Manitoba pledges $4.8M to upgrade Neepawa roads

The Town of Neepawa is receiving $4.8 million in provincial funding to expand its highway network to reduce congestion and improve access to the community’s newly-expanded health-care facility.

Transportation Minister Lisa Naylor and Municipal Relations Minister Glen Simard announced the province’s commitment to help upgrade Provincial Trunk Highway 16 — the Trans-Canada Highway Yellowhead section — in a news release on Thursday.

A total of $2.8 million has been earmarked to complete the connectivity to PTH 16 where the province is working on a new traffic safety improvement project including a dedicated right-turn lane into the Neepawa Health Centre and a right-turn cutoff to exit the site. Construction is anticipated to be complete this fall.

The remaining funds will extend Hamilton Street from Broadway Avenue running east along the southern boundary of the new regional hospital. This initiative, led by the town, which secured $2 million from the province via its new growth and renewal fund for municipalities, includes a north-south access to PTH 16.

“This funding will not only improve traffic flow and mitigate congestion, but it will greatly enhance and support economic development in rural Manitoba and enhance trade routes,” Neepawa Mayor Brian Hedley said in the provincial news release.