Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 13/5/2016 (1590 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s next transit corridor will go from downtown into Transcona.

When city hall announced Friday the consortium to design and build the final stage of the city’s first transit corridor, it also said it was initiating preparations for a second corridor — an eastern route from downtown.

The city is looking for an engineering design team to consider the possible routes that would like downtown to Transcona and prepare that corridor with links to two other potential corridor routes — into East and North Kildonan, and southeast through St. Boniface towards the Perimeter Highway.

The first step of the eastern corridor will be done through an RFP (request for proposals) for a functional study for the route options. Deadline for submissions is August 10. The city expects to award the contract by Oct. 5.

A civic spokeswoman said the city expects the study to take 15-18 months to complete but the RFP is requiring the bidders to submit their own proposed timelines, which will be part of the evaluation process.

The spokeswoman said the city did not want to disclose a budget for the study, to avoid tainting the bidding process, but council did approve $2.5 million for future transit corridor planning and design, which will be used to finance this study.

The eastern corridor was one of six transit corridors adopted by council in its Transportation Master Plan. The master plan called for the southwest corridor to be constructed first; followed by the eastern, north and west corridors — all to be built by 2031. Transit corridors to the northeast and southeast are to be built after that, depending on transit demand.

The design study is complex and comprehensive, and will include an environmental review, co-ordinating related capital projects in the departments of public works, water and waste, and property, planning and development; and designing a comprehensive public engagement process where, in cooperation with civic staff, public input will be provide at every stage of the project.

A 2006 civic corridor study proposed the corridor be built in two stages: first stage, from the Graham Avenue Transit Mall to the Crossroads Station shopping centre (northeast corner of Lagimodiere and Regent Avenue); second stage, from Crossroads Station to Plessis and Kildare. One of the objectives of this study will be to determine how deep the corridor should go into Transcona.

How the eastern corridor links the Graham Avenue transit mall to Crossroads Station will be examined by the study. The city is considering two routes from downtown to Nairn Avenue – through South Point Douglas and across a new Louise bridge; or across north St. Boniface; and wants the study to consider both options, highlighting anticipated land acquisition costs.

The north St. Boniface route includes a corridor that links the Graham Avenue Transit Mall to East Elmwood (Foster Avenue), from there to the CNR overpass at Lagimodiere Boulevard, and from there to the Crossroads Station area.

The RFP says Winnipeg Transit wants a better route between the Graham Avenue Transit Mall and the Main/Stradbrook entrance to the southwest transit corridor – linking Graham Avenue to Union Station and using CNR tracks to the southwest transit corridor.

The city has an agreement with the railroad to use the right of way along two of those tracks for transit, including through Union Station, where transit also wants a transit station to be located.

The study will also feature:

— An environmental review.

— Identifying transit station locations, as well as those for park-n-rides and kiss-n-rides.

— Develop a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) plan, "anticipating land use issues and opportunities"

— Identify potential location for a transit satellite garage along the route, a 257,000 square-foot facility designed to accommodate maintenance of up to 200 transit buses.

— Design off-road bike and pedestrian path linking the north end of Disraeli Bridge with the Brazier/Roch neighbourhood; and a pathway linking Brazier to the Northeast Pioneers Greenway corridor.

The consultant’s report will go through the committee process with a final presentation to city council.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca