City council approves $5M funding project to expand Route 90

City council has given the green light to move forward with a funding request, with a price tag of $5 million, to begin property acquisitions along Route 90. It’s the first step of a massive expansion roadway project.

The total project would cost upwards of $750 million, and include widening roadways, rehabilitating existing bridges, and a new bridge over the Assiniboine River. 

“The Route 90 projects, plural, are all about the potential of Winnipeg, it’s all about our future,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

“The Naawi-Oodena treaty one project will see up to 3,100 residential units built right there near the corner of Grant and Kenaston. We also know that up to a million square feet of commercial space will be added, so to accommodate the growth that’s going to come in that area, we need to widen the street.”

The city says they will need provincial and federal funding for the project, but have yet to receive commitment from either level of government, prompting questions about the risks of the initial $5 million investment.

But Standing Policy Committee on Public Works chairperson, Janice Lukes, assured that money won’t go to waste.

“Regardless, if we don’t get provincial and federal money to continue with Route 90, we are going to have to deal with the bridge, and that one we may have to do on our own, but that was this $5 million is for, or the motion, was to get the money in the budget to start property negotiations,” said Lukes.

Newly elected Councillor Emma Durand-Wood was one of two councillors who voted against the funding request, keeping her campaign promise to her ward.

“We need to think about in what ways we’re expanding our transportation capacity, and for me, I think the way we need to do that is through public transportation and through active transportation, and there’s ways that we can do those things without just adding more car lanes,” said Durand-Wood.

Gillingham said, “The only way that we can expand transit is to expand that road.  The potential growth of transit in that area would be completely tied to the ability to expand the roadway to add the capacity required.”

The $5 million funding request will next be put to a vote during the upcoming 2026 budget process.