Manitobans can have their say on turning North Perimeter into a freeway

Imagine a North Perimeter Highway where drivers can travel without stopping at traffic lights.

The Manitoba government is vowing to transform the highway into a freeway, in part by removing all uncontrolled accesses onto the thoroughfare. Officials are proposing seven new interchanges as a substitute.

Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler laid out a "road trip to freeway status" during a news conference Monday, in which he encouraged Manitobans to have their say through an online survey. 

He said the existing highway isn't safe enough for the 30,000 vehicles travelling on it daily.

"We can't keep building these bridges on the Perimeter Highway and then have mud roads leading onto the Perimeter, like that is a recipe for disaster," Schuler said.

Highway only accessible by interchanges

The minister said some of the 22 accesses onto the northern half of the highway have been barricaded. He said the province will eventually close all access points without signals in favour of interchanges with overpass structures, ramps or loops, as well as improved service roads providing access onto (or off of) the various interchanges.

"The safer we make the Perimeter Highway, the less safe uncontrolled intersections become," Schuler said.

The province will seek input online until April 10 at engagemb.ca. 

Manitoba's proposal for a reconstructed highway includes seven new interchanges, including connections at Road 63 North, Sturgeon Road, Pipeline Road, Gunn Road and Dugald Road.

The province is also estimating there are nearly two dozen locations where existing highway access or medians would be removed. 

Schuler wouldn't estimate a price or a timeline for the project.

Manitoba has the same improvements in mind for the South Perimeter Highway. The province is estimating it could take 20 to 30 years to complete the upgrades.

The province hired a firm in 2017 to prepare a design study, which it is considering doing as well for the North Perimeter.

Schuler said design work for the new St. Mary's Road interchange is nearly complete. He expects work to start "this construction season" on a service road at Aimes Road and Melnick Road, and the West Perimeter Highway service road from Wilkes Avenue to Oakland Road, though he said efforts to acquire land have been a roadblock thus far.

Freeway proposed in 1988

The province is already decades behind schedule on reconstructing the Highway. A study in 1988 recommended a freeway accessible only by interchanges.

Schuler said he'd prefer if these changes were already completed, but he said the province is now committed to revamping the highway as quickly as possible. 

Down the road, he said the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 75 would also be transformed into freeways, but it "probably won't be [in] my political lifetime," the 58-year-old said.