In the August 6th issue of the Winnipeg Free Press, Bjorn Radstrom, Winnipeg Transit’s manager of service development, was reported as saying that there is not a significant difference between the costs of building the Southwest Corridor along the Letellier route vs the hydro corridor.

“Under questioning from lawyer James Mercury, Radstrom admitted that construction costs of the two routes were similar and that it’s the Letellier route which was expected to have greater economic spin-offs – spurring transit-oriented development in the short term, whereas the Parker benefits won’t be seen for another 25 years.”
(Winnipeg Free Press, 2015)

This is a very significant statement and should be very concerning to City Hall. If the development potential is better and the cost is similar along the Letellier route, why are we choosing the hydro route?

Since the hydro route is longer and much less accessible for riders than the Letellier route, there remain no reasons that the City should choose the hydro corridor route. Please see our report on phase two of the Southwest Corridor that we submitted in March for more details.

We strongly urge City Council to reconsider this plan before public transit is made worse for Winnipeggers.

Thank you for your time, and we look forward to your response to our inquiry above regarding the decision to choose the hydro route over the Letellier route..

Email to mayor and council – August 10, 2015