P3 financing to pay for Disraeli Freeway upgrades

The City of Winnipeg will finance a major rehabilitation of the Disraeli Freeway through a public-private partnership, city councillors decided Wednesday.

The executive policy committee the mayor's cabinet had recommended the city finance the project through a so-called P3, which would see the private sector design, build and maintain the structure in return for annual payments from the city.

The upgrades to the four-lane bridge over the Red River in north-central Winnipeg are expected to cost between $125 million and $160 million, depending on the design.

In the end, council approved the P3 financing, with four councillors dissenting.

Bridge should be twinned, say politicians

However, the scope of the project still very much up in the air.

Current plans call for the 40-year-old bridge to close while it is upgraded but four politicians from northeast Winnipeg are now calling for the bridge to be twinned to allow traffic to move on one side of the bridge while the other is under construction.

"We're looking at a severe cost to businesses and commuters in northeast Winnipeg to get across the river," said North Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty.

After construction is over, the extra lanes on the bridge could be used for rapid transit, he proposed.

"I think the big picture is, going forward, we're going to need more lanes," he said. "The cost of construction is only going up. Let's build the six lanes now."

Browatyacknowledged that twinning could double the price of the bridge work, but suggested the money could come from the province, possibly out of gas-tax funds.

Councillor 'baffled' by proposal

City councillors for Elmwood and Transcona, also in north Winnipeg, endorse Browaty's twinning idea, as does Jim Maloway, MLA for Elmwood.

Maloway said responses to recent polls in newspapers have suggested a large majority of people would prefer the bridge be twinned. He has asked the provincial transportation minister to intervene with the city to ensure it considers the six-lane option.

But the six-lane proposal faced opposition from councillors at Wednesday's meeting.

Coun. Jenny Gerbasi said she was "baffled"by the proposal, noting itcomes at a time when automobile use is being discouraged. Coun. Brenda Leipsic called it "shameful," "shabby" and "political grandstanding."

Show me the money, says mayor

Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz says it's fine for people to come up with ideas for a bigger Disraeli project, but he wants to know where the money will come from to pay for it.

"So if I were to put out a question to the public: 'Do you want every bridge, every street, and every sidewalk fixed properly and every pothole filled?' I'd like to think I'd get 100 per cent response being, 'yes.'The question is, where does the money come from, what are the priorities?" Katz told CBC News early Wednesday morning.

"If Jim Maloway believes that the premier is prepared to write us a cheque and not take that money from other projects, I'm happy to listen," Katz says. "But I've seen this type of, you know, action before."

Maloway said the provincial transportation minister is "eager and prepared" to discuss options for the bridge.

"Well, first of all the city has to offer the six-lane option, and then approach the province with that in mind, and then the province, I'm sure, we'll be willing to talk to them about it."

Katz said he's also not pleased with the idea that the Disraeli will be closed for months for the work, so he's looking for alternatives. However, the public service has already examined and rejected the option of twinning the bridge, he said.

The city hopes the bridge upgrade will be completed by late 2011.