City report lays out plan for Phase 2 of Winnipeg rapid transit

A lengthy report by Winnipeg city bureaucrats is setting out the size and cost of the rapid transit system's second phase.

Phase 2 would expand the existing Southwest Transitway corridor, which runs from downtown to Jubilee Avenue, by 7.6 kilometres to the University of Manitoba.

The estimated cost of the project remains at $590 million but the plan no longer includes a huge sewer project between Cockburn Street and Calrossie Boulevard.

Some land drainage work connected to the sewer project will still be done as part of Southwest Transit Stage 2, the project's formal name.

The rapid transit construction will include three overpasses, one underpass, a tunnel and two new rail bridges.

The provincial government is in for $225 million, the federal government is in for $140 million, and the city is committed to $225 million.

Councillors need to give approval to find a partner for a public-private partnership (P3) that would be a 60-40 split between the public and private sectors.

It will cost the city $19.7 million a year starting in 2020 to finance the P3 project.

The report states that the city must figure out the revenue for this by next year, and recommends either using cash to capital, a property tax increase, or a transit fare increase to finance the debt.

The project would be completed by late 2019, according to the report.