[WislaHD]

The Winnipeg Subway as planned by Norman Douglas Wilson, image via donaldstreet.wordpress.com

Here is the SkyRiseCities article on the once proposed Winnipeg Subway.

As a Torontonian I am completely unaware about Winnipeg's transit system. I've often heard Winnipeggers lament about their poor bus services however. With the projected population growth of Winnipeg, the curbing of urban sprawl and rising costs of the automobile-dependent lifestyle, could we see these old plans be revived from the grave?

 

[Froggy]

I read on the internets that the soil under the city would probably not allow the construction of a subway, or would at least make it really costly. Also, the current density of Winnipeg might make a subway project quite irrelevant, although the city is targeting a population of 1 million by the 2030s, with most of the growth focused within the downtown area. If it happens, then I guess that the city would need some form of rapid transit - or more than buses.

Any Winnipegers around here to give us their insider view about that matter?

 

[WislaHD]

Why would the soil not allow for construction? Because the land is still rising due to post-glacial rebound? Did they not anticipate that in the 1950s when this was first proposed?

One issue with the 1959 plan is that it does not connect with the airport, but I am thinking a spur line of the Red Line between Dublin and Wall stations heading to the airport terminal could work well.

From a nation-wide Canadian perspective, a lot of our future growth in population and GDP will take place in urban areas, Winnipeg included. Given the cold winter climate, I think that a subway (or otherwise weather-protected rapid transit system) would be prime in increasing Winnipeg's competitiveness and in capturing Winnipeg's future density and growth within it's downtown core.