February 10, 2014
Manitoba Government Fully Upgrading Trans-Canada Highway from Winnipeg to Saskatchewan Border
– – –Work will Provide Unprecedented Access to North American Trade Routes Today and for Generations: Minister Ashton
The Manitoba government will make the largest-ever investment in the Trans-Canada Highway since its construction with a series of projects worth $213 million that include fully paved shoulders, rumble strips, resurfacing, intersection improvements and new bridges from Winnipeg to the Saskatchewan boundary, Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton announced today.
The announcement builds on a $110-million series of projects to improve the Trans-Canada Highway from Winnipeg east to the Ontario boundary announced late last year.
“The Trans-Canada Highway connects Manitoba to markets across the continent,” said Minister Ashton. “This work, along with major improvements to the southwest Perimeter Highway, PTH 75 and the completion of CentrePort Canada Way (PTH 190), will provide our wholesalers, manufacturers, contractors and farmers unprecedented access to North American trade routes today and for generations.”
The upgrades are expected to create the equivalent of one year of work for 2,400 people, he added.
Projects on the Trans-Canada Highway west expected to begin this summer include:
- 14.8 kilometres of paving of the westbound lanes including paving shoulders and adding rumble strips from east of the east junction of PTH 1A to PTH 13;
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seven km of paving of the eastbound lanes including shoulders from 1.4 km west of PTH 16 to
7.1 km east of PTH 16; - 27.4 km of microsurfacing from PR 351 to PTH 34 (microsurfacing is a pavement preservation technique that uses a thin asphalt mixture applied to an existing paved surface to improve the riding surface, fill wheel ruts and protect the pavement surface from the environmental effects of the sun and water);
- five km of microsurfacing of the eastbound lanes from the east junction of PTH 10 to five km east of the east junction of PTH 10;
- 6.2 km of microsurfacing of the eastbound lanes from 0.1 km west of PR 270 to the west junction of PTH 10;
- 16.1 km of high-performance chip seals of the eastbound lanes from 13.2 km east of PTH 41 to PTH 83 with five two-km tests sites (chip seals are a cost-effective pavement preservation treatment where oil and crushed gravel are applied to an existing pavement, waterproofing the surface and reducing deterioration and cracking); and
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21.9 km of paving of the westbound lanes from 1.6 km west of the east junction of PR 254 to
PR 678 (King Street in Virden).
“The remaining projects will be completed by 2020 as part of a multi-year plan that would not be possible without devoting all of the new revenue from the one-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax increase to building Manitoba’s core infrastructure including provincial highways and bridges,” said Minister Ashton.
The remaining projects include:
- intersection improvements between the Headingley scales and PR 334;
- intersection improvements between Camp Manitou Road and the John Blumberg Golf Course;
- six km of paving of the east and westbound lanes including shoulders from PTH 26 to Gaol Road;
- 16 km of paving of the east and westbound lanes including shoulders from PR 248 to PTH 26;
- 18.8 km of paving of the east and westbound lanes including shoulders from PTH 13 to PR 248;
- structure rehabilitation on the westbound lanes at Assiniboine River, 0.8 km west of PTH 26;
- structure replacement on the westbound lanes at LaSalle River, one km west of PTH 13;
- structure replacement on PTH 1A the Portage la Prairie Bypass, 7.6 km east of PR 305;
- structure rehabilitation on the eastbound lanes at Portage la Prairie Diversion;
- 35 km of paving of the east and westbound lanes from PTH 16 to one km west of PTH 34; and
- 1.2 km of gravel road restoration of the North Side Service Road in Brandon from 1.2 km west of PTH 10 to PTH 10.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ATTACHED
Backgrounder
Winnipeg to SK Border Upgrades - https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/newslinks/2014/Winnipeg_to_Sask_Border_Upgrades.IT.doc