What $86 million worth of roadwork buys Winnipeg

On budget day in Winnipeg, the big piece of bad news for the city was a reduction in the road-renewal budget, from $116 million last year to $86 million proposed for 2019.

Mayor Brian Bowman said provincial funding gave him no choice but to cut the road-renewal budget. Chris Lorenc of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association warned the cut would imperil the provincial economy.  ​

• No major property tax hike in Winnipeg's 2019 budget, but road repairs take a hit

But just in case motorists see a bright side to the cut and expect their summer commute to be more free of construction, well, sorry: $86 million still buys a lot of roadwork in a city the size of Winnipeg.

Fermor Avenue is due to receive the largest chunk of that cash. Here's what the 2019 budget envisions for road repairs:

1. Regional street reconstructions and major rehabilitations

There's $61.6 million set aside next year to tear up and rebuild the following heavily used routes:

• Fermor Avenue: $17.4 million for reconstruction between Lagimodiere Boulevard and Plessis Road and between St. Anne's Road and Archibald Street.
• Main Street, northbound: $6.5 million from McAdam Avenue north to Kildonan Park Golf Course.
• Roblin Boulevard, westbound: $4.9 million from Shaftesbury Boulevard to Assiniboine Park Drive.
• Garry Street/Notre Dame Boulevard: $4.8 million from Notre Dame Avenue to Assiniboine Avenue and from Portage Avenue to to Princess Street.
• Inkster Boulevard: $4.6 million from Fife Street to Milner Street.
• Corydon Avenue: $3.3 million westbound from Cordova Street to Lanark Street and eastbound from Borebank Street to Brock Street.
• Ellice Avenue: $3.1 million between Arlington Street and Maryland Street.
• Memorial Boulevard $2.6 million from York Avenue to St. Mary Avenue and St. Mary northbound to Portage Avenue
• Empress Street/St. Matthews Street/Eastway: $2.5 million from St. Matthews Avenue to Portage Avenue
• Colony Street: $1.8 million Portage Avenue to Ellice Avenue.
• St. James Street: $2 million between Sargent Avenue and Ellice Avenue.
• Other downtown streets: $1.5 million in total.
• Stafford Street/Taylor Avenue/Corydon Avenue: $1.3 million for Stafford from Corydon to Pembina Highway, Taylor from Wilton Street to Pembina and Corydon west of Stafford.
• Erin Street/Wall Street/Sargent Avenue: $1.3 million for Erin between Notre Dame Avenue and Wolever Avenue, Wall between Notre Dame and St. Matthews Avenue and Sargent between Erin and Arlington Street. 
• Archibald Street: $1.25 million from St. Catherine Street to Cottonwood Road and from Plinguet Street to Doucet Street.
• Watt Street/Munroe Avenue/Johnson Avenue West: $1.25 million for Watt south of Munroe, Munroe between Henderson Highway and Raleigh Street and Johnson between Henderson and Levis Street
• York Avenue: $800,000 from Osborne Street to Memorial Boulevard
• Roblin Boulevard: $400,000 from Dieppe Street to the Perimeter.
• Portage Avenue, eastbound: $250,000 from St. Charles Street to David Street.

2. 'Mill and fill' work

The city also plans to replace the top layer of two other major streets:

• Lagimodiere Boulevard, southbound: $100,000 from Regent Avenue West to Almey Avenue.
• Memorial Boulevard, northbound: $400,000 from Portage Avenue to St. Mary Avenue.

3. Local street renewals

The city will spend $21.9 million this year rebuilding residential streets. This is down from $60.3 million in 2018.

The public works department decides which residential streets to fix after consulting with councillors for each ward.

4. Gravel roads

There's $2.7 million set aside this year for what the city calls "granular roadways," including the southern stretch of Waverley Street. That's down from $3 million in 2018.