Quote:
Originally Posted by Spocket
I know the province had plans to build a new twinned highway out to Oakbank and I've heard tell that it's abandoned them. I honestly doubt that the entire concept is dashed because traffic is increasing and the current highways are woefully inadequate.
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The Oakbank highway is
not a "new" highway but rather a relocation/twining on HWY 15 from approximately the Perimeter to 206 (aka the north/south road through Oakbank, Dugald and Lorette). Due to the existing HWY 15 having minimal clearance on the CN main line expanding to the north is not a viable choice. Also the south side is significantly built up with no reserved right of way for expansion. Add in that HWY 15 features prominently on the most dangerous rail crossings list when it gets published for a variety of reasons. All these factors combined to make a relocation about 3-6 km to the north make a lot of sense, especially since the route could be found through primarily agricultural land with low exportation costs.
As for why the needed highway project died and why it could come back to life under Pallister is heavily tied into politics. The Oakbank area is as "blue" as you can get and would be the textbook definition of a "safe seat" for the Conservatives. Provincially I cannot find a record of them having ever voted for anything else. So when the 99 flood happened and spending got pulled from everywhere this highway project was iced. As the area isn't one that the NDP would benefit from when spending started back up it was never a priority, for mostly political reasons. With Pallister starting up highway spending I would imagine this gets back on the list as the third leg of the Winnipeg region highway expansion along with the St Norbert and Headingley by-passes. The side effect of these could be some true pressure on Winnipeg to get moving on building/improving its
long purposed inner ring road, an idea that dates back to the original Perimeter days.
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