided by all three levels of government. Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2016, with completion in late 2019. Following a period of testing, training and commissioning, operations on the transitway are expected to start in April 2020.

The City also issued a request for proposals for a functional study to determine the most effective route for a rapid transit line from downtown Winnipeg to eastern Winnipeg.

“As construction begins on the Southwest Transitway, we need to begin examining the next best route, and this initial work will be undertaken along the eastern corridor which was identified in the Transportation Master Plan as the next priority for rapid transit,” Bowman said.

MLAs appointed as critics

Fort Rouge MLA Wab Kinew will serve as the NDP’s spokesperson for reconciliation and critic for education, advanced learning, and training as well as housing and community development.   

“We heard from Manitobans that reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is a top priority and I intend to bring these voices to the House and keep government accountable to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action,”  Kinew said in a statement. “The Path to Reconciliation Act mandates that a Minister responsible for reconciliation develop a strategy for TRC implementation and I look forward to working together on this.”

Fort Garry-Riverview MLA James Allum will serve as the federal and provincial relations critic as well as finance critic.

Open house for historic chapel

The Chapelle de Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Secours in St. Norbert will be open to the public on dates in May to October.

The chapel, which is located at the corner of Rue de l’Église and St. Pierre, is a provincial heritage site and was built in 1875 by Father Noël-Joseph Ritchot following the Red River Resistance led by Louis-Riel in 1869 and 1870. 

Gates will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on May 31, June 4, July 16, Aug. 15 and 22, Sept. 8 and 15, and Oct .7.