Manitobans can have their say on turning North Perimeter into a freeway

Imagine a North Perimeter Highway where drivers can travel without stopping at traffic lights.

The Manitoba governmentis vowing to transform thehighway into a freeway, in part byremoving alluncontrolled accesses onto thethoroughfare. Officialsare proposingseven new interchanges as a substitute.

Infrastructure Minister Ron Schulerlaid out a "road trip to freeway status" during a news conference Monday, in which he encouraged Manitobans to have their say through an online survey.

He said the existing highway isn't safe enough for the 30,000 vehicles travelling on it daily.

"We can't keep building thesebridges onthe Perimeter Highway and then have mud roads leading onto the Perimeter, likethat is a recipe for disaster," Schuler said.

Highway only accessible by interchanges

The minister said some of the 22 accesses onto the northern half of the highway have been barricaded. He said the province will eventually close allaccess points without signals in favour of interchanges withoverpass structures, ramps or loops, as well as improvedservice roads providingaccess onto (or off of)the various interchanges.

"The safer we make the Perimeter Highway, the less safeuncontrolled intersections become," Schuler said.

The province will seekinput online until April10 atengagemb.ca.

Manitoba's proposal for a reconstructed highway includes seven new interchanges, including connections atRoad 63 North, Sturgeon Road, Pipeline Road, Gunn Road and Dugald Road.

The province is also estimating there are nearly two dozen locations where existing highway access or medians would beremoved.

Schuler wouldn't estimate a price or a timeline for the project.

Manitoba has the same improvements in mind for theSouth Perimeter Highway.The province is estimating it could take 20 to 30 years to complete theupgrades.

The province hired a firm in 2017 to prepare a design study, which it is considering doing as well for the North Perimeter.

Schuler said design work for thenew St. Mary's Road interchange is nearly complete. Heexpects work to start "this construction season" on a service road at AimesRoad and MelnickRoad, and the West Perimeter Highway service road fromWilkes Avenue to Oakland Road, though he said efforts to acquire landhavebeen a roadblock thusfar.

Freeway proposed in 1988

The province is already decades behind schedule on reconstructing the Highway. A study in 1988 recommended a freeway accessible only by interchanges.

Schuler said he'dprefer if these changes were already completed, but he said the province is now committed to revampingthe highway as quickly as possible.

Down the road, he saidthe Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 75 would also be transformed intofreeways, but it "probably won't be [in] my political lifetime,"the 58-year-old said.