https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/11/09/route-90-mayors-next-priority

MAYOR Scott Gillingham says a megaproject to widen Kenaston Boulevard, rebuild the St. James bridges and replace aging pipes is his next top infrastructure priority now that a massive sewage treatment plant upgrade is fully funded.

Gillingham insists the project, which could cost up to $757 million, is urgently needed, despite opposition from some city councillors and other critics.

“Route 90 has only a few years of life left on the bridges by the Viscount Gort (Hotel). So, this becomes an essential project. It has to be done,” said Gillingham.

The mayor made the comments during a question-and-answer session with CJOB radio host Richard Cloutier, which followed Gillingham’s Monday speech at the Leaders’ Forum on Growing the Economy. About 350 people attended the event at the Victoria Inn, which was hosted by the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association and 13 other business organizations.

The megaproject would widen Kenaston/ Route 90 to provide three lanes in each direction between Taylor and Ness avenues. It would also replace the St. James bridges, separate pipes to reduce combined sewer overflows and add active-transportation pathways on both sides of the street.

The mayor said it will ensure a critical trade route flows smoothly and that Naawi-Oodena — a major development transforming the site where the Kapyong Barracks previously stood, which is expected to add about 5,000 homes to the area — has the transportation links it requires.

“To accommodate that growth, we need to widen Kenaston Boulevard,” he said.

During the last council term, the city updated the budget and design for the Route 90 project and the Chief Peguis Trail extension — which could cost up to $899 million — both of which are now “shovel-ready,” said Gillingham.

He ranked Chief Peguis as the next most-pressing project after Route 90, now that the city has secured funding from the provincial and federal governments to cover the $3.1-billion North End sewage treatment plant upgrade.

The mayor stressed senior government money will again be needed to complete the two major road projects.

While Gillingham doesn’t expect the Kenaston widening project to be completed within the current four-year city council term, he told the Free Press he has set a goal to get construction started before the next election.

“That is a major trade route for Winnipeg, vital to Winnipeg’s growing economy,” he said.

There is, however, significant opposition.

Mel Marginet, a member of the Green Action Centre’s sustainable transportation team, said the city would get a much greater benefit if it spent more money to enhance Winnipeg Transit instead.

“The investment into widening Kenaston will continue to suck money from priorities like transit investment that could address our high ‘drive alone’ mode share. It has a shockingly low, or no, return on investment,” said Marginet.

She said the extra lanes would not actually relieve traffic congestion on the notoriously slow route, since it could encourage people to continue relying on single-passenger vehicles, instead of choosing greener modes of transportation.

Marginet called it “deeply concerning” that adding more lanes to Kenaston would be deemed a top priority.

Coun. Matt Allard, who was recently re-elected in St. Boniface, has voted against the Kenaston project in the past and continues to oppose it.

“I campaigned (on) cancelling expensive road projects that aren’t needed right away and investing in our local roads. I’m in favour of rehabilitation, like we saw in the Louise Bridge,” said Allard.

City council has approved a $40-million preliminary design that aims to extend the life of the Louise Bridge by at least 30 years. Prior to that vote, a 2024 city report estimated a new Louise Bridge could cost $142 million for four lanes or $179 million for six lanes.

Allard said sewer and bridge repairs tied to the Kenaston project must be completed but the route should be maintained, not expanded.

“We should be investing in the roads that we have and fixing the roads that we have,” said Allard.

joyanne.pursaga@winnipegfreepress.com X: @joyanne_pursaga