Confusion crossing New interchange at St. Mary’s Road, Perimeter Highway leaves longtime garden centres seeking signage amid customer disorientation By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 5:46 PM CST Monday, Dec. 9, 2024

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This article was published 09/12/2024 (305 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The longstanding strip of garden centres on St. Mary’s Road has been split in two. Confusion and lost sales have resulted, affected businesses say.

Signage is top of Dave Hanson’s Christmas list. He’s noticed a 30 per cent decline in holiday traffic at Sage Garden Greenhouses and he believes the new interchange at St. Mary’s Road and the Perimeter Highway is to blame.

“Every single day, all day long, people are still — three months in — still bringing it up,” Hanson said.

Sage Garden Greenhouses has spent 25 years at 3410 St. Mary’s Rd. Before the province’s interchange project, Sage Garden joined companies like Lacoste Garden Centre on a stretch of St. Mary’s Road beyond the Perimeter Highway.

At the time, southbound St. Mary’s commuters would cross the Perimeter via a light-controlled intersection. Now, potential customers pass through two large roundabouts and overtop the major highway.

Past the Perimeter, the road continues straight into Provincial Road 200; Sage Garden is further down. However, there’s a right-hand turn-off to another section — St. Mary’s Road — where Lacoste, St. Mary’s Nursery and Ron Paul Garden Centre sit. The St. Mary’s strip ends in a cul-de-sac; it used to stretch to companies like Sage Garden.

Karen Burkett estimates it took her twice as long as normal to reach Sage Garden Greenhouses after the interchange opened in September. She didn’t use a GPS — she’d heard maps weren’t yet updated for the new road — and found herself stuck in the cul-de-sac beyond St. Mary’s Nursery.

“It feels like it’s unnecessarily complicated,” said Burkett, who’s been a Sage Garden patron for a decade. “I can see how easy it’d be just to give up and not bother.”

Ron Paul Garden Centre has clocked a significant decrease in live Christmas tree sales; Lacoste Garden Centre has noticed a drop in artificial tree purchases. Management of both said it’s hard to determine the reason for the trend, but the new interchange could play a role.

“We’ve had customers tell us … ‘We can’t find the place,’” said Jordan Hiebert, co-owner of Lacoste Garden Centre.

The calls often come after people have passed the strip’s turnoff, he added. Ray DuBois, president of Ron Paul, said he wore his work shirt to the bank, prompting the teller to say she couldn’t find the centre anymore.

Both managers noted the sites are easy to find via Google Maps. However, older clients who don’t use such systems are struggling, they said.

All the garden centres the Free Press spoke to want more signage. On Friday, there were no signs showing Sage Garden and its neighbour businesses, like Red Valley Plant Market, are beyond the St. Mary’s turnoff.

Signage highlighting businesses past the turnoff should come soon if it isn’t already up, said Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River). He visited Sage Garden Greenhouses last week.

“I didn’t realize that they were going to terminate the old St. Mary’s Road,” Chambers said. “Signage (has become) very necessary so that these businesses can continue to receive the patronage they have in the past.”

Chambers said he contacted the province and the city’s street engineers, who committed to erecting markers near Seniuk Road (the turnoff point).

Other companies, including a mechanic and Mom’s Pantry, are also affected by the change, Chambers noted. Tom Miller, owner of St. Mary’s Service, said he’s received calls asking if he’s moved his shop.

Lacoste, Ron Paul and St. Mary’s Nursery currently have a government sign to show they’re off the main strip. It’s a small orange rectangle indicating businesses are past the turnoff.

“They’ve got to do better than that,” Hiebert from Lacoste said. “There’s a lot of commerce that happens on the strip between the three garden centres.”

Lacoste has nearly 200 employees. Hiebert expressed interest in creating a sign jointly with Ron Paul and St. Mary’s Nursery.

Private business signs along PR 200 won’t be approved because the location is too close to the interchange, posing a risk of driver distraction, a provincial spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure has committed to installing “new and modified” signs before 2024’s end, helping identify businesses south of Seniuk Road, the spokesperson added.

“(We) will continue to monitor and communicate with the affected businesses to identify potential improvements going forward,” the spokesperson wrote, noting Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure has met with affected companies.

Hanson from Sage Garden Greenhouses had hoped for signage by now.

“It’s an important and busy time of year for us,” he emphasized, adding his company is stocked with potential Christmas presents.

He called the infrastructure change a “double whammy,” coinciding with the ongoing Canada Post strike. Sage Garden ships many gift cards and packages via mail during the holidays. Lately, the company has been delivering its own goods within Winnipeg, but it’s missing customers in rural communities.

“I don’t think anyone wants to hurt us,” DuBois from Ron Paul said of the signage issue. “There just has to be a better way.”

Construction on the St. Mary’s Road interchange is ongoing. The project should be finished by August 2025, a Manitoba government webpage shows.

The configuration was made to “safely and efficiently accommodate all accesses and exits” while eliminating traffic control measures like lights, a provincial spokesperson said. Government has cited trade and safety as reasons for the project in the past.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com