Councillor seeking to protect homes 'understands neither finance nor traffic': developer
'Marty Morantz is not a traffic engineer,' says Qualico's Vogan as councillors prepare to rewrite plan
A city councillor's efforts to prevent homes from being expropriated may threaten completion of Winnipeg's inner ring road, a senior developer says.
"[Coun.] Marty Morantz is not a traffic engineer. He's not an accountant. He understands neither finance nor traffic," Eric Vogan said Monday in an interview.
Vogan, president of the Urban Development Institute and vice-president of residential-development company Qualico, says the councillor for Charleswood-Tuxedo-Whyte Ridge lacks the expertise to overrule plans devised by transportation planners and engineers.
On Tuesday, Morantz will try to convince council's public works committee to adopt a plan that will ensure the western extension of the Sterling Lyon Parkway runs alongside Wilkes Avenue in order to connect with the William Clement Parkway.
Morantz authored a motion to change the connection in order to appease Wilkes South homeowners who are opposed to a route that would require some homes to be expropriated and razed.
If approved, Morantz's motion would compel the city to use "only the existing Wilkes Avenue right-of-way" and property alongside it to connect Sterling Lyon Parkway with the William Clement Parkway.
But Vogan said this would either force the city to expropriate businesses along Wilkes Avenue or create a connection that would not have the capacity to carry as many vehicles as the existing stretch of Sterling Lyon Parkway, which averages about 80 metres in width.
"In order to get an east-west connection off of William Clement Parkway, you need to get to Route 90," said Vogan.
'Wipe out half the businesses'
Between McCreary Road and the Perimeter Highway, Wilkes Avenue is hemmed in by a rail line to the north. There are at least seven industrial businesses, plus a Manitoba Hydro substation and a baseball-diamond complex, on the south side of the street.
"If you put an extension of William Clement Parkway to hook up with Wilkes right where it is now, you have to wipe out about half of the businesses along Wilkes and you're also unable to make intersections that work with the streets to the north," Vogan said.
He said a high-volume east-west artery is required in order to ensure the enormous Wilkes South neighbourhood, which encompasses a large proportion of Winnipeg's undeveloped land, can be built out in the future.
The Sterling Lyon Parkway alignment poised to be quashed at public works committee would run south of Wilkes Avenue and require the city to expropriate part or all of several dozen properties. Consulting firm WSP presented the alignment in September after working with city public works officials.
Richard Tebinka, WSP's transportation planner, said he is not permitted to speak to media about the rationale behind this alignment. Winnipeg chief administrative officer Doug McNeil also declined to say what led to the choice of alignments and refused to divulge WSP's estimate for the project cost.
"I think the engineers are trying to make the case that it would be a lower-cost option. But there are times as councillors where we have to use our common sense," Morantz said Monday in an interview.
"There are times when we have to make difficult decisions. This one is not difficult."
Vogan said the city erred in allowing residential homes to rise along semi-rural roads without considering the future transportation needs.
"Nobody ever thought, 'Geez, we'd better have a road through there,'" said Vogan, brushing off the suggestion he's solely concerned with the impact on residential development.
Qualico has significant land holdings in Ridgewood South, a neighbourhood north of Wilkes Avenue.
"We're concerned about the City of Winnipeg doing well and being a well-planned city. Right now, we see no evidence of a plan being rolled out."
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