Whiteshell park users scrutinize highway twinning project

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This article was published 07/02/2025 (210 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new route through part of Whiteshell Provincial Park is among three proposals to twin a 16-kilometre section of the Trans-Canada Highway just inside the Manitoba-Ontario boundary.

One proposal would expand the existing highway from two to four lanes. The two other options involve a new corridor that would go north of Falcon Beach and Barren Lake, linking to the existing highway at both ends. Of the two latter options, one would shift traffic to the new corridor, while the other would be a couplet with one-way traffic on the new corridor and existing route.

“Any change of the current highway will have an impact on us,” said local resident Kendra Imrie, who co-owns Falcon Beach Ranch with her husband. “Hopefully, the corridor that is chosen is not going to be an existential threat to the ranch.”

People who live, work, own cottages or have land rights in the area are weighing the potential effect of each proposal.

Imrie said it’s difficult to say which option she prefers because there are so many factors to consider, but her “worst-case” scenario is a one-way couplet, which would put the ranch between two high-speed highways.

She hopes the ranch’s tree buffer and trail system access are not lost.

Six proposals were presented at local consultation meetings this week by the province and two firms — Tetra Tech Canada and Landmark Planning & Design — involved in a conceptual design study. Three potential routes were ruled out because they wouldn’t align with Ontario’s new twinned highway.

The preferred corridor and alignment are expected to be chosen by summer’s end. A functional design study, lasting up to three years, is expected to start this fall.

The start of construction is years away. An estimated cost will be prepared when the conceptual design is completed, a provincial spokesperson said.

“The province wants this project to get finished as soon as possible, which is why the conceptual design stage has started,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

The former Tory government confirmed the project in 2022 to improve safety, ease congestion and improve travel times on a key trade route. The NDP pressed ahead with planning after its 2023 election win.

Manitoba twinned a 700-metre section at the boundary to align with Ontario’s divided highway.

For the larger project, the study team’s considerations include safety and impacts on the environment, wildlife, land use, local access and traffic projections.

West Hawk Lake resident Blair Mahaffy said core concerns, such as safety, the environment and noise, are more important to him than the final choice. Whichever option is selected, he hopes a balance can be struck.

A new corridor would “cut a new swath of forest” in the Whiteshell, he noted.

“In many ways, this is the jewel in the crown of Manitoba’s provincial parks, and it should be treated as one,” Mahaffy said.

The family of Dryden, Ont., residents Mark Lugli, 54, and his son Jacob, 17, who died when a semi-truck crashed into their vehicle on the untwinned highway in 2019, advocated for the project.

Peter Lugli, the brother and uncle to Mark and Jacob, said responsible preparatory work is essential, but it’s difficult to hear that construction is years away.

“Meantime, this patch of vital road will remain dangerous for drivers of all backgrounds,” he said. “Incidents are sure to come during this consulting phase. We hope and pray they are minor.”

The consultation process heard some calls for a reduced speed limit, plus some concerns about changes to property values, or the high cost and duration of the project, which faces obstacles and engineering challenges.

The current highway cuts through the rugged Canadian shield country and is bounded by bodies of water in places.

The government is consulting Indigenous rights holders, who cited a need for meaningful involvement, and recognition and respect for cultural traditions. Concerns at initial meetings included hunting and foraging areas, and heritage sites.

The Manitoba Métis Federation is negotiating an engagement agreement to conduct a technical review of Manitoba’s plan to ensure that any impacts on the rights claims and interests of Red River Métis citizens are considered in this stage, said Jack Park, the federation’s minister of energy and infrastructure.

“We will also work with the provincial department responsible for licensing the project once the consultation process has started to ensure any impacts of the project on Red River Métis rights claims and interests are mitigated appropriately,” he said in a statement.

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Whiteshell Cottagers Association president Ken Pickering doesn’t have a preference, but supports the twinning project.

“I would say twinning through that area is needed from a safety perspective. We’re talking about the main corridor of Canada running through,” said Pickering, who has a cottage at Falcon Lake.

The group’s 1,400 members are concerned about environmental impacts and access to cottages during and after construction, he said.

“Adding construction can be a challenge and a safety issue,” he said.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.