WINNIPEG is poised to buy a 6.7-kilometre stretch of unused railway in the northeast quadrant of the city to build a bike path -- and future rapid-transit corridor -- all the way from the inner city to East St. Paul.
Businessman and philanthropist John Buhler has brokered a $1.7-million deal that will see the city take over the Canadian Pacific Railway's dormant Marconi Line, a north-south route that runs parallel to Raleigh Street and Gateway Road, from Nairn Avenue to the city limits.
The deal, which still requires approval this morning at a closed-door meeting of city council's property committee, will see the city begin building a bicycle path on the linear parkway in 2008 and then convert the line into a bus rapid transit or light rail corridor at some point in the future.
"I'm interested in preserving what we have and turning it into something spectacular," said Buhler, a farm-machine magnate who's spent more than $7 million on charitable projects in Winnipeg and across southern Manitoba in recent years.
"I'm an old railway man -- when I see a train, I still slow down to watch it. Some day, there'll be a high-speed rail line going all the way to Birds Hill Park."
Corridors
Although Winnipeg currently has no plans to build a light rail system, the five-year capital budget forecast calls on the city to spend $3.9 million next year to begin planning rapid-transit corridors along Pembina Highway and in the east side of the city.
There is no money set aside for future rapid-transit spending, but the purchase of the corridor paves the way for changes to the capital budget forecast next year.
The city actually entered into negotiations to buy the Marconi Line back in 2003, when trains stopped running along the route. But Winnipeg could not strike a deal with the CPR, which originally wanted $4 million for the railway, according to city documents.
In July 2005, Buhler stepped into the negotiations and spent a year whittling down the asking price.
This July, he struck a tentative deal to buy the land from the CPR with the intention of flipping it to the city for $1.5 million.
According to the terms of the deal, Winnipeg will cover the legal and administrative costs, but Buhler will donate $150,000 toward the construction of a bike path along the route, paying half of the money up front and the rest when the trail is finished.
Trail associations and the province may also kick in cash to complete the bike path. The plan calls on the city to cover no more than half the cost of the trail.
Buhler is also planning to buy a chunk of the line inside the Rural Municipality of East St. Paul to let the bike path connect with existing trails and eventually Birds Hill Park.
Presumably, the city would then connect the old Marconi Line to Whittier Park and then through Old St. Boniface to Esplanade Riel.
"You'll be able to walk or ride your bike all the way from Birds Hill Park to The Forks. This is an opportunity to build something that will serve citizens in the northeast part of the city for many, many decades to come," said North Kildonan Coun. Mark Lubosch, an avid cyclist and rapid-transit proponent.
Hero
"John Buhler is a hero. This deal would not have been possible without him," Lubosch added.
Buhler, who owns property next to the Marconi Line in the Bowman Industrial Park, said the North Kildonan councillor is making too much of his role. Mayor Sam Katz played a big role in the deal, Buhler insisted.
Katz refused to comment on the deal last night, as the matter remains confidential until it's approved. A press conference announcing the plan is slated for today at noon.
Rapid-transit activists, including mayoral challenger Kaj Hasselriis, have repeatedly criticized Katz for cancelling former mayor Glen Murray's plan to build a bus rapid transit route along Pembina Highway -- and then redirecting federal money earmarked for the plan to improve community centres. The Buhler-brokered Marconi Line deal may allow Katz to save face, but a source close to the mayor insisted today's announcement has nothing to do with electioneering.
"Sam's been pushing for this for a long time," Buhler added last night. "They're making too much out of me." According to city documents, the city will pay for the $1.7-million Marconi deal by redirecting $1.2 million from future transit fare revenues currently earmarked for other projects, and remove $500,000 in unallocated cash from a public works land-acquisition fund.
The deal has three hurdles to clear: this morning's closed-door property committee meeting, a subsequent meeting of the mayor's cabinet and then next Wednesday's council meeting, the final gathering of its kind before next month's civic election.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca