Housing refugees’ top challenge

Posted on by
Reply

Hundreds of refugees arrive in Manitoba each year, each one trying to carve out a home in a city where there are too few homes to go around.

And while social-service agencies push to find their clients safe places to stay, the housing gap leaves many refugees from Africa and elsewhere stuck in a catch-22 that can put their new life on pause for months.

According to a study by University of Winnipeg Prof. Tom Carter, 91 per cent of refugees lived below the poverty line in their first year in Winnipeg. By their third year, that figure dropped to 53 per cent. If that figure speaks to the hard work of new arrivals, it also tells a tale of housing need: For most refugees, transitional and social housing are the only options within reach.

But there’s a waiting list for Manitoba Housing, and affordable apartments get snapped up quickly in a city with a vacancy rate that hovers near a paltry one per cent.

“The only thing which really frustrates me is the housing,” says Mubambe Didier, 44, who landed in Winnipeg with his wife and three children on Nov. 15. “It’s the only thing (missing). If housing would be upgraded to the reality on the ground, it would be much better. But the gap is too big.”

Even though the cold snap in the wind and the snow on the ground are foreign, the Didier family “felt at home right away,” Didier says, hands neatly folded on a table inside refugee agency Welcome Place’s brightly coloured boardroom.

The counsellors from Welcome Place who met them at the airport were “very gentle and kind,” he says; they helped the family learn everything from where to find a doctor to how to take the bus in Winnipeg. And yet, two months later, the family is still living in one of the 31 temporary apartments above Welcome Place’s Bannatyne Avenue offices. Counsellors at Welcome Place and other agencies work to find families like the Didiers a place to stay, but for new refugees on a razor-thin budget, including a social-housing allowance that can hover around $480 a month, there are few options.

That’s the catch-22, said Welcome Place settlement counsellor Aurelio Madut Danto: Until refugees find a permanent address, they cannot apply for a social insurance number, cannot start to work, cannot start to do all the things it takes to get established in a new land.

“The bottom line is affordable housing for newcomers,” Danto says. “The second is finding a job… but housing is the biggest issue for our clients.”

As the pressure mounts, it could become one of the biggest problems for government, too.

At a conference in Edmonton in November, Carter, the Canada research chair for Urban Change and Adaptation at the U of W, called on government to expand its mandate to help boost immigrant and refugee housing. Among the solutions he cited were property-tax forgiveness, reducing land costs and reducing fees to encourage the development of affordable housing.

But the challenges facing newcomers don’t stop there.

Manitoba MP and Liberal citizenship and immigration critic Kevin Lamoureux said the two biggest priorities for settlement services should be language training and help for young immigrants to ensure they don’t drop out of school and get sucked up by gangs.

Lamoureux has spent much of his political career helping immigrants and their families navigate the system and he said while Manitoba does relatively well overall with settlement services, the biggest gaps are for refugees and immigrants who arrive without built-in support systems of family, friends and co-workers.

While most of Manitoba’s immigrants are provincial nominees and often have friends and family on the ground, or jobs on arrival, refugees don’t usually have any of that and have the highest needs.

“Many refugees, including many from Africa, are a lot more reliant on umbrella organizations to provide support because they don’t have family and friends here,” he said. “If you don’t provide adequate supports it can be challenging.”

Ottawa is spending $32 million on settlement services in Manitoba this fiscal year and plans to increase that to $36.5 million next year. Nationally, settlement funding has tripled since 2006. The new formula for calculating settlement-service funding allocations includes a recognition that refugees require higher levels of services, and therefore provinces are allocated money in part on their share of refugees.

For refugees currently languishing over long-term periods in transitional housing, change — however it comes — can’t come fast enough.

Didier acknowledges in some ways, he arrived in Canada in a good situation: He is bilingual and educated; he worked as a logistics officer for humanitarian agencies in his native Congo until war and corruption forced him and his family to flee to Uganda and, finally, to Canada.

But this doesn’t make it easier or less anxious for Didier when his children worry about when they might be able to start school. When it comes to housing the waiting is, indeed, the hardest part.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/housing-refugees-top-challenge-137551398.html

Winnipeg Auto Dealers
Waverley Auto Mall
Guest Blogging Blogs
www.crossfireconsulting.net

Don’t need our money? Lower taxes!

Posted on by
Reply

You won’t find their work in any art gallery, but these politicians are among the most talented artists around.

Some city councillors have turned wasting tax dollars into an art form of late. A tour de force was on display Wednesday when the executive policy committee voted to give $10,000 to help install a large artwork at the University of Manitoba.

The 15-panel work was removed from a wall at the old Winnipeg airport terminal and will be erected on the exterior of the Max Bell Centre.

Plenty of air travellers familiar with Eli Bornstein’s work think it’s pretty ugly, but that’s irrelevant. This move has nothing to do with the City of Winnipeg. The city’s own administrators recommended denying the U of M’s request, but that didn’t stop a majority of EPC members from voting to blow your hard-earned tax dollars on the project.

We can only hope the grant application will be turned down when city council as a whole votes on it.

Earlier this month two members of the city centre community committee voted to give $100 each from their ward budgets to help cover the costs of a group that had gathered outside the Winnipeg Remand Centre to sing Christmas carols for inmates. The grant application listed bus tickets among the costs of the event.

Two hundred dollars might not be a lot, but using city funds to cover the transportation costs of people who serenaded inmates is particularly galling considering a bus fare hike took effect that same week.

What a masterpiece of mindless spending.

Still on the subject of bus fares, city hall’s governance committee voted unanimously Thursday to approve Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie’s idea to give $3,000 from his ward allowance to a women’s shelter to pay for bus fare.

While this is no doubt a worthy cause, the fact is it’s not up to city councillors to throw public funds at whatever they feel like.

The next time councillors want to spend money on something the city has no business in, they should reach for their own wallets. City funds should be spent on core services like road repair and public safety. If councillors have money to spare, then clearly our taxes should be reduced.

These funds belong to the public and councillors shouldn’t spend it on whatever issues tickle their fancy.

It’s really not that complicated. We shouldn’t have to paint them a picture.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/01/14/ed-dont-need-our-money-lower-taxes

Blog to Guest Blog
Puerto Morelos Rental Apartments
Cancun Puerto Morelos Chichen Itza Tours Mexico
www.crossfireconsulting.net

Strong market means house prices to rise in major cities, realtor says

Posted on by
Reply

Canada’s housing market will continue to be strong this year, with rising property values expected in all major markets, real estate brokerage firm Royal LePage said Thursday.

The company’s forecast called for prices across to country to rise 2.8 per cent by the end of 2012, after stronger gains last year.

Even pricey housing markets in Metro Vancouver and Toronto – where standard two-storey homes averaged $1.1 million and $629,188, respectively, in the last quarter – will see continued price appreciation in 2012, though the gain for Metro will be more muted, according to the broker-age firm’s forecast.

Metro Vancouver is expected to see its average house price climb 2.3 per cent to $802,000 in 2012, while Toronto is expected to see a 2.6-per-cent jump.

“Widespread calls for a major real estate correction in 2012 simply can’t be justified,” Royal LePage CEO Phil Soper said in a statement.

“The industry has significant momentum entering the year, and buoyed by the stimulative effect of very low interest rates, we expect the market to continue to expand – albeit at a slower pace.”

However, Royal LePage said stronger gains will be seen in cities benefiting from commodity-based economies, such as Calgary, Regina and Winnipeg, where price gains will be in the range of four to five per cent.

According to the company, in the fourth quarter of 2011, the average price of a standard two-storey home in Canada was $375,427, up 4.2 per cent from a year earlier.

The average rate of a detached bungalow was up 6.1 per cent to $344,392, while condominiums gained 3.6 per cent to $234,680.

Statistics Canada reported Thursday that its new housing price index rose 0.3 per cent in November, following on a 0.2 per cent increase in October, and was up 2.5 per cent yearover-year.

Price increases in Toronto, Oshawa and Montreal offset declines in Calgary, Metro Vancouver and the Ontario metropolitan regions of Sudbury and Thunder Bay, the agency said.

In Vancouver, Statistics Canada said some builders offered promotional pricing in order to sell units, which helped push new-home prices 0.3 per cent in November from October, and made the

Builders in the other areas reported lowering prices in order to stimulate sales and remain competitive, while price increases elsewhere were attributed to higher material and labour costs.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has forecast the average price of a listed homes for resale to be $363,900 this year, up 1.2 per cent from 2011. The Canadian Real Estate Association predicted that the aver-age price would be relatively flat at $362,700.

Both forecasts were made in November.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Strong+market+means+house+prices+rise+major+cities+realtor+says/5990636/story.html

Winnipeg Auto Dealers
Waverley Auto Mall
Cancun Puerto Morelos Chichen Itza Tours Mexico
www.crossfireconsulting.net

Real estate flatline

Posted on by
Reply

The relentless climb of Nanaimo property values paused for a breather last year. Assessment notices went out to all Nanaimo property owners last week and many are finding the value little changed from 2011.

Average values for single-family homes, based on property assessments done by the agency on July 1 are down 1.27% from 2010.

Values rose slightly in several areas, but most neighbourhoods saw values down.

The most noticeable drops are clustered in north-end neighbourhoods, though central and south Nanaimo did not go unscathed.

One central-Nanaimo area saw average values down more than 10%.

A decade-long period of almost continuous growth was sidelined in 2011 by events outside local market forces. Housing sales slipped, especially at the higher end of the scale, where there are fewer buyers. Property values that doubled during the 2000s stopped rising. For the smart buyer, it creates a rare opportunity to get an ocean-view or waterfront property.

It isn’t the first time Nanaimo’s housing industry has skipped a beat and it is the nature of real estate markets to run in cycles.

“You look at the pressures in the market – unemployment, challenges with new builders, with HST, overall higher-end market challenges, it’s got to come out,” said Jim Stewart, Vancouver Island Real Estate Board past-president.

Realtors saw 2011 end with an average home selling price of $362,680, just $305 less than a year earlier, or essentially unchanged.

“Late last spring there was waiting with anticipation for the outcome of the HST vote, and (then) everyone was waiting to know who the next premier was to set the agenda for the year. Then in the fall everyone was concerned about the world market. Is Greece going to fail? You look at little Vancouver Island, there are places elsewhere in Canada prices are down doubledigit,” Stewart said.

The 2012 assessment roll puts a total value on all Nanaimo property at $12.742 billion, the bulk of which, $10.769 billion, is residential.

Those numbers are down slightly from 2011′s $12,683 billion total and $10.786 billion in residential. Those totals include about $1 billion in churches, downtown revitalization, pollution-control and other taxexempt property classes.

The B.C. Assessment Authority divides the city into 17 neighbourhoods, and the numbers it produces for each neighbourhood are what matter to homeowners.

Excluding apartments, vacant lots and condominiums, Jingle Pot/College Heights and Hawthorne saw average property values rise the most, at 1.14%. Average home values rose by less than 1% in Chase River/Cinnabar, Uplands/Sunshine Ridge/ Country Club, Hammond Bay and the extended downtown core areas.

The most noticeable drop was in the Commercial Industrial Bowen/Northfield area, where assessments fell 10.28%.

All other areas saw average values drop, with decreases of greater than 4% assessed in Townsite/Hospital, Dover/Dickenson, Long Lake North Island Highway and Protection Island areas.

For most homeowners, this year will be easier than most to figure out their property taxes simply by looking at their property’s assessed value.

Because the average value is so close to 2011, anyone whose assessment is close to last year’s can expect to pay close to the tax rate set by city council this spring.

“Assessments are unchanged, so it should be relatively easy to tell,” said Bill MacGougan, Nanaimo assessor.

