A tramway or light rapid-transit loop linking CN Rail's East Yards with St. Boniface, Osborne Village and other downtown shopping districts was recommended yesterday by a civic committee.
Coun. Chris Lorenc (Sisler) chairman of civic planning committee, proposed the federal, provincial, and city governments add the tramway system to their long-range plan for development of the downtown rail yards.
His idea, which the committee approved, also calls for a study of the feasibility of such a system.
Besides Provencher Boulevard and Osborne Village, the loop could include the Exchange District, Selkirk Avenue, Chinatown, the North Portage redevelopment and the University of Winnipeg, Lorenc said.
However, he said he has no idea what the project would cost, and some other city councillors expressed skepticism about the idea.
"To me, this comes as a bolt out of the blue," Coun. Jae Eadie, chairman of works and operations committee, said of the planning committee's proposal.
"I don't want to sound like I'm raining on their parade right off the bat without giving it some thought, but the first thing that comes to mind with me is: Is it really practical and is it really necessary?"
Eadie (Deer Lodge) said there could be high costs and problems involved in finding and buying land to run such a line through heavily developed downtown areas.
"I don't think it would even be cost-efficient," he said.
He said he thinks the city would be better off rerouting its existing transit buses to serve the East Yards are once the rail yard development is in place.
Although Lorenc had no estimate of the cost of his proposal, Winnipeg Transit has estimated that the proposed rapid transit corridor from the University of Manitoba to the East Yards, involving 10.8 kilometres of exclusive express bus lanes, could cost $45 million.
A downtown corridor linking all points proposed by Lorenc would be at least 6.4 kilometres long and unlike the University of Manitoba route, it would involve a Red River crossing to St. Boniface.
Lorenc said the downtown route he envisages would function as a park-and-ride operation tying together the different areas of the downtown.
"It could give the downtown a flavor that is totally different from any other major city in North America," he said.