Manitoba NDP puts rail relocation in Winnipeg back on track, appointing Lloyd Axworthy to lead new study
Province spending $200K to 'start the work' of having Axworthy study the topic: Premier
The prospect of relocating railway yards has once again reared up in Winnipeg, with the Manitoba government hiring Lloyd Axworthy and seeding him with $200,000 to conduct a feasibility study on the topic.
The idea of moving rail lines outside of the city has been brought up every few years since the 1960s, with most attention focused on the 465-hectare property occupied by Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway in the centre of Winnipeg.
Since 1881, that rail yard has severed the city and created a chasm between the north and south.
The Arlington Bridge was a key link between those parts of the city, crossing over the iron network of lines occupying the CPKC (formerly Canadian Pacific) yard, but that bridge was shut down a year ago due to structural concerns.
While that will be a key part of Axworthy's work, the study is about rail yards within the capital region in general, Premier Wab Kinew said on Tuesday morning during a news conference at the corner of Henry and Higgins avenues, alongside the CPKC yard.
"We're going to ask [Axworthy] to take a global view of all of these various infrastructure, economic, community and social dimensions that come in with deliberating on the future of rail in the city."
Kinew said the $200,000 is funding to help Axworthy "start the work" and was set aside in the spring budget. He didn't say whether that funding will be increased at any point.
The study is expected to take two years and include interim reports before recommendations are released in the final report, Kinew said.
Axworthy, a former Liberal federal cabinet minister and the vice-chancellor of the University of Winnipeg from 2004-14, called it "a very exciting task to think about the future of Winnipeg and just how much railways, since the beginning of our history, have played an important part in shaping who we are, what we do and, ultimately, what we can become."
Railways helped establish Winnipeg as a transportation hub, and they must still still play that part, but there are safety concerns in urban centres over derailments, said Axworthy, who was Canada's minister of foreign affairs from 1996 to 2000.
"I think it requires us to take a serious look at what that particular risk scenario is for the city," he said, and that will require significant involvement by the community in the upcoming study.
As minister of transport under prime minister Pierre Trudeau in the 1980s, Axworthy helped negotiate the move of the Canadian National Railway yards in downtown Winnipeg — an area that is now The Forks, one of the city's most popular destination areas.
"It just shows what you can do with some imagination and some creativity and some real courage by governments themselves," he said.
"So I'm really pleased I have that option to be able to work with a number of community groups [for the latest relocation study]. I think we have, in Winnipeg, an incredible richness of people who are deeply steeped in railway engineering, planning, architecture and development, that we can draw upon the best sort of ideas and thoughts."
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham couldn't attend Tuesday's news conference because he is in meetings about the hiring of the city's next police chief, but he issued a statement in which he applauded the study.
"Studying rail relocation — especially looking at incremental improvements — was one of my campaign commitments, so I'm glad to see this moving forward," he wrote.
"This issue has been debated in Winnipeg for many years, but we need solid information on costs, potential funding sources, and the impact on rail operations, jobs and city infrastructure. This data will help guide future decisions."
Gillingham said the city is eager to be part of the study, which he hopes will consider smaller steps that can be taken right away.
"Over the past two years, I've had productive conversations with rail companies about repurposing abandoned spur lines and underused corridors. These areas could be used for new housing or active transportation, improving safety and connectivity in ways that are more affordable and quicker to implement."
Canadian Pacific Kansas City, which has its continent-spanning rail network crossing through Winnipeg, has discussed the idea with the Manitoba government "on multiple occasions over many years," a spokeswoman said in an email to The Canadian Press on Tuesday.
"Evaluating the feasibility of relocating railway infrastructure is an enormously complex matter and the magnitude of the challenges should never be underestimated," said Rebecca Stephen.
"A comprehensive study that considers all factors would be required to evaluate the feasibility of relocating rail infrastructure without compromising safety, essential rail service to customers, capacity for future growth, and also capture the full costs, which will be significant."
Federal Transport Minister Anita Anand did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Waste of money: resident
Harvey Gingras, who lives near the North End tracks, says he's been hearing chatter about relocating the rail lines since he moved to the city in the late 1990s.
Although the city and the province are working together to look at possibly moving the tracks, Gingras says they're also going to have to deal with railway companies and municipalities where the rail lines might be relocated.
"It's going to take decades to fix it, and even then they're going to move the problems somewhere else," he said.
"That soil's contaminated. They're going to have to remove all that soil, down metres deep, because it's full of oil and it's full of … a hundred plus years worth of contaminants like oil, coal."
Gingras calls the study a waste of money.
"How many more studies do they need to realize that this is not going to be something that you can just move?" Gingras said. "The reality is $200,000 is not going to solve the problem."
He said the money could be spent better elsewhere, such as on health care or roads.
Joe Lambert, who also lives nearby the North End tracks, doubts new housing would succeed in the empty space left by removing the tracks.
"You can't put housing here. There's empty houses everywhere around here, you know, there's no point to that," he said.
"You could put a new house up here and it's worthless [because] there's too much crime."
'A cost to doing nothing': Kinew
Kate Kehler, executive director of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, touched on the same topic, noting there are 240 rail crossings in the city, impacting development.
"If you've got those in your way, you have a hard time actually envisioning anything different," she said.
Kehler said 75 per cent of Winnipeggers live within 800 metres of a rail line, which makes the topic of relocation "a health, safety, environmental and land-use issue for the majority of the city."
For decades the conversation around relocation has been derailed by debates over the cost and whether it is necessary or not, she said.
"Now, with a feasibility study, we'll get a chance to learn what the actual dollar figures are; what the cost-benefit is."
Kinew admitted he's concerned about the cost of a full-blown relocation undertaking "but we shouldn't stop thinking about a bright future without carefully considering how realistic it is to get it done."
It would require buy-in from all levels of government, he said. As well, he added, no one is saying it all has to be done at once, he said.
Perhaps there are some bite-sized, easy projects that can be done in the next few years "while carrying out a longer-term plan for some of the bigger aspects."
"What we're talking about, at this early stage, is let's have a conversation. There are potential big price tags here but nobody ever made money without spending a little money along the way," he said.
"There is also a cost to doing nothing. Let's spend a bit of time having some vision."
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With files from Ian Froese and The Canadian Press