Median access along Perimeter to close

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This article was published 22/10/2018 (2519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Drivers heading east on the south Perimeter Highway will soon no longer be able to turn left onto La Salle Road as Manitoba Infrastructure is closing that access point.

Director of transportation systems planning and development Erica Vido said drivers will have to use McGillivray Boulevard to reach La Salle Road. Another option is to do a U-turn at the traffic signal at PTH 330.

This is one of 24 intersections controlled with stop signs only along the south Perimeter Highway from Portage Avenue to Fermor Avenue that will be affected in order to improve safety, according to Manitoba Infrastructure. Drivers turning onto the Perimeter will be restricted to right turns only.

“We’d like to start closing them very soon,” Vido said on Oct. 18.

Another area of concern is Industrial Road in Oak Bluff, along which many industrial and commercial businesses are located, and the intersections of the Perimeter Highway and Oakland and Industrial roads which serve as access points for traffic coming into and off the Perimeter Highway into Oak Bluff’s industrial park. According to the highway safety plans, the median openings at Oakland Road and at the north end of Industrial Road will be closed and traffic from these roads would only be able to turn right onto the Perimeter Highway.

Vido confirmed that median access will be barricaded off. The roundabout in Oak Bluff at the junction of Highways 2 and 3 opened on Oct. 18, and she said traffic coming from the industrial park can use the roundabout to head east then turn north at the lights at Highway 3 and the Perimeter.

While local residents and business owners have expressed concern about increased truck traffic forced to use this route through Oak Bluff, Vido said studies show that the change is expected to result in less than 100 extra vehicles a day on that route.

RM of Macdonald reeve Brad Erb expressed his frustration with the provincial government’s decision to move forward with closure of the access points within his municipality. He said he’s heard from many concerned residents in Oak Bluff but ultimately it’s a provincial decision.

One of the other infrastructure changes recently announced is the extension of a service road from Oakland Road to the Wilkes Avenue interchange to allow traffic from the Oak Bluff industrial park to have another way to head north on the Perimeter Highway. However, Vido said, land must be acquired and there’s a rail line to go over. She hopes that work will start next year.

Erb said that council has been asking for this extension for years.

Other improvements to take place over the next three years include:

• PTH 3/PTH 100 intersection improvements;

• Service road improvements at PTH 3/PTH 100/Oakland Road;

•  Service road improvements to more safely connect Brady Road to the South Perimeter Highway;

• Constructing a service road and railway crossing to connect Aimes Road and Melnick Road; and

• Constructing left turn lanes at Symington Road.

Further consultation with stakeholders to refine local access options will be ongoing and will take place over the coming months, according to the province.

The safety improvements are the first steps in turning the south Perimeter Highway into a fully access-controlled freeway. The improvements will cost approximately $19 million and are expected to be complete by 2022.