19 July 2005
Land Buy to Untangle Underpass Snag
Winnipeg - The Kenaston underpass will move ahead on
schedule, but only after the city solves a complex problem involving two railway companies, several
roads and a private land owner.
To keep the project going, the city is expected to buy a key piece of private property for seven times
the assessed value, according to a report seen by councillors yesterday.
Under the deal, the city would give $115,020 to the property owner in exchange for a
5.8-acre parcel of vacant land adjacent to Brady Road in the Rural Municipality of
Macdonald just southwest of Winnipeg.
The land isn't needed for the Kenaston construction itself, but the property is a key element that
must be sorted out before other issues can be dealt with.
After buying the land from owner Margaret Maes, the city will use it to redirect a short stretch of
Brady Road that crosses the CPR LaRiviere line just south of Whyte Ridge. The redirected road would
connect to an existing road allowance west of the CPR line.
CPR needs the Brady crossing closed so it can park its trains on that stretch while they are waiting
for CN trains to cross its tracks about five kilometres to the north - where the Kenaston project will
be built.
As part of the Kenaston project, the city is closing a section of Wilkes Avenue and replacing it
slightly to the south with the new Sterling Lyon Parkway.
BLOCK TRAFFIC
The parkway will connect with Kenaston. But CPR has complained that it will cause problems because it
will be built across a piece of north-south track where trains now wait while CN trains
pass on the east-west track to the north of it.
Under Transport Canada regulations, the trains - which are often as long as two kilometres - would not
be allowed to block traffic on the parkway.
By purchasing a chunk of Margaret Maes' land, rejigging the road and closing the Brady crossing, the
city would free up enough track for CP's long trains to park without blocking any roads.
It's the only option the city has to solve the Sterling Lyon problem and keep the
$44.3-million underpass on budget and on schedule to open by the fall of next year.
City hall's first offer to Maes was $2,783 per acre for a total of $16,000.
That bid was rejected. After finding almost no options, the report says, the city is now proposing
$20,000 per acre - the price she first demanded.
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