The City of Winnipeg is proposing to spend more than $700 million to widen Kenaston and update the St. James Bridge – and that’s before cost over-runs!
Several wise Winnipeggers have put together a comprehensive report explaining why this project is not in the best interests of Winnipeggers, especially those who want to get around safely on bicycle.
Bike Winnipeg’s Mark Cohoe along with Mel Marginet of the Green Action Centre authored the section on mode shift. If you’re interested in some information to spice up a boring Christmas party, read on:
Mode Shift
The City of Winnipeg’s Transportation Master Plan and Climate Action Plan indicate that we need to reduce our drive-alone mode share to 50% to meet our goals. Winnipeg’s current driving mode share is about 80%.
It’s become clear, based on surveys in Winnipeg and similar cities, that Winnipeggers are driving not because it’s their ideal travel mode, but because they believe they have “no choice” but to drive based on the lack of convenient, comfortable options. Green Action Centre summarized these numbers in 2023. The City of Winnipeg should look at Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies instead of road widenings, as TDM is more affordable and offers more transportation choice to residents.
TDM is defined as the application of strategies and policies to increase the efficiency of transportation systems, that reduce travel demand, or to redistribute this demand in space or in time. To date, the City of Winnipeg has done very little work in areas of TDM. Instead, we have overbuilt our car infrastructure to accommodate peak travel times. The result is that we can never build enough infrastructure to meet that induced demand. Outside of peak travel times, we leave a hostile environment for everyone outside of the personal vehicle (barren parking lots, wide roads that encourage speeding, long walks between destinations, etc).
Riley Black examined this quandary in his report for the CCPA, titled The High Cost of Free-Riding and How We Fix It. In this paper, Mr. Black notes:
- The financial burden for this road infrastructure is born by Winnipeg taxpayers for the benefit of those who live outside of city limits.
- The average household income is far lower in Winnipeg ($68,402) vs metropolitan communities ($86,912 in St. Clements, $130,534 in East St. Paul, for example).
- Those living in exurban communities have a lower property tax rate than those within the City of Winnipeg.
This begs the question:
Why should Winnipeg taxpayers pay for infrastructure that only encourages people to live further away (outside the tax base) and drive in?
The High Cost of Free-Riding and How We Fix It presents a compelling case for the need to bring a commuter fee to Winnipeg. Commuter fees are a critical tool in the toolbelt of Transportation Demand Management.
Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars to widen Kenaston (and don’t forget about the increased annual operating expenses for the new infrastructure), we should instead be investing in the infrastructure that encourages more healthy, sustainable trips. Better transit, safe neighbourhood streets, connected walking and biking networks, and ride sharing.
Aside from these ‘carrots’ to encourage sustainable travel, Winnipeg—like other cities across North America—needs to study what tools to use to discourage those who work and regularly use Winnipeg services, from living outside of the Winnipeg region. A commuter fee for vehicles driving into and out of the city multiple times a week is a good tool to discourage driving while raising funds to further improve Winnipeg’s transportation system.
Check out the whole Transportation Land Use Coalition “anatomy of a pothole” initiative:
Other chapters
Transit
by By Kyle Owens, Functional Transit Winnipeg
- If we envision more people traveling along Kenaston in the future, why are we not providing frequent or rapid transit to enable these trips to be made without the need for more personal vehicles?
Social Equity
By Richard Milgrom, Head of Planning, University of Manitoba; and Marianne Cerilli, Change Agent
- If the city wasn’t able to increase the $100K annual maintenance budget for Kenaston for more than two decades (from 1999 until 2023), where is the additional operational, maintenance and repair funding for the widened road and new bridge span coming from in the operating budget?
- Why are we adding a new span to the St. James Bridge for South Winnipeg when the Arlington Bridge has been effectively abandoned and the Redwood and Louise bridge are at the end of their life?
Finances and the Economy
By Michel Durand-Wood, author of You’ll Pay for This and editor of The City Project
- With the money spent for building Centre Port Canada Way and to improve the perimeter highway, we are seeing fewer and fewer trucks using Kenaston (currently just 4%). What justifies it as a “critical trade corridor”?
- With investments in other modes of transport having a higher net benefit than personal vehicles, why are we spending so much to widen Kenaston for the benefit of personal vehicles?
- The strategic plan for the Naawi-Oodena project indicates that they see frequent or rapid transit access as preferable. Why has the city not looked at frequent or rapid transit, and its much higher net benefit, to compare which project is better long-term?
Public Engagement & Political Process: Ignoring Principles, Manufacturing Consent
By Marianne Cerilli
- Why did the city abandon the Project Advisory Committee?
- Why has the full report and appendixes not been released?
Environment and Induced Demand
By Mel Marginet
- Why is the City of Winnipeg ignoring key factors of induced demand to this project?
- Why are we not considering the environmental cost of widening to this report?
Long-term Maintenance
By Michel Durand-Wood
- Why do we not consider long-term maintenance and eventual replacement costs when we make infrastructure decisions?
More Lanes? How about Higher Tech?
By Philip Mikulec, CEO of Peg City Car Co-op
- Why is the city investing in widening Kenaston when adding lanes is proven to lead to more traffic, not less?
- How can the city leverage modern technology to support traditional methods of reducing traffic congestion and the financial burden of road maintenance?
Health Effects of Proximity to Roadways
By Ann Loewen MD
- Considering the link between air pollution and health, will the city consider including an evaluation of health outcomes as part of infrastructure reports?
- With the increased knowledge about the connection between emissions and increased rates of cancer and dementia, should we be creating a large, congested roadway next to a dense housing development?
Check out the whole Transportation Land Use Coalition “anatomy of a pothole” initiative: