The Province of Manitoba is about to undertake an extensive round of highways repairs, spending $150 million to resurface more than 240 kilometres of roadway. The announcement was made on Monday afternoon.
For residents of the southeast, the highway most affected by upcoming construction will be the southerly portions of Highway 59. Repairs will be made from Highway 52 all the way south to the U.S. border, a stretch of more than 60 kilometres.
Travellers to and from communities like St. Pierre-Jolys and St. Malo could see delays in the coming months.
“Our government is committed to improving Manitoba’s transportation infrastructure to ensure the safe and reliable flow of both people and goods,” says Ron Schuler, Minister of Infrastructure. “Investing in our highways supports economic growth and will have a positive impact on the province for years to come.”
Other areas targeted for roadwork include stretches of the TransCanada Highway near Virden, near Brandon, and near Headingly. Lengthy sections of Highway 23 west of Morris will also be affected.
Schuler has identified the TransCanada and Highway 59 routes as being important for trade and tourism. The repairs to Highway 23 are largely the result of damage that occurred in the spring.
Some of the planned projects involve reconstruction, which includes grading or grade widening, removing the existing surface, restoring the road base, and resurfacing multilayered pavement. Work also includes major rehabilitation that involves a multilayer pavement overlay to restore the pavement surface condition, extend pavement life and increase loading capacity. Other projects will involve single layer pavement overlays to improve pavement surface condition and extend pavement life.
Schuler adds that some of the work is set to begin in August.
These projects are being funded by the $500 million Manitoba Restart Program, an economic stimulus package announced in May to help restart Manitoba’s economy and ramp up construction as the province moves forward through the COVID-19 pandemic. The province will announce further projects funded under the Manitoba Restart Program in the coming weeks.