The intersection of St. Mary’s Road and the South Perimeter Highway will soon see the start of construction on a new traffic interchange.

“The Design-Build contract for the project was awarded to Aecon Infrastructure Management Inc. in January 2022,” says a provincial spokesperson. “Site preparation and contractor mobilization will be getting underway shortly. Construction is planned to start this spring.”

In June 2020, the provincial government announced their intention to build an interchange at this corner. At the time of the announcement, the government indicated construction would begin in 2021, to be completed by 2023, but the project has not seen any progress since that time—at least, no progress that’s been visible to the public.

Manitoba Infrastructure now says the work will continue over a two-year timeframe with the interchange expected to open to traffic in summer of 2024. The exact layout of the interchange is still not known.

Many residents of the nearby RM of Ritchot, as well as Niverville, use this intersection regularly as part of their daily commute to Winnipeg.

Springfield-Ritchot MLA Ron Schuler, who was also Minister of Infrastructure at the time, noted that the junction is part of the Trans-Canada Highway. Not only that, but the South Perimeter Highway is one of Manitoba’s most important trade corridors.

The intersection has seen a marked increase in traffic volume from communities south of the city, all of which are seeing rapid population growth. This growth is on special display this month, with the release of census information showing that the towns are continuing to boom.

Mayors Myron Dyck of Niverville and Chris Ewen of Ritchot have praised the provincial government for its decision, saying that the new interchange will increase safety at the busy intersection.

Funding for the overpass was planned to be covered out of the $500-million Manitoba Restart Program, an economic stimulus package to help restart Manitoba’s economy and ramp up construction in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The improvements to the St. Mary’s Road intersection are also part of the 2018 South Perimeter Highway Safety Plan. The stretch of highway used to include many uncontrolled access points and median openings which have been steadily removed, consolidating traffic to funnel into more secure intersections.

The plan is intended to work alongside other initiatives as part of a long-term South Perimeter Highway design study to eliminate all at-grade crossings from the Trans-Canada Highway West interchange at Portage Avenue to the Trans-Canada Highway East interchange at Fermor Avenue, replacing them with interchanges and overpasses.