Latest news with #WinnipegCity
CBC
8 hours ago
- General
- CBC
After nearly 50 years, iconic Portage and Main intersection reopens to pedestrians
It's been decades since people could cross Winnipeg's famed Portage and Main intersection above ground. But as of Friday morning, it's officially open again to pedestrians. The corner has been the topic of fierce debate for years, but Winnipeg's mayor says its reopening is a step toward revitalizing the city's downtown.
CTV News
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- CTV News
‘It's a huge cost': City stops free courtesy tows during snow clearing operations
The city has stopped offering free courtesy tows for residents who don't move their vehicles during snow clearing. In an annual report on snow clearing operations, the city's public works department noted it did not provide any courtesy tows last year. It cited a significant drop in the number of calls to move vehicles impeding snow clearing. The policy has been in place since 2013. It gave a measure of grace to Winnipeggers who – unwittingly or otherwise – violated city residential parking bans. Rather than issuing a ticket and a tow to an impound lot, the city would provide free 'courtesy tows' and simply move the vehicle to another street at no cost to the owner. 'Although courtesy towing has been the practice, it is not a requirement by city bylaw or policy and has not shown significant operation efficiencies,' the report reads. 'Courtesy towing during residential parking bans is currently not planned to resume.' That's welcome news to Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West), the chair of the public works committee. 'It's a huge cost. Why should taxpayers who actually abide by the rules be paying… that for people that aren't adhering to the rules?' she told reporters Thursday. Lukes has pushed against the practice, noting in 2021 alone, courtesy tows cost the city more than $930,000. She said with no courtesy tows last year, those who don't move their vehicles would receive a ticket and crews would have to plow around them. 'Maybe what we do is we increase the fee for the ticket if you don't move your vehicle, because it's really important in a winter city to move your vehicle so we can clean the streets,' she said. Lukes said increased ticket fees would be discussed at the upcoming committee meeting on July 3. Last year the city went $14.4 million over its snow clearing budget of $40.5 million. This year, the city has budgeted $45.7 million. According to the public works department, an average year of snow clearing costs $53.1 million but can range as low as $41 million or as high as $91.5 million.
CTV News
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- CTV News
Lane closure for Kenaston Boulevard coming next week for rail line maintenance
The rail line at Kenaston Boulevard is seen on June 11, 2025. (Glenn Pismenny/CTV News Winnipeg) If your evening commute includes Kenaston Boulevard next week, you may want to find an alternate route for a couple of days. The City of Winnipeg will be closing two lanes on the street from June 16 to 18 from Lowson Crescent to Rothwell Road. Starting June 16 at 7 p.m., all southbound lanes will be closed until 6 a.m. for street construction and maintenance at the rail line crossing. Drivers are asked to use a detour from Sterling Lyon Parkway to Waverley Street. The northbound lanes will be closed the next day from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Drivers are asked to use the detour at McGillivray Boulevard to Waverley Street. The work is expected to be finished June 18.
CBC
11-06-2025
- CBC
New water meters coming to Winnipeg next year will read themselves, send data to the city
Social Sharing New water meters slated to installed in Winnipeg residential homes next year will read themselves and transmit encrypted water-usage data to the city, city council's finance committee was told Tuesday. Winnipeg's water and waste department plans to embark on a five-year, $135-million water meter upgrade in 2026 that will see approximately 221,000 analog residential water meters replaced with new "smart" meters capable of monitoring water usage in real time. Most of Winnipeg's existing analog meters are old — in some cases, 50 years old — and underestimate actual water usage by approximately five per cent, said Duy Doan, a water and waste project manager. Replacing the old meters will generate more revenue for the city, allow homeowners to be alerted to leaks or faulty readings more quickly, and create more fairness in residential billing, Doan said. Newer homes that already have digital meters do not underestimate water usage, he noted. "As meters age they degrade and they start underreporting. So right now we have kind of an equity thing: Anybody who gets a new meter is kind of subsidizing a person who gets an old meter," he said. "It is good practice to try to replace these meters every 20 years." The City of Winnipeg has not met this target. The replacement program aims to modernize residential water meters across the city by 2030. Water and waste director Tim Shanks said the replacement program will pay for itself in approximately 11 years, mainly because of the additional revenue the city will receive from more accurate readings. His department also won't have to conduct manual readings once the new meters are installed. Neither will homeowners or residents. The new meters will use radio waves to transmit data to the city. How often they will transmit the data has yet to be determined, Doan said. The water and waste department also is not certain how much detail it will glean from the data and share with consumers. Several Canadian cities use this technology to show customers when they're using the most water. Winnipeg home water meters slated for upgrade 1 hour ago Duration 1:23 Winnipeg's water and waste department plans to embark on a five-year, $135-million water meter upgrade in 2026 that will see approximately 221,000 analog meters replaced with "smart" meters capable of monitoring usage in real time. City council finance chair Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) said he hopes the city will show residents water consumption data in sufficient detail for them to make decisions about how and when they use water. That could tell people, for example, "how much does it cost to maintain my vegetable garden, or how much does it cost on Sunday when I do all the laundry," said Browaty. "You'll be able to actually quantify some of these things, if we go to the level of granularity that the technology could potentially provide." The city has no plans to replace several thousand existing digital meters, which do not transmit data to the city directly, Doan said. Most existing new meters are read by water and waste personnel who visit the neighbourhoods in question and collect readings using electronic receivers in their vehicles, he said.
CBC
27-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Marathon Winnipeg council hearing on zoning changes could last days, councillor says
A hearing at Winnipeg city council next week could be the last chance for Winnipeggers who want input on new rules that are intended to speed up housing construction and would allow buildings with up to four units on housing lots across the city. The hearing, set to start on Monday, is part of changes the City of Winnipeg agreed to make in 2023 in exchange for $122.4 million from the federal government's housing accelerator fund. To qualify, the city agreed to change its bylaws. It also must approve building permits for 14,000 units by next year. Part of that includes allowing as-of-right construction of buildings with up to four units anywhere in the city, and allowing for buildings within 800 metres of frequent transit that are up to four storeys, without the need for a public hearing. Mayor Scott Gillingham has said the changes will lead to more affordable housing in Winnipeg, but critics argue the city is giving up the right of residents to voice their concerns about developments in their neighbourhood. Aaron Moore, a political science professor at the University of Winnipeg, said he expects most of the people who come out to Monday's hearing will be opposed to the changes, although he questions how many people know that the changes are happening, or what effect the changes may have. "I don't know that this suddenly changes the economic sense for the development industry, just because it sort of eases the process for them a bit," said Moore. He said there are other factors holding back construction, like the cost of materials and labour shortages, but the federal money could also help pay for infrastructure — something the city desperately needs. "The city is in a very, very bad fiscal situation. The mayor knows that, and this is some needed funds to help deal with that infrastructure issue we have," said Moore. A report on the city's website says 1,000 people have participated in open houses and virtual sessions on the zoning changes, with mixed feedback from residents. Some support the changes, while others raised concerns about traffic, parking, infrastructure, and neighbourhood impacts, the report said. "If approved, these changes can help Winnipeg grow in a more sustainable, inclusive, and affordable way," James Veitch, the city's manager of urban planning and design, wrote in the report. Kelly Ryback, a St. James resident who frequently appears at development hearings and has previously run for city council, says he plans to attend next Monday's hearing. He worries the new rules will allow tall buildings to be built too close to sidewalks or to smaller properties. "Today, I buy a house and my neighbour has a bungalow, and two years later, a three-storey triplex goes up, then that changes what I bought, and I'm going to be impacted by that," he said. The hearing was supposed to happen in March, but councillors pushed it back to allow for more public consultation. St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes says he has heard concerns about the new zoning plan from many people in his ward. "Hard to know if it'll be 100 people in delegation or 200" at Monday's hearing, he said. A hearing last November on zoning changes around shopping malls and commercial corridors lasted past midnight, before councillors adjourned to another day.
