Transit fixes top city's modest infrastructure priority list

Winnipeg's new priority list for federal and provincial infrastructure funding is decidedly modest this year.

• Winnipeg Transit plans to spend $53M to expand, modernize maintenance garage

On Wednesday, city council's executive policy committee will be asked to place their stamp of approval on three projects slated to receive funding from Ottawa and Broadway:

• A $53-million transit garage expansion, coupled with $7 million worth of transit-garage ventilation improvements.
• $51 million worth of new transit-bus purchases
• $5.8 million worth of water main renewals on the south side of Transcona.

All three projects were disclosed in the capital budget tabled by Mayor Brian Bowman on Nov. 22.

Winnipeg hopes to improve LGBT inclusivity

The City of Winnipeg is still working on a planto make more of its language gender-neutral.

During Pride Week in June, Mayor Brian Bowman pledged to review city procedures in an effort to be more inclusive to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgenderresidents. At the time, he mused those procedures may involvechanges to the way the city collects and uses gender-identity information.

• Mayor Brian Bowman wants city to be more LGBT friendly

The resulting review, whichcomes before executive policy committee on Wednesday, calls for a more detailed review of the language used by the city in signs, 311 scripts, website and elsewhere in order to ensure language is gender neutral.

The review also recommends the city allow new employees to identify themselves as LGBTto help the city ensure its workforce is as diverse as the city as a whole.

Southwest Transitway sails through initial audit

One of themost expensive infrastructure projects ever attempted in Winnipeg has managed to do what few other major efforts have done in recent years: set off no red flags for city auditors.

An initial audit of the Southwest Transitway extension, a $467-million project that also includes the reconstruction of the Pembina Highway underpass at Jubilee Avenue, found the projected costshave matched up to the actual costs to date.

• Going over instead of under helped Winnipeg keep rapid-transit costs down

In a report that comes before executive policy committee on Wednesday, auditors make a single recommendation: provide more detail about the project to city council's finance committee every three months.

Work on the transitway extension, which will continue the bus corridor from Jubilee Avenue to the University of Manitoba's Fort Garry campus, began this year. The project is expected to wrap up in 2020.