What would you do with the CPR rail yards?

Say CPR moves their trains and yards out of the city. What would you do with that area to redevelop it?

Build a mega-hospital

I work for CP and I think the chances of that happening are slim to nil. At least not in the next 10 years.

Neat question. Bart's right, its not likely to happen any time soon, but something to ponder and chew on. There's so many things to consider. The yards are one thing, but remember that the CPR Main Line runs right through the city. Consideration would have to be given to that. Without the main line, it would certainly change the way we look at the city, as it is really like another river separating north from south.

I'd use it to build condo's with awesome green space and a LRT to pick up commuters at their condo's and transport them to main st, where they can all head downtown to work in the high rise office towers.

This topic has been discussed in great depth on the old forum. Terrific debate. Some feel we should move the U of M there (???). Others feel it should be developed into a new neighbourhood with a blend of housing (poor and affluent alike). Maybe a new stadium.

I'd like to see that yard moved outside the city, to a location that lends itself well to the transportation corridor proposition. The cost would be astronomical and opens the risk of the yards and related jobs elsewhere.

WHAT "old forum"?

I think he's referring to the picnic at Assiniboine park....

I'm not against moving the yards elsewhere, but that would only cause further commuting by rail workers, unless they buy houses near the new yards. My short term plan would be to make a perimeter railway so that all those inner city branching lines outwards would be let free and eventually be used for bus or light rail transit lines. I'd also strengthen and finish the northern line towards Churchill (it still goes through Sask.), and add a regular scheduled line north with the capacity for cars, trucks, and trailers. This would bring more life to the northern communities along the line. The CP yards in WPG could also be resized to the area they really need, leaving some room for traffic improvements and further development of industrial and commercial activities.
To do all this, you have to bring together all the parties involved and present a complete project and prepare a well studied timetable for the needed construction work.
Money is a problem, but solutions can be found. Manitoba is still very rich in minerals under the topsoil. There ain't just stones and peet moss...

Electrician wrote:I'm not against moving the yards elsewhere, but that would only cause further commuting by rail workers, unless they buy houses near the new yards. My short term plan would be to make a perimeter railway so that all those inner city branching lines outwards would be let free and eventually be used for bus or light rail transit lines. I'd also strengthen and finish the northern line towards Churchill (it still goes through Sask.), and add a regular scheduled line north with the capacity for cars, trucks, and trailers. This would bring more life to the northern communities along the line. The CP yards in WPG could also be resized to the area they really need, leaving some room for traffic improvements and further development of industrial and commercial activities.
To do all this, you have to bring together all the parties involved and present a complete project and prepare a well studied timetable for the needed construction work.
Money is a problem, but solutions can be found. Manitoba is still very rich in minerals under the topsoil. There ain't just stones and peet moss...

The old CN line from the pas to churchill is no longer owned by CN. It became the Hudson Bay Railway which in turn was bought by Omnitrax of Denver. CO.

IMHO the CPR should move its Winnipeg yards and facilities west of sturgeon road. They could leave the main line run through Winnipeg, as someday I see passenger service return and it would be nice to have a station in downtown Winnipeg. What is left over should be built into condo's and parks. None of this mixed housing crap, poor living mixed in with the rich does not work and only makes tensions worse. Look at the areas in middle class Winnipeg in which Manitoba Housing maintains a housing complex. Those areas are not well maintained and the people living there don't care either resulting in a shabby looking neighborhood.

What I propose is not single ghettoized blocks. Rather designate 10% (or whatever number works best) of all housing for low income. That places those peeps right in amoungst the more affluent. This should act as an incentive to conform. Rather than plunk them all down together where they can commiserate with each other about how bad the man is...

As long as they don't make 1000+ pop. apt slums. Those can really sink the value of a neighborhood...
They have a few here in Trieste. We're lucky that the older folk had the guts to confront the delinquents as they came along.

Moving it would be nice but , the bill would be huge for the goverment cause CP would rather close or scale back a lot of it then move it , Alberta bound .

LOL CP can't move the Winnipeg yard to Alberta. Winnipeg is a major interchange facility, as it is central in CP's main lines. It also has the only car department between Thunder Bay and Saskatoon, which is vital to CP's operations.

Tell that to the engine service people and the front desk people moved there so far , they can do what ever they want or scale back the amount of work done here . It has happened here already and will continue as long as the payroll tax is around

Pavolo wrote:Tell that to the engine service people and the front desk people moved there so far , they can do what ever they want or scale back the amount of work done here . It has happened here already and will continue as long as the payroll tax is around

What do you mean engine service? We have a diesel shop here. It's easy to move pencil pushers around but to decrease the rail traffic through Winnipeg makes absolutely no sense at all. That's like saying there going to move the airport to Alberta.

...does Calgary have a North End?

The bulk of the the maintenance work is done to the new units is done in Calgary , we do some but not the majority if Iam mistaken then fine but I remember reading it .
I don't say that they would stop using WPG but they could cut out more if they wanted to remember Sask taxes are less . What Iam getting at is the city is smart not to push to hard on this or we may lose .

They probably benefit of some sort of tax breaks like paying only federal taxes anyways.
Big companies like CN or CP can have the power to bend the rules, with jobs as their levy.

The biggest enemy we have the payroll tax thats why no bigg companies are here now gone to Alberta just like they said they would when it was introduced .

While the payroll tax is a disincentive to growth does it not kick in at 1000 employees? How many companies are considering entering Manitoba and creating 1000 jobs? In 1 year? 5 years? 10 Years? And how many companies are approaching 1000 employees and are considering leaving Manitoba to avoid the payroll tax?

It is but another straw, but hardly the last straw or more to the point the only straw.

I am against it though. We need to create an environment that is inviting to business. Both the businesses that are here already and those that might consider moving here. The mere presence of the NDP alone will likely scare off more businesses then the payroll tax. No matter the current NDP policies, it is their union friendly and socialist ways that scare peeps.

Agreed it is not the only reason but it is a big one along with the NDP . I often think this cities inferioroity complex doe,s not help .

The payroll tax starts at $1,250,000 in payroll, and is 4.3%.

One of the side effects of free trade was that alot of branch offices closed in Canada as they were no longer needed by American companies. Hence the lack of local service depots .

Offices closing in Winnipeg has nothing to do with the environment that the pro-union, socialist, tax them till they bleed NDP government that is in power, does it?