A Winnipeg city councillor said Wednesday he has proof it is too expensive to open Portage Avenue and Main Street to pedestrians.
Councillor Jeff Browaty said documents show transit requirements alone will cost nearly $1 million a year, plus a one-time expense to buy 11 new buses for $6.8 million.
He alleged Mayor Brian Bowman and his executive policy committee are aware of the numbers.
The document calls the stats preliminary and that they are set to be refined in a future report.
Browaty was recently shuffled off EPC by Bowman and is against the project.
Opening the intersection is one of Bowman's key campaign promises.
Bowman stresses the numbers are only estimates and final costs are coming for the entire project to be contained in a report at city hall expected in a few months.
"Is there going to be costs absolutely – what they are and what those potential costs could be hasn't been determined,” he said.
Last week the city's director of infrastructure said it would take two years to begin work on the plan, because of the transit and safety requirements.
Bowman said that was inaccurate, because there was no timeline for the project.
