Lukes, MHCA to meet regularly on city infrastructure

Winnipeg Deputy Mayor Janice Lukes has committed to meeting regularly with the MHCA as she takes the Chair’s position of the Public Works Committee. Lukes was appointed November 2 to the Executive Policy Committee by Mayor Scott Gillingham.

“We have had a very detailed and productive discussion with Coun. Lukes regarding the numerous items outstanding for the Public Works Committee, including the continuation of the work toward increasing the use of recycled concrete aggregates in roadbuilding,” MHCA President Chris Lorenc said.

“We’re encouraged by Mayor Gillingham’s agenda, as indicated by his election platform, on the broad scope of issues facing Winnipeg, but in particular that he will be adopting a strategic approach to investing in the city’s trade corridors and its transportation network, including residential streets.”

As part of his campaign promises, Gillingham committed to investing $71 million over four years, as cash-to-capital on:

• $50m additional for road renewal
• $13m for additional active transportation projects
• $8m for design and preliminary work on the trade route projects, including widening Kenaston/Route 90 and extending the Chief Peguis Trail

The MHCA addressed a variety of points in the meeting with Lukes this week. The industry would like to see a permanent Specification Review Committee appointed, with industry and City officials, to review plans for changes to Public Works construction specs and to discuss how new and updated specs are applied.

Further, after 2023 the accelerated regional road agreement ends. The four-year agreement, which saw a total $100 million additional invested in regional roads, was almost evenly split among Canada, Manitoba and Winnipeg.

“We’re particularly concerned about City Council’s plan for regional roads. The budget projections show that program will see significant reduction in funding from 2022,” Lorenc noted.

In 2022, the regional road renewal program’s budget was $101 million; the forecast for 2023 is $72 million and in 2024, $47 million.

“We saw what some of our high-traffic regional roads looked like this spring – parts of Kenaston Boulevard were impassable. We need to step up maintenance if we want to avoid the much higher costs of rehabilitation and reconstruction.”