While the HST and a sluggish economy are both hurting sales in higher-end properties classes, some see it as an opportunity to buy that dream property.

“When you think the average waterfront home is $800,000, if you get something for less than $800,000 it’s probably a pretty good buy,” Stewart said. Those deals exist because “there’s not that many buyers in that range.”

First-time buyers would be wise to make 2012 a year to renovate, rather than sell.

“If you bought in the last year or so it’s going to be challenging for you to exit on the profit side,” Stewart said.

http://www.canada.com/Real+estate+flatline/5983621/story.html

Blog to Guest Blog
Puerto Morelos Dentist Crowns Implants Cancun Playa del Carmen Mexico Cosmetic Dentistry
Furnasmans One Hour Heating
www.crossfireconsulting.net

To freeze or not to freeze: that is the question

Posted on by
Reply

Winnipeg politicians will soon decide whether to continue the property-tax freeze for a 15th consecutive year.

Council finance chairman Scott Fielding (St. James) said officials have started to review whether it’s possible to maintain the property-tax freeze for the 2012 operating budget, the blueprint that outlines spending on all city programs, including police, pest control and snow removal. Fielding said it will be a challenge to continue the long-standing tax freeze, but there is a possibility the city may be able to transfer a surplus from the 2011 budget in an attempt to stave off a hike.

The latest city financial report at the end of October forecast a $600,000 surplus by the end of 2011, due in part to additional permit revenue and savings from its summer street program and corporate expenses. Fielding said it’s possible the city picked up additional surplus money in November and December, though officials will not have the year-end total until late January.

“It is going to be challenging to maintain a property-tax freeze,” Fielding said.

Last year, Winnipeg’s operating budget increased by $30 million from the previous year due to the rising cost of police and emergency services. About 40 per cent of Winnipeg’s $847.4-million operating budget in 2011 was devoted to police and fire paramedic services.

The city hiked property frontage levies to cover the cost of increased program spending.

Coun. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge) said only members of council’s executive policy committee are involved in operating budget discussions and she does not know how big of a funding gap the city faces. She said Winnipeg is coping with the cost of hiring additional police officers, pension benefits and paying down debt.

Gerbasi said cities such as Calgary have imposed modest property tax increases every year to generate revenue, while Winnipeg has frozen it for so long programs are “starving.” She said it’s possible the city is looking at raising fees — such as the frontage levy — like it did last year to avoid a tax increase. Gerbasi said she and other members of council worry executive policy committee may consider selling city-owned assets such as golf courses to generate revenue.

“A lot of us are very concerned about it,” Gerbasi said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze-that-is-the-question-136645423.html

Guest Blogging Services
Midtown Ford Winnipeg Blog
Eagle Ridge GM Coquitlam BC
www.crossfireconsulting.net

Homeowner grant threshold raised to $1.285M

Posted on by
Reply

The B.C. government has raised the threshold for homeowner property grant to $1.285 million to accommodate rising property values.

The news comes as hundreds of thousands of annual property assessments are being prepared for B.C. property owners by the government. Last year, the threshold was $1.15 million. The grant effectively reduces the property tax paid by most B.C. homeowners by up to $1,045

Every year the province adjusts the grant to ensure 95.5 per cent of homeowners receive the full amount of the grant. Those with homes above the threshold may still be eligible for part of the grant.

“The homeowner grant provides a maximum reduction in residential property taxes on principal residences of $570 in the Capital, Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley regional districts and $770 elsewhere in the province,” said a statement issued by the government on Tuesday.

“An additional grant of $275 is available to those who are age 65 or over, permanently disabled or a veteran of certain wars,.”

“We continue to see challenging economic times around the world. By maintaining the homeowner grant, we continue to help families with the costs of owning their homes,” said Finance Minister Kevin Falcon in the statement.

The grant is only available to Canadian citizens and to landed immigrants who normally reside in B.C.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/01/03/bc-homeowner-grant.html

Cancun Cheap Dental Implants
Playa Del carmen Dental Vacations
Puerto Morelos Rental Apartments
www.crossfireconsulting.net

Big bus fare hike pending

Posted on by
Reply

Winnipeg Transit fares will increase a nickel on Sunday, but whether they’ll go up another 20 cents on June 1 remains to be seen.

On Nov. 16 city council voted 8-6 in favour of a surprise proposal from Coun. Justin Swandel to add 20 more cents on top of a routine five-cent increase in bus fares and dedicate the difference to rapid transit expansion.

“The ridiculous conversations that go on between the city and province are not going to fund our infrastructure. We’ve got to get off our butts and fund this thing,” Swandel said at the time.

The five-cent increase is going ahead as planned Jan. 1, making the full cash fare $2.45 as of Sunday. However, both the city and province have said the extra 20 cents will only be added June 1 if no other funding mechanism can be found to raise the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to expand Winnipeg’s fledgling rapid transit system.

So far it doesn’t appear as though there’s been a lot of movement in the six weeks since the vote.

“We have until June. If the province comes up with an alternative source, which everyone can agree on, then it won’t happen. Otherwise it probably will happen. We still have time to work on that one,” Mayor Sam Katz told the Winnipeg Sun just before Christmas.

Premier Greg Selinger’s preference is to fund the line with tax increment financing, a sort of back-door funding mechanism that sees the money roll in once the project is complete.

“We thought tax increment financing would be a way to look at financing it. As rapid transit expands, there are opportunities for urban development projects, and the revenues generated off that can pay for the infrastructure,” he said.

TIF, introduced by the provincial government just a few years ago, allows the government to divert a portion of the property taxes from certain properties when their assessed value increases. The province hopes rapid transit corridors will spur development nearby, which will increase the value of those properties. When the value increases, so too do the property taxes, and the province would divert the difference in its education portion back to the city.

Whether or not that can raise the $200 million or more needed to push rapid transit to the University of Manitoba remains to be seen.

Transit riders would be well advised to start saving their nickels just in case.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/12/28/big-bus-fare-hike-pending

Vancouver GMC Dealers
Furnasman
Unlock iphone
www.crossfireconsulting.net

Reassessment jump may not mean tax hike

Posted on by
Reply

YOU opened your property reassessment notice back in June and probably shrieked in horror.

Yes, the portioned assessed value of all properties across Winnipeg has increased by 14.6 per cent over the past two years, said Nelson Karpa, the city’s director of assessment and taxation.

Shudder.

But does that mean your school property taxes will go up that much?

Probably not.

OK, so that’s not all that reassuring, but let’s walk through it and figure out whether you’re going to get whomped on your school taxes next year after trustees set their budgets in March.

Bottom line, the Selinger government has been encouraging school boards to freeze their property-tax increases, dangling tax incentive grants in front of school board noses. If Education Minister Nancy Allan renews the grants — she’ll issue her annual funding decree in late January — then, if your property’s value increased close to the average, your bill shouldn’t change much.

Let’s take the Winnipeg School Division as an example.

The value of all houses has gone up 14.56 per cent between April 1, 2008 and April 1, 2010, calculates chief assessor Karpa.

If your property’s reassessed value is in that ballpark, you should be laughing.

If your property went up 25 per cent, then yes, you’ll pay more in taxes, because you’ll be paying a greater share of the overall tax burden. If it went up six per cent, you should be paying less in 2012.

Why won’t it stay exactly the same, if you’re at 14.56 per cent and the WSD trustees freeze taxes? Because. Depends. Listen up.

The value of apartment buildings has gone up substantially higher than houses, so apartment building owners will pay a greater share of the tax burden, thus reducing the hit on homeowners by a few bucks.

But the value of businesses, with the exception of those in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division, has gone up at a slower rate than houses’ value, so a few dollars and cents of the business share of the tax burden shift over to individual homeowners.

And finally, there will be new properties coming on the tax rolls for the first time, which should nudge down existing properties’ share — such as new homes in Waverley West, Sage Creek, Amber Trails.

