Full steam ahead on Trans-Canada twinning: NDP

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/12/2023 (639 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The NDP government is proceeding with plans to twin Manitoba’s last remaining undivided stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway — a multimillion-dollar mega-project announced under the Tories.

The actual twinning of a roughly 17-kilometre section between Falcon Lake and the Manitoba-Ontario boundary is still years away, based on the province’s latest timelines for studies and preliminary work.

A government spokesperson said a conceptual design study, which will set out the long-term steps, is ongoing, alongside work to expand an initial 700-metre stretch that will align with Ontario’s new four-lane highway in 2024.

The initial section is expected to be built, paved and ready for traffic next fall.

Peter Lugli, whose brother Mark, 54, and nephew Jacob, 17, were killed in a crash on the undivided stretch in July 2019, was pleased to hear a change in government has not led to a change in plans.

He hopes the project moves swiftly to help improve safety for road users as soon as possible.

“Small steps are encouraging, but time is not a friend here,” said Lugli, whose family lobbied the former Progressive Conservative government for the twinning project. “Anything that can be done to responsibly accelerate studies and (construction) will reduce the risk of more family tragedies.”

An inexperienced truck driver who was responsible for the fatal crash at Barren Lake Road was fined $3,000 and banned from driving for four months, after pleading guilty to careless driving causing death.

At an official project launch in May, then-infrastructure minister Doyle Piwniuk said studies and other work would take about four years before crews could start to widen the highway to four lanes.

He said engineers gave an early cost estimate of more than $500 million. PC governments in Manitoba and Ontario had teamed up to lobby the federal government for a national infrastructure strategy and increased funding.

The project is intended to improve safety and travel times along a corridor that is used by more than 5,000 passenger vehicles and transport trucks each day, government data show.

Tree-clearing and other preliminary work on the 700-metre section began in June. A grading contract is expected to be completed this winter, the provincial spokesperson said.

A paving contract, which hasn’t been tendered, is tentatively scheduled for completion in fall 2024 to coincide with Ontario’s paving work, the spokesperson said.

The conceptual design study by Tetra Tech Canada began last spring and could finish in winter 2024. It will be followed by a functional design study.

“Both studies will determine the optimal route alignment and functional design of the highway, including associated structures and grade separations,” the government spokesperson wrote in an email. “These studies will include engagement with Indigenous rights holders and all other stakeholders.”

Three overpasses were rehabilitated earlier this year to prepare for the highway twinning.

Meanwhile, Ontario’s years-long project will twin a 40-kilometre section of highway between the provincial boundary and Kenora bypass.

The project has been divided into three phases, starting with 6.5 kilometres of road between the boundary and Ontario Highway 673. The initial phase is scheduled to be completed next fall.

Construction of the second phase could begin in 2024, depending on the necessary environmental and design approvals.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca