Southwest Transitway – Winnipeg, MB

The Southwest Transitway is a key component of Winnipeg’s transportation master plan and the initial phase of a city-wide rapid transit network to increase ridership, reduce traffic congestion and support transit-oriented development. The transitway is a high-speed roadway for buses, physically separated from the regular street system, allowing buses to operate at speeds up to 80kph, free of any other traffic to provide fast, reliable service.

Dillon was engaged for overall system planning, technology analysis, detailed design and construction management services for Stage 1 of the project (completed in 2012), alignment review and analysis for Stage 2 of the project (completed in 2013), functional design and business case development for Stage 2 in support of the P3 procurement, and owner’s advocate during the design and construction of Stage 2.

Dillon acted as the project lead, providing expertise in systems design, traffic operations, foundation design, structural design, runningway and roadway design, signalling and transit priority measures, station design, construction planning, construction administration, rapid transit service planning and system implementation.

Highlights of this bus rapid transit project include:

• Exclusive, grade-separated runningway for buses with operating speeds up to 80kph
• New state-of-the-art stations (four for Stage 1 and 10 for Stage 2)
• Three tunnels and underpasses of CN Rail lines
• Four overpasses of major urban arterial streets
• Rapid transit network of 13 routes providing connectivity between downtown and southwest Winnipeg including the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg
• Real-time passenger information system.

Stage 1 of the project (4 km) was opened for service in April 2012. Stage 2 (7 km) is under construction with an anticipated completion in 2019. Dillon is serving as the owner’s advocate for this stage. A future expansion to the City’s Transit Corridor System for the Eastern Corridor connecting downtown to Transcona is in the planning stages.

The final milestone of Stage 2 was achieved with the completion of construction in September 2019. Stage 2 of the project was opened for service in April 2020.

Awards

• Canadian Consulting Engineering Award of Excellence – 2013
• Association of Consulting Engineering Companies Award of Excellence – 2013
• Award of Merit Association of Consulting Engineering Companies Manitoba  – 2018
• Project Management Institute (Manitoba) Project of the Year – 2021
• ACEC Award of Excellence – 2021
• Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba Team Achievement Award – 2021

Project Details

Project Partner: City of Winnipeg
Business Unit: Transportation
Service Offering: Transit