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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
A new report requests the next Winnipeg Transit Master Plan update be delayed to mid-2028.<\/p>\n
City council approved the master plan in April 2021, in a vote that required a five-year update on its progress.<\/p>\n
Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of the public works committee, said she will support the extension, which requires full city council approval.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the end of the world\u2026. People wanted better transit, we changed the routes (first). That was a big focus, so all of this has put (the update) behind. It\u2019s completely understandable,\u201d said Lukes (Waverley West).<\/p>\n
A city council direction to implement the new network in June 2025, instead of a previous 2026 target, came shortly after pandemic planning ate up substantial time, she noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen COVID came\u2026 the whole focus was not on the master plan. The whole focus was how do we keep buses running\u2026 how do we distance, all of that,\u201d said Lukes.<\/p>\n
The councillor said ample work on improving transit will continue, by refining routes, studying downtown transit changes and analyzing bus stop locations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big picture can be a little further out. We\u2019ve got a lot of day-to-day issues that we\u2019re resolving in transit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The head of an organization for local bus riders said he agrees Winnipeg Transit planners have been extremely busy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey moved mountains to implement a primary transit network, while doing that planning during a pandemic and on a shoestring budget,\u201d said Kyle Owens, president of Functional Transit Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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However, Owens urged the city to follow through with previously recommended steps to add bus lanes, create more priority traffic signals and plan a north-south orange line for rapid transit, and not wait for the update to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a concern that this (delay) is going to be used as cover by the city to kick the can down the road on funding and implementation\u2026. We cannot let a two-year extension turn into further extensions and further reviews and further delays,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The public works committee is set to discuss the report at its meeting Wednesday.<\/p>\n
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
X: @joyanne_pursaga<\/p>\n
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Joyanne Pursaga Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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