Mayoral challenger Judy Wasylycia-Leis has accused Mayor Sam Katz of employing "divide and conquer" tactics to deal with public anger and confusion over the City of Winnipeg's $20.4-million active-transportation upgrade.

Wasylycia-Leis gathered reporters to her Portage Avenue headquarters this afternoon and pledged to personally attend public meetings about the city's new bike-and-pedestrian upgrades if she's elected mayor on Oct. 27.

Wasylycia-Leis also promised to cancel a city search for a private public-relations consultant, a move she described as "damage control and nothing more."

The former Winnipeg North MP, who is even with Katz in the latest Probe Research poll, said she supports active-transportation but claims the city did not do a good job of making sure the public understood what it was getting.

She praised the efforts of city staff but insisted the city should have listened to concerns from businesses on Assiniboine Avenue before they sued the city over the Assiniboine Bikeway.

She accused Katz of deflecting responsibility to city staff and councillors. She claimed the incumbent is a poor consensus builder who has wound up pitting motorists against cyclists. She claimed the city must be united before it can move forward with change.

Katz will speak to reporters later this afternoon. Last week, he said the ultimate responsibility for the active-transportation upgrade lies with him. He also said some councillors did not conduct proper oversight of new commuter-cycling amenities in their wards.

The city originally planned to build 36 new bike-and-pedestrian paths, bikeways and other amenities. One has been cancelled, another is on hold and at least six others are the subject of intense criticism.

Approximately three quarters of the 102 kilometres of new routes being added to the city's network of cycling routes are on streets.

Wasylycia-Leis made her comments in the company of a cycling advocate and a Crescentwood resident opposed to a barricade at Academy Road and Harrow Street.

She said she would not rip up infrastructure if elected mayor, but would speak personally to all citizens in an effort to find solutions to genuine problems.