Tories want long-term flood plan for trucking route

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This article was published 23/02/2010 (6023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Manitoba Conservatives say the Selinger government doesn’t have a plan to deal with annual flooding over Manitoba’s most important trucking route to the United States.

 

Morris MLA Mavis Taillieu says that in issuing its first flood report for 2010 yesterday, the province failed to offer a long-term strategy for preventing the frequent spring closure of Highway 75.

“Flooding south of Winnipeg is a regular occurrence,” Taillieu said in a statement today. “We had flooding in 2006. We had flooding last year. We have another flood looming on the horizon for 2010. Yet it seems that each year after the flood waters subside, we hear much talk from the NDP about plans to fix the problem, but we have yet to see any action.”

She said that hopes to make Winnipeg a major transportation hub for north-south trade will be quickly dashed without a long term plan in place.

Taillieu noted the highway has been closed nearly 100 days in the past 13 years. “The ability to efficiently move goods to and through Manitoba from the south during a flood event must be addressed, or it will have a continued negative impact on commerce,” she said.

Meanwhile, Interstate 29 through Grand Forks and Fargo has been closed due to flooding just eight times over the same time period, she said.