Extending the Chief Peguis Trail from Main Street to Brookside Boulevard holds real benefits to commuters, residents in Winnipeg’s northwest sector and the city’s economy, MHCA President & CEO Chris Lorenc said March 4.
“The study shows that extending Chief Peguis Trail from Main to Brookside holds multiple benefits for some 1.9 million trips daily in north Winnipeg, and the residents in the north/north-west/east sectors of the city,” Lorenc said, in a presentation to the Public Works Committee. You can read the full presentation here.
The Committee approved the report on cost-benefits of extending the Chief Peguis Trail, moving it to Executive Policy Committee for a vote. The report recommends allowing the administration to proceed with an independent value-for-money assessment for evaluating business case and alternative project delivery methods for the project.
The cost-benefit analysis found the Chief Peguis Trail extension:
- Relieves pressure and congestion off residential and feeder roads onto the expressway
- Saves 6-11 minutes travel time for east-west travellers across the northern part of Winnipeg, based on current traffic
- Helps unlock potential for 15,000 new housing units on the adjacent developable lands
- 1,200 net acres of residential and 600 net acres of employment lands
- Fully built out, the employment lands boost GDP by $731 million
- Long-term tax revenue to all levels of government = about $60 million annually
Lorenc stressed the discussion regarding the trade corridor must appreciate the trade and economic context currently gripping Canada and Manitoba.
The tariff war with the US has underscored the necessity of reaching new or expanding existing global trade markets, to alleviate the country’s dependence on the US for trade. More than 75% of Canada’s exports go to the US.
Canada must invest in trade corridors and gateways to repair its damaged reputation as a reliable global trade partner, a critical step to expanding trade markets, Lorenc said.
The Chief Peguis Trail extension is the “very type of project that speaks to branding ourselves as trade and economic-investment ready,” he said. “Chief Peguis Trail would clearly merit federal and provincial financial support.”
