Winnipeggers invited to share input on Route 90 improvements

The City of Winnipeg is inviting residents to share their opinions to help develop a design for the widening Route 90 between Taylor Avenue and Ness Avenue.

This comes after a recommendation from the 2012 Route 90 transportation study. This is to build on recommendations from the “Route 90 transportation planning study” from 2012.

RELATED: Empty homes near Winnipeg’s Kapyong Barracks to be demolished 

The city said a number of developments that have taken place need to be considered before the Kenaston Boulevard project can move into the next phase:

• Updated traffic information and forecasts
• The Pedestrian and Cycling Strategies approved by City Council in 2015
• New accessibility requirements for pedestrian ramps
• Updates and future planning for Winnipeg Transit
• Updates to the surrounding transportation network
• New residential, business, and industrial development within the project area
• Changing conditions of roadways, bridges, and water mains
• New information on the Kapyong lands redevelopment
• Updates to the St. James Bridge and interchanges at Portage Avenue and Academy Road in light of bridge condition, and to improve access, safety and visibility.

Upgrades that are needed include current and future traffic volumes, meeting the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and transit users along with accommodating new development.

An online survey is available on the project’s website as of Friday, running until April 6.

The city expects to wrap up the preliminary design survey in about a year, winter 2018/19 and there’s no timeline yet for when construction will be starting — first council needs to approve the project and secure funding.

The city has set aside $3.2 million for the preliminary design study and public engagement but no money has been allocated for the project itself.

“There is some dialogue with the federal government but in terms of the city’s dollars to make it proceed that money hasn’t been identified yet,” Mayor Brian Bowman said.

“All these projects are important for a growing city and of course we only have so many financial tools to be able to access so that is ultimately going to be a decision for council when and how we would proceed.”

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The project can’t be completed until negotiations over the Kapyong Barracks land is finalized between Treaty One First Nations and the Department of National Defense.

Long Plain First Nation Chief Dennis Meeches said it’s been a long road.

“I’m hoping by 2021, we will be seeing the transformation of Kapyong, we would be seeing a lot of construction on Kapyong,” he said. “It will take quite a few years to develop the property but again the infrastructure, access points, widening of Kenaston– those are big priorities.”

The Department of National Defense said the land was deemed surplus in 2001, and in 2015 Canada accepted the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal that held Canada had not fullfilled its duty to consult with four of the Treaty One First Nations.

“We continue to work with Treaty One First Nations to find a resolution of this matter. As the confidential discussions are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time,” said a statement from the defense department.