http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/city-wants-consultants-route-90-redesign-proposals-by-july-21-431411023.html

CITY hall is taking steps to prepare for the long-awaited widening of Kenaston Boulevard and the rebuilding of the St. James bridges.

A formal request for proposals (RFP) was issued recently, asking potential consultants to develop preliminary designs for the Route 90 project Winnipeg city council approved in principle in January 2012.

Senior councillors denied the RFP has been issued in anticipation of a resolution to the dispute between Ottawa and First Nations over the Kapyong barracks property.

Ward Coun. John Orlikow, chairman of the property and development committee, said concern over the structural viability of the St. James bridges prompted city hall to have designs in place.

“The St. James bridges take so much traffic, it’s a crucial transportation link,” said Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry), adding it’s not necessary for the Kapyong barracks situation to be resolved before work begins on the bridges but it would be preferable.

“We can work on that one project if we have to, but we’d like to see the whole thing done at once.”

City hall has budgeted $2.5 million for the consulting contract.

While the 2009 estimated cost of the project had been $129 million, the city acknowledged it was a rough estimate. The consultant’s final report will be expected to include revised cost estimates that would be accurate within a range of minus-20 per cent to plus-30per cent, known as a Class 3 estimate.

The designs will be based on “Option 4,” one of five widening designs presented to the public during a series of open houses. It will widen the west side of Kenaston Boulevard between Taylor Avenue and Tuxedo Boulevard and the east side between Tuxedo and the bridges.

According to the RFP document, the city will have to acquire 136 properties along Kenaston: 94 single homes and 21 duplex units; 52 of them are privately owned and 81 belong to the Department of National Defence.

The plan to widen Kenaston provides for sidewalks on both sides, plus a three-metre-wide cycling and pedestrian pathway on the west side from Taylor to Wellington Crescent.

The RFP advises potential consultants widening Kenaston will require closing several side streets. Option 4 also envisions a pedestrian bridge across Kenaston at Lockston Avenue.

For the bridge project, the RFP states both northbound and southbound spans will be widened to four lanes and accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, and will tie into future cycling networks.

The city wants a realignment of the eastward off-ramp to Portage Avenue, which cuts through the Viscount Gort Hotel property.

For the southbound span, Orlikow said the city is going to require the roadway to be realigned and straightened.

The RFP is requiring the consultant team to include at least one “industry recognized bicycle facilities design expert with extensive knowledge and experience in the design of complex bicycle facilities in North America.”

The RFP closes at noon on July 21. The city expects to award a contract by the end of August and the winning consultant will be required to produce a draft preliminary design by Aug. 31, 2018.

The tentative date for a public open house to review the preliminary designs is set for Nov. 1, 2018.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca