[rrskylar]

The Manitoba government is one step closer to satisfying your need for speed.

Engineers have given the go-ahead for traffic to begin flowing at 2 p.m. today along the newly twinned portion of the Trans-Canada Highway all the way to the Saskatchewan border. The new section had been under construction for at least the last two years. It was one of the last barriers before the speed limit on the Trans-Canada almost right across the province is hiked to 110 kilometres per hour from the current 100 km/h, says Infrastructure Minister Ron Lemieux.

“That is something we’re going to do,” Lemieux said.

He said all he’s waiting for is a recommendation from the Highway Traffic Board on how to implement the speed increase, including dealing with intersections.

Twinning the highway to the Saskatchewan border was a 2003 NDP election promise. The project cost $32.8 million and the province footed 80 per cent of the bill. Ottawa picked up the rest.

The newly twinned stretch is 34 kilometres long and means the Trans-Canada is now four lanes wide and divided almost right across the province.

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A 16-kilometre stretch from Falcon Lake to the Ontario border is the only remaining portion that is a single-lane, undivided highway.

Lemieux said a divided four-lane highway is safer but he said drivers still need to exercise caution and not be lulled into thinking the road is so safe they can drive at excessive speeds.

“This isn’t the Indianapolis 500,” he said. “Accidents are not caused just by roads not being four lanes.”

The province has been criticized for not opening up portions of the newly twinned highway as they were completed. More than 11 kilometres of the twinned section has been done for more than a year and a half but hasn’t been opened.

Lemieux said engineers recommended against opening it in stages for safety reasons, which drew opposition scoffs.

Infrastructure critic Larry Maguire said leaving people to drive on the single-lane undivided highway for longer than necessary was unsafe. Two people were killed in crashes on that 11 kilometres in the last year.

Both crashes occurred when cars were passing on the undivided highway and hit oncoming traffic head-on.

Maguire said he is happy the road is finally opening, but said it took far too long.
He said the province should immediately look at twinning the remainder of the Trans-Canada all the way to the Ontario border.

Lemieux said his department is looking at how much it would cost to twin that section.

“It is going to be very pricey,” Lemieux said, noting it would require blasting through rocks and dealing with the numerous lakes in the area, many of which almost lap up against the existing highway.

He said there have been no decisions on whether Manitoba will twin the highway right to the Ontario border, but added he would like to see it twinned eventually, if possible.

The Highway Traffic Board is also looking at whether the speed limit should be raised to 110 km/h on Highway 75 and the south Perimeter Highway.

The speed limit on the Trans-Canada through much of Alberta has been 110 km/h for more than two decades.

Saskatchewan boosted the speed limited on all four-lane highways in that province, including the Trans-Canada, in 2003. In 2004, Saskatchewan reported no change in safety statistics.

There are 25 kilometres of the Trans-Canada in Saskatchewan not yet twinned. Construction on that section, between Moosomin and Wapella, is underway but will not be completed this year.