Winnipeg, MB - Today, Ron Lemieux, Minister of Local Government for Manitoba, Lawrence Toet, the Member of Parliament for Elmwood-Transcona, and Sam Katz, Mayor of Winnipeg, celebrated the official opening of the Disraeli Active Transportation Bridge in Winnipeg. The Disraeli Bridges project, one of the largest bridge projects in the history of the City, was completed with the support of a federal-provincial-municipal partnership.
"The goal of active transportation is to encourage people to use alternatives to motor vehicles. This new bridge provides a secure and streamlined avenue for them to do that" said Minister Lemieux. "Through partnerships with other levels of government we have been able to support projects like this new bridge that will serve pedestrians and cyclists, and promote active transportation as a safe, viable transportation choice."
"This active transportation bridge is all about cyclists and pedestrians" safety and helping to reduce gas emissions by promoting active living," declared MP Toet, on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. "We are proud to invest in significant infrastructure projects, like this one, as we focus on creating jobs, promoting growth, and building strong, prosperous communities across Canada."
"We have been making great strides in our active transportation network since 2006," said Mayor Katz. "The Disraeli Active Transportation bridge represents a vital link in our network and gives cyclists and pedestrians safe and easy access between downtown and the northeast quadrant of the City."
Opened to the public last month, the $16-million Active Transportation Bridge is part of the overall $195-million Disraeli Bridges Project. To realize the initiative, six piers from the former vehicular bridge were modified and refurbished to serve the new active transportation bridge. As well, the bridge deck was lowered by four metres to allow it to connect directly to Rover Avenue and Midwinter Avenue.
In collaboration with the Winnipeg Arts Council, a site-specific artwork by Winnipeg artist Bernie Miller has been integrated into the bridge. Entitled Light Through, the artwork consists of sixteen 350-centimetre-tall stainless steel structures that cover the four bridge piers and contains photographs that depict the history of the bridge and its surroundings. The artist used software he developed to perforate the stainless steel panels translating the photographic images as patterns of holes. When light shines through these holes, the photographs are distinctly revealed, evoking the lively engagement with the Disraeli Bridges since 1959.
The original Disraeli Bridges were constructed in 1959-60 and served the City for 50 years. Work on the new bridges began in January 2010 when it was announced the project's $195 million construction costs would be financed, in part, through a Public-Private Partnership (P3) funding arrangement, with $18.3 million provided by the Government of Canada through the Gas Tax Fund transfer. Plenary Roads Winnipeg was the private consortium selected for the project. The City contributed $176.6 million to the project. Additional funding of $53.3 million was provided by the Government of Manitoba over a 10-year period, which allowed the vehicular bridges to remain open during construction.
The Disraeli Bridges Project followed the "design-build-finance-maintain" model of procurement. Under this model, the private-sector partner is responsible for financing, design, construction and maintenance costs during the term of the contract which, in this case, is 30 years. For its part, the City will make a commissioning payment and then annual performance based service payments to the private-sector partner. The new bridges have a design life of 75 years.
Funding for this project is also provided through the Canada-Manitoba Gas Tax Funding Agreement. Through this agreement, Manitoba municipalities receive a share of federal gas tax revenues to support environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges, public transit, water and wastewater infrastructure, community energy systems, and solid waste management.
The federal Gas Tax Fund transfer provides long-term funding to municipalities across the country to build and revitalize their local infrastructure. The Government of Canada has now made the GTF a permanent transfer and has proposed improvements that will see the GTF grow from its current $2 billion per year while providing increased flexibility on how the money can be used to fund local infrastructure priorities. Discussions are underway with provinces and territories to renew the GTF agreements so that these improvements can be implemented as soon as possible. In Manitoba, the program currently provides over $66 million of predictable, long term funding annually to help municipalities build and revitalize public infrastructure.
For additional information about federal investments in infrastructure visit www.infrastructure.gc.ca/ or follow the Twitter account at www.twitter.com/INFC_eng
For further information about Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca/