Plessis Road underpass project deadline extended

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This article was published 09/06/2015 (3809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ottawa is extending the deadline for completing Winnipeg’s Plessis Road underpass project.

A release from Elmwood-Transcona MP Lawrence Toet Tuesday evening said federal Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel has agreed to extend the deadline, though the new date has yet to be made public.

“I am pleased to inform our community that Minister Lebel has officially approved the City of Winnipeg’s request for timeline extensions for the Plessis Road Underpass Project,” said MP Toet. “While I continue to share the frustration of local residents and businesses regarding the slow progress of this project, I am very thankful that our Government is preserving federal funding that was previously committed to this important project, provided the City of Winnipeg adheres to its revised construction timeline.”

The Plessis project was approved in 2012 under the Major Infrastructure Component of the Building Canada Fund, with a federal contribution of one-third of eligible costs up to a maximum of $25 million.

The project was originally to be completed by 2014, however the city was granted an extension by the federal government, which hinged its $25 million on a deadline that by July 31 two lanes of Plessis would be opened between Dugald Road and Kernaghan Avenue, and by Sept. 30, four lanes of Plessis would have to be open.

The underpass and widening of the road originally had a price tag of $77 million, which rose to $83.8 million in March and now, according to an administrative report, has ballooned further to $85.4 million.