Council poised to finally kill $566M Marion megaproject

After two months with theirfingerssitting on the trigger, city council intends toput a bullet in the Marion Street widening today.

The $566-million transportation project is destined to die at the November meeting of council, the victim of being judged too expensive for the city and too disruptive for St. Boniface.

"Maybe the best-laid plans of mice and men: We thought we needed to go in a certain direction and we now know that the project the transportation folks had in mind was not viable, both because of cost and because of community feedback," St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard said Tuesday.

The project called for an underpass at Archibald Street and the rail line to the east, as well as onramps and offramps that would have resulted in expropriations. Council will consider a plan today to ask consulting firm MMM Group to come up with a list of less expensive and disruptive alternatives, at a cost of $200,000.

• City told to scrap $566M Marion Street widening plan
• Analysis: Muddying up Winnipeg's roadmap

Some St.Bonifaceresidents argueMMM didn't do a good enough job at communityconsultation when it workedon the now-doomed$566-million plan and they want the city to award the work to another firm. Council's public works committee deemed that prospect too expensive last week andAllardagrees.

"If we go back to a[request for proposal]process, we don't know what'sgoingto come back," hesaid."Were MMM not to bid, we'd likely have to pay much, much morefor a new consultant and we'd also be looking at delays."

Here's what else is on council's agenda today:

Making room for transit

In 2015, Winnipeg Transit suffered a major service disruption because too many buses had broken down. Part of the problem was insufficient space to conduct repairs.

Now, council will consider a plan to expand Winnipeg Transit's Fort Rouge garage to allow mechanics more room to manoeuvre.

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

The catch: The $53-million project may not be finished in time to qualify for funding from the Trudeau government.

• City spends $345K expropriating Parker home to make way for Southwest Transitway

Council will also consider a $345,000 settlement for the expropriation of a Parker neighbourhood home in the way of the second phase of the SouthwestTransitway.

Honouring a former mayor

During her six-year reign as Winnipeg's mayor in the1990s, Susan Thompson oversaw a governmental restructuring that increased the power of the elected officialsat the expense of public servants who work across the courtyard at city hall.

In what amounts to an ironic honour, city hall's administration building, where senior public servants work,mayforever bear Thompson's name.

• Susan A. Thompson's name should grace Winnipeg's Administration Building,councillorsagree

City council will consider a plan to rename the tower after the only woman to ever serve as Winnipeg's mayor. Council speakerDeviSharma (OldKildonan) came up with the idea.

More frequent fire inspections

The death of two people in a North Point Douglas rooming-house fire has led to changes for the fire-paramedic service.

Council is poised to approve a new policy that will see fire inspectors make annual visits to rooming houses that have shared washrooms or kitchens.

• Fire inspectors to visit rooming houses with shared facilities once a year

The fire-paramedic service deems the shared facilities riskier than converted dwellings with self-contained units.

Let's make a pair of deals

If you're a tech-savvymotoristwho likes to make a game of beating rush-hour traffic, you may soon have a new, improved toy. Winnipeg is one council vote away from approving a deal to share traffic information with Google, which in turn would enable its Waze app to function more efficiently.

• Google wants access to Winnipeg traffic data to power its Waze app

Council will also consider a deal that may result in some form of use for downtown's former Canada Post tower, which the city purchased as part of the police-headquarters project.

• Winnipeg to give Shelter a shot at redeveloping 'albatross' police-HQ tower

That tower is empty and costing the city millions of dollars a year in maintenance and lost rent. Pending today's vote, Winnipeg's Shelter Canadian Properties will get a crack at devising a redevelopment plan.