City seeking consultant to find St. Mary’s Road traffic solutions

The City of Winnipeg is looking for ways to ease congestion and improve safety along one of the busiest routes into and out of downtown.

A newly issued request for proposals seeks a consultant to study a 1.5-kilometre stretch of St. Mary’s Road between Morier and Tache avenues, where more than 40,000 vehicles travel each day.

“It’s been a long path to get to here, so pleased we’ve arrived here and glad we’re at least starting in on this,” said St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes, who has pushed for changes over the last 14 years, since being first elected in 2012. Discussions to look at possible changes to the stretch of road date back to 2005.

The city’s 2011 Transportation Master Plan had originally projected St. Mary’s Road would be widened between St. Anne’s Road and Tache Avenue by 2021, but St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard opposes any widening efforts.

Allard, whose ward covers the majority of the 1.5-kilometre stretch, said Wednesday that he wants the RFP process to play out and see what the public service comes back with, reserving further comment until then.

According to the city, the four-lane section creates a major bottleneck because it narrows between wider six-lane portions of St. Mary’s to the north and south. The result is frequent congestion and “extreme” travel times, even during minor traffic disruptions.

The city wants the consultant to identify lower-cost improvements that could be made in the short- to medium-term without major reconstruction or widening of the roadway, which is mostly lined with residential homes and apartments along much of the stretch of road.

More significant upgrades — including road-widening and possible rapid transit and cycling infrastructure — are expected to be examined later as part of a broader future study of the St. Mary’s corridor.

The route has already been identified in the Winnipeg Transit Master Plan as part of a future rapid transit network, though it is not currently considered a top priority.

The city recently approved parking restriction changes along parts of St. Mary’s Road between Marion Street and Vivian Avenue, extending no-stopping rules during peak southbound rush-hour periods by a half-hour, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Mayes said he already has a few ideas that could help ease congestion along the corridor, including the possibility of reversible lanes that would add capacity in the direction of peak traffic flow.

Under that concept, a third northbound lane could open during the morning commute — possibly even one for transit — and switch to a third southbound lane during afternoon rush hour.

Mayes acknowledged the idea would be difficult to implement along the undivided stretch of St. Mary’s Road without widening the street, but said it may still be worth exploring if it means temporarily reducing traffic to a single lane in the opposite direction during peak periods.

He also suggested the city examine changes to the F7 transit route, which currently merges left as northbound traffic narrows from three lanes to two before turning right onto Carriere Avenue — a manoeuvre that frequently contributes to rush-hour backups.

“Could we extend that third lane as far north as Carriere?” Mayes said. “That would realign things a bit.”

The corridor has also been the site of several serious crashes in recent years.

In 2022, a 17-year-old passenger was killed and an 18-year-old driver injured after a vehicle slammed into a hydro pole near the bottleneck.

In October 2024, a vehicle travelling 213 km/h in a 60 km/h zone smashed into Midland Appliance World just north of Vivian Avenue.

Video footage showed the vehicle missing a curve before hitting a guardrail, hydro pole and the building, eventually coming to rest upside-down near Minute Muffler Auto Service Centre and a nearby bus stop. No one was injured.

At the time, Minute Muffler owner Max Traa said crashes are common along the northbound stretch of St. Mary’s near his shop, adding a stop sign at Morier Avenue had already been replaced multiple times following collisions since the 2024 crash.

Another business operator along the stretch expressed hope there’s eventually some bike lanes added, as well.

“I’ve had three customers in the last year hit by people on bikes as they fly by at high speeds directly in front of our store,” said Curtis Chaput, who runs EyeSee Computers & Security Cameras at 485 St. Mary’s. “I always have to tell customers to watch out when they leave our store.”

The RFP requires pedestrian considerations, along with a review in collaboration with the city’s road safety branch. The consultant will also be required to review a number of traffic-improvement considerations, including traffic signals and curb-side parking locations.

The RFP sets a deadline for next Wednesday. The city set aside $390,000 in the 2025 budget for the work.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca