End of the road in sight

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This article was published 19/02/2019 (2743 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg is in the final stretch of Phase Two of the $467.3-million southwest rapid transit corridor.

Jesse Crowder, manager of the major Winnipeg Transit capital project, said the project remains on time, on budget, and construction of the associated bridges, stations, and active transportation corridors along the 7.6-kilometre transitway will be complete this fall. The in-service date for the corridor is still projected for April 2020, following a training and testing period.

“I think right now we’re trending well towards the end,” Crowder said, adding the project team is fully invested in hitting the fall construction deadline.

“Everybody has been working towards that goal for a long time,” he said. “We want to be done and open to the public in spring and everybody can enjoy this benefit, that we’ve all been working hard and experiencing, trying to get there.”

Construction for phase two of the transitway began in fall 2016 and Crowder said the pace of work has been moving at a good clip. About 60 per cent of the transitway is completed and many of the major overpass structures, with the exception of the Pembina Highway Underpass, are very near completion.

“We’ve made a lot of progress to date. We’ve got nine structures on the project — which are the longest most complicated parts — and eight of those that are pretty much finished.

“Having a 7.6-kilometre corridor, we’ve had a dozen different work sites throughout it and different activities going on,” he added. “It’s been a lot of effort by our construction team.”

Generally, Crowder said the level of construction activity has been “standard,” although the summer months have proven to be intense, and 24-hour work cycles have been used to minimize the impact on the public, especially for the Pembina Highway Underpass.

“We’ve had pockets like that and we’ve done overnight work on Pembina as well to minimize the traffic impacts, and we’ve done a bit of 24-hour work at Stadium Station, just to get that finished,” he said.

Crowder said over the coming year, the remaining portions of the transitway will be finished, stations erected, and work on the Brenda Leipsic Dog Park to be substantially completed. He also anticipates the active transportation pathways to open at the same time as the transitway.

Construction crews at Pembina and Jubilee will also continue to be a regular sight for commuters in the area. The widening of the underpass to three lanes in each direction and the relocation of the rail bridge and construction of a new transitway overpass has proven to be a complex project, Crowder said.

“That started the first day, and it’ll go to the last day,” he said.

Over the summer, crews will focus their efforts on completing the new transitway bridge and restoring Pembina Highway itself. The underpass project is scheduled to be finished in mid-August, but Crowder cautions work could continue into the fall.

For more information about construction activities related to the southwest rapid transit corridor and updates, go to winnipegtransit.com/en/major-projects/rapid-transit/southwest-transitway