Access points closed on south Perimeter

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This article was published 01/11/2018 (2748 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Infrastructure’s closure of median access points along the South Perimeter means a longer drive for some, but could also slow emergency responders in the RM of Macdonald.

Manitoba Infrastructure began discussing changes to access at 26 uncontrolled intersections along the south Perimeter Highway between Portage Avenue and Fermor Avenue as far back as April 9 when a delegation of provincial officials attended an RM of Macdonald council meeting. After that, plans were shared at a series of public open houses.

The closures are part of a multi-year safety plan to transform the busy South Perimeter into an American-style fully access-controlled freeway with on and off ramps to offer high speed, non-stop travel by 2022.

However that goal includes also using a network of service roads that don’t completely exist right now.

Drivers using uncontrolled intersections at locations such as La Salle and Oakland Roads can’t make a left-hand turn from or onto the Perimeter Highway after wooden barricades were erected at median openings on Oct. 30. There is a service road located parallel to the highway but it ends at a rail line and doesn’t allow traffic to continue east to the lighted intersection at Highway 330.

Oak Bluff Limo owner Samir Harb, who operates his business from his home on La Salle Road, said the median closure will negatively impact him.

“I always crossed the (Perimeter) highway to go to La Salle,” he said. “And I go to La Salle a lot.”

Harb, who recently started offering bus service from La Salle for fans heading to Winnipeg Jets and Blue Bomber games, said the closure means he will either have to drive north on La Salle Road to McGillivray Boulevard, then to the intersection at Highway 2 in Oak Bluff to turn left and head east, or turn right from La Salle Road onto the Perimeter Highway and make a U-turn as soon as he is able.

Speaking to The Headliner the day before the barriers were erected, Macdonald fire chief Mike Siemens said he’s very concerned about Manitoba Infrastructure’s decision to go ahead with the closures before taking the time to discuss their impact and the need to identify alternate routes for first responders in emergencies.

Siemens said he was promised a meeting with MI staff before any changes were made, and that didn’t happen.

“We are still waiting for a direct consultation,” he said.

Siemens’s concerns focus on what could be a longer response time when travelling to accidents occurring on the south Perimeter, or emergencies in other areas where access is affected by the median closures. For example, a fire truck coming from the municipal fire hall in Sanford would have to drive east on the Perimeter to the traffic lights at PTH 330, and do a U-turn to head back to reach the scene of a traffic accident occurring in the westbound lanes between that intersection and the one at Oak Bluff.

“That’s five minutes longer for us,” he said.

Because that section of highway is so busy, it also means more traffic would pass the accident scene before it was secured by first responders, and this is also a safety risk, Siemens said.
He advises anyone calling 911 to report an emergency along the south Perimeter to please take note of the location to help first responders reach the scene as quickly as possible.

Siemens said he had hoped Manitoba Infrastructure would consider leaving the medians open and instead post signage restricting access to emergency vehicles, as is done in some American states.

La Salle resident Ricki Brown contacted The Headliner to voice her concern about the median access closures and their possible impact on safety.

“My main concern is if there is an accident on the south Perimeter, how do emergency vehicles gain access?  Or get back to the city when time is of the essence?” she wrote in an email message.

She also said she feels Manitoba Infrastructure should have consulted with local residents and business owners more fully before making access changes.

With the closure of median access at Oakland Road, vehicles leaving the Oak Bluff Industrial Park can only turn right onto the Perimeter Highway. They will have to turn right at the Highway 2 intersection to get to the newly-opened roundabout, then circle back to the intersection to turn left and drive north.

Director of transportation systems planning and development with the province, Erica Vido, said studies show that the change is expected to result in less than 100 extra vehicles a day on that route.

Macdonald reeve Brad Erb is worried that some semi drivers entering or leaving the industrial park will use MacDonald Road, which isn’t a truck route and runs through a residential neighbourhood.

He said he received many phone calls on Oct. 30 as local residents realized that they weren’t able to make left-hand turns along the south Perimeter.

“I’m tired of defending the province’s position on this,” he said, as the municipality doesn’t control the provincial roadways.

He said he watched drivers making U-turns at the Highway 2 access east of Oak Bluff in order to reach businesses such as Central Veterinary Services and Anseeuw Brothers on Oct. 30.
He also expressed concern about the condition of service roads running parallel to the Perimeter in sections of the RM of Macdonald. “To upgrade them is hundreds of thousands of dollars and we can’t afford it.”

Manitoba Infrastructure announced the extension of a service road from Oakland Road to the Wilkes Avenue interchange to provide access from the Oak Bluff Industrial Park, but that project could take up to two or three years to complete as land must be acquired and a rail line crossed