City advances plan to bolster active transportation infrastructure

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This article was published 05/02/2025 (275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon city councillors have supported an effort by the administration to submit a funding request to a large federal grant program as a means to further enhance the city’s active transportation connections.

“It’s a national grant, and it’s for up to 60 per cent of project funding for a total project maximum cost of $50 million,” said the City of Brandon’s director of planning and buildings, Ryan Nickel, on Monday night during the regular council meeting. “It’s a pretty substantial grant for (Active Transportation), compared to some of the other grants that have rolled out.”

The Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada Active Transportation Fund is a $500-million, five-year direct-application program, open to municipal and regional governments, public-sector bodies, not-for-profit organizations, provincial or territorial governments and Indigenous recipients.

According to the Government of Canada website, the Active Transportation Fund offers two different funding streams. The first is for planning projects that involve the development or enhancement of formal active transportation strategic planning documents or stakeholder engagement.

The second is for capital projects that involve new construction, enhancement of existing infrastructure or improvements to design and safety features.

The deadline for applications through the capital stream is Feb. 25 of this year.

During his presentation, Nickel told council that there is no true master plan for active transportation in the city of Brandon, but rather “bits and pieces of active transportation” in various strategic documents.

A map provided to councillors by Nickel showed potential linkages between the various projects.

“What it does show is that there’s a kind of donut in the City of Brandon, where we historically were built out, and we don’t have active transportation, because that’s just not how the city was planned,” Nickel said.

To mitigate the situation and close some of the “gaps” that Nickel identified, he suggested plans to start bridging some of those gaps to make the so-called donut progressively smaller.

“Understanding that there’s this ongoing discussion whether on-street bike lanes are the appropriate solution, or off-street pathways, we wanted to propose options where potentially we would have some flexibility.”

Nickel outlined several projects that the federal grant program could help fund, including connecting the (former) Eighth Street Bridge location to the new 18th Street Bridge via Stickney Avenue or Assiniboine Avenue. Other options include improving Pacific Avenue with lighting, and addressing gaps on Victoria, Patricia and Richmond avenues.

Nickel also included the ongoing discussion around bike lanes along 26th Street, with the focus between Victoria Avenue and Richmond Avenue.

“This grant is about encouraging people to take other modes of transportation as an alternative to vehicle use,” Nickel said. “There are still some questions to ask, but we need to apply because we want to get some money. And 60 per cent for (Alternative Transportation) is a pretty big deal.”

A priority project among those listed will be chosen in due course, Nickel said.

He also explained toward the end of his presentation that a resolution remains in the books that directs council to proceed to apply for grants to construct a new Eighth Street Active Transportation bridge — a motion that has never been repealed. Though the administration is proposing connections for Pacific Avenue and Stickney that would already provide some level of connectivity through that area and across the tracks, Nickel suggested that council should come back and discuss the situation at some point in the future.

“We’re not proposing it now … but this would have been the grant to apply for, because it’s up to $50 million for that kind of project.”

Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Ward 2) suggested to council that council should take the advice and exhaust all possibilities for the region before deciding ultimately to give up the project to build an active transportation bridge at Eighth Street.

Desjarlais also brought up an idea he has introduced to administration before — an active transportation connection across the river from Stickney to Dinsdale Park.

“I’m just looking at this right now, seeing like that just seems like a missed opportunity for us to connect that loop. I’m just suggesting that we look at that in the future.”

A motion to support the administration’s request to pursue funding through the Active Transportation fund passed in council.

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