The front runner for mayor says she will add $60 million over four years to the city's current road budget to fix crumbling streets.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis says that will repair 1,000 additional city blocks.
Wasylycia-Leis said the promise is in addition to the $340 million already earmarked by the city.
The new revenue would come from an annual hike in property taxes and loans, she said. Wasylycia-Leis is proposing to use a two per cent property tax hike to pay for the increased road budget.
"I'm the only one who's talking about investing in our infrastructure deficit and doing so on a fiscally responsible and financially sound basis," she said.
But one urban planner said the candidate's plan doesn't go far enough
"This amount today - that seems like a lot (but) is really just a drop in the bucket for what we really need to do,” said Jino Distasio from the University of Winnipeg.
Distasio said if the next mayor really wants to be successful in reducing Winnipeg's multi-billion-dollar infrastructure deficit, she or he must pry more money out of Ottawa and the province.
"Property taxes and borrowing puts the onus on Winnipeggers. We need to share that burden with our provincial counterparts and, absolutely, at the federal level,” he said.
Wasylycia-Leis said the city has to get its house in order first.
"What I am proposing today is something we can do on our own without asking permission from the provincial or federal governments. I just need the permission of the electorate to go forward," she said.
- with a report from Jeff Keele