Clear?

The jump in values is nowhere near as dramatic as in the last reassessment two years ago, which was based on a five-year change in market values, said Karpa. This increase is smaller: “Values are still going up, but not to the same trajectory,” he said.

Two years ago, there was a considerable shift from business to homes, but the change in their relative values has been far less significant a change this time.

“It’s not a very material shift,” Karpa said.

The values of owner-occupied condos have shown the most fluctuation, rising about twice as much in Seven Oaks than in Pembina Trails and St. Norbert.

And just to complicate, confuse and confound the picture even more, mill rates will go down next year if school boards freeze taxes. Lower mill rates mean a lower tax bill, right?

Um, no.

Municipalities and school boards calculate mill rates by dividing the assessment base into the amount of money they want to collect through property taxes.

If school boards freeze property taxes, then the only new money will be provincial grants, and the amount collected through taxes should remain constant.

A larger assessment base divided into a constant amount of property taxes collected produces a lower mill rate.

But since that lower mill rate gets multiplied by the higher property value to produce your tax bill, it should all even out.

Obvious, eh?

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/reassessment-jump-may-not-mean-tax-hike-136420428.html

Puerto Morelos Dentist Crowns Implants Cancun Playa del Carmen Mexico Cosmetic Dentistry
Puerto Morelos Rental Apartments
Midtown Ford Winnipeg Facebook
www.crossfireconsulting.net

Canadians very responsible when handling their mortgage debt

Posted on by
Reply

Canadians homeowners are comfortable with their mortgage debt, have significant home equity and could withstand an increase in their mortgage interest rate, according to the sixth annual State of the Residential Mortgage Market report from the Canadian Association Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP).

The report concluded that the vast majority of Canadians with mortgages are able to afford at least a $300 increase in their monthly mortgage payments.

In addition, slightly over one in three mortgage holders have either increased their payments or made a lump sum payment on their mortgage in the last year.

“Canadians are being smart and responsible with their mortgages, “said Jim Murphy, president and CEO of CAAMP. “They are building equity in their homes and making informed long-term mortgage decisions. The survey results speak to the strength of our mortgage market, especially when compared to the United States.”

According to the report, 89 per cent of Canadian homeowners have at least 10 per cent equity in their homes and 80 per cent have more than 20 per cent equity.

Overall home equity is at 72 per cent of the total value of housing in Canada; for homeowners who have mortgages, equity levels averages 50 per cent.

As of August 2010, there was $1.01 trillion in outstanding residential mortgage credit in Canada, an increase of 7.6 per cent from last year.

Most Canadians agree that buying a home is a good long term investment and are focused on their mortgages to support that investment.

Many mortgage holders are making voluntary additional payment; 16 per cent have increased monthly payments during the past year, 12 per cent have made lump sum payments and seven per cent did both.

Canadians are exercising caution when taking out their mortgages, with their mortgages, with a majority at 66 per cent choosing a fixed-rate. A five year fixed rate mortgage remains the most popular option in Canada.

Despite the fact that variable rate mortgage have become much less expensive compared to fix rates, the majority choice is still fixed rates. This decision is based on people’s individual assessments of risk, not just the cost difference.

The CAAMP study found that a vast majority of Canadians have significant capabilities to afford higher payments if and when mortgage interest rates rise, with 84 per cent reporting that they could weather an increase of $300 or more on their monthly payments.

Most of the people who have low tolerances for increased payments have fixed rate mortgages. By the time their mortgages are due for renewal, their financial capacity will have expanded and their mortgage principal will have been reduced.

Also, Canadians have been able to negotiate better than posted mortgage interest rates. For five year fixed rate mortgages arranged in the past year, the average rate is 4.23 per cent, which is 1.42 points lower than typical advertised rates.
Of the 1.4 million Canadians who renewed their mortgage in the past year, 72 per cent were able to renegotiate a decreased rate. On average, rates are 1.09 percentage points less than rates prior to renegotiating.

Canadians home equity is impressively high. Among homeowners who have mortgages, the average amount of equity is about $146,000 or 50 per cent of the average value of their homes.

The amount of equity take-out in the past year is unchanged from last year with around one-in-five homeowners, or 18 percent taking equity out of their home at an average of $46,000. The most common purpose for equity take-out is debt consolidation and repayment followed by home renovations, purchases and education investments.

The report was written by CAAMP chief economist Will Dunning and based on information gathered by Maritz Research Canada in a survey of Canadian consumers conducted in October.

Puerto Morelos Dentist Crowns Implants Cancun Playa del Carmen Mexico Cosmetic Dentistry
Puerto Morelos Rental Apartments
Midtown Ford Winnipeg Facebook
www.famouspeopleofmanitoba.ca

Long road to completion

Posted on by
Reply

The City of Winnipeg will take a step toward fulfilling a 43-year-old plan to build an inner ring road with the opening of the eastern extension of Chief Peguis Trail this morning.

Following the conclusion of an 11 a.m. political ceremony, motorists in northeast Winnipeg will be able to travel between Henderson Highway and Lagimodiere Boulevard on a $109-million roadway that serves as another link in a “suburban beltway” originally envisioned by transportation planners in 1968.

At the time, a report called the Winnipeg Area Transportation Study recommended the construction of a ring road inside the Perimeter Highway to carry both passenger and commercial vehicles. A strip of land between Henderson and Lagimodiere was reserved for the North Kildonan component of this road — and finally used when construction began in 2010.

“It was held and now it’s built,” said North Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty on Thursday before city officials were taken on a tour of the new roadway, which is expected to relieve the burden of traffic on east-west streets in northeast Winnipeg, such as Springfield Road and McLeod Avenue.

These narrow arteries were not designed to handle high volumes of traffic, both in terms of width and durability, said Brad Sacher, Winnipeg’s public works director.

In contrast, the Chief Peguis Trail extension was built like a highway, with a deep base of granular material covered in a layer of asphalt, Sacher said. On a high-volume roadway with a granular base, it’s cheaper to maintain an asphalt surface over the long term, he said, adding concrete still makes more financial sense as a surface for lower-volume roads.

Originally slated to open next fall, the new roadway is ready now because of sunny weather this summer and a seven-day work schedule employed by construction consortium DBF2, the city’s partner in the project, Sacher said. Under the terms of a private-public partnership, the city will pay the consortium $8.2 million a year for 30 years for the design, construction and maintenance of the roadway.

Ottawa contributed $25 million to the project, using a fund set aside for public-private partnerships. Manitoba also redirected $9 million from existing budgets after the scope of the project was increased to $109 million from $65 million to include the cost of an underpass at Rothesay Street.

The new roadway also features remodelled intersections at Henderson and Lagimodiere, a new signalized intersection at Gateway Road, street closings at both Raleigh Street and De Vries Avenue and a bike-and-pedestrian overpass at the Northeast Pioneers Greenway, one of the city’s busier active-transportation corridors.

The city has long-term plans to extend Chief Peguis Trail west from Main Street to McPhillips Street and eventually to Route 90, as well as east from Lagimodiere to the Perimeter Highway. According to the city’s Transportation Master Plan, this will be accomplished by 2031, when the city is supposed to complete the inner ring road.

The price tag for completing the ring road is $670 million in 2011 dollars. Transportation advocates say the City of Winnipeg won’t be able to afford it without raising the money through funding mechanisms such as road tolls, gasoline taxes and property-tax increases.

“At the end of the day, the political will has to exist. Otherwise the plan is just a plan,” said Chris Lorenc, a former city councillor who regularly appears before the current council to argue in favour of more investment in infrastructure. “We can not simply sit around and wait for someone to drop a pile of money on the City of Winnipeg. It’s not going to happen.”

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/long-road-to-completion-134896743.

Vancouver Auto Financing
Winnipeg Mainstay
Puerto Morelos Cancun Mexico day excursions
www.crossfireconsulting.net