*COUNCIL APPROVES ST. BONIFACE WALKWAY*

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/council-approves-st-boniface-riverba...

WINNIPEG city council approved a $10-million riverbank walkway in St. Boniface Wednesday.

“I’m thrilled,” St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard said.

Construction of Promenade Tache is set to begin this winter and be completed by this time next year, he said.

“This project will be a major facelift to the St. Boniface riverbank, which has a sidewalk in desperate need of repair and is one of the major destinations for tourists and Winnipeggers alike,” Allard said.

The project involves the creation of a 2½-kilometre-long pedestrian walkway on the St. Boniface side of the Red River, fromthe Provencher Bridge to the Norwood Bridge.

Allard said it is a core infrastructure project that will stabilize the Riverbank on Tache Avenue from Provencher to behind the St. Boniface Hospital. It will protect Winnipeg’s primary dike, prevent further loss of Tache Avenue and provide lighting and street enhancements, he said. The Winnipeg Foundation is contributing $1 million and the federal government is providing $500,000.

Controversy has surrounded the Promenade Tache project after it was disclosed by the administration that the price tag had almost doubled to $10 million from $5.188 million.

The administration said the higher cost is the result of work.

Four councillors— Jeff Browaty, Shawn Dobson, Russ Wyatt and Devi Sharma— voted against the project.