Perimeter Highway | Winnipeg

[vjose32]

Why reconstruct it? There's nothing wrong with it. Seems like a waste of money.

[bomberjet]

It's old and deteriorating. Anything that is not a concrete box girder on that bridge has rebar exposed and is rusting. The bridge is from the 60's I believe, dating back to the original construction.

The Province has been rehabbing and replacing all of the interchanges on the Perimeter. Might as well do this while the whole project is going on. It's one of the last to be rehabed. I think the only other one is the Inkster/101 overpass. That will be dealt with in the coming years with CentrePort.

And I'm not sure, but the alignment of Lag might be shifting to the west slightly. It was like that on some previous versions of the drawings I've seen. But I haven't really seen anything since the bid was awarded. They changed up some design elements.

[CoryB]

Roblin is currently undergoing a complete bridge rebuild. The eastbound span was fully replaced last year and judging by the staging that was left on site and the change in construction style I suspect that west bound span will follow once we are past flood season. The bridge is essentially on the banks of the Assiniboine.

I would also hope that an update for Wilkes is still on the books at some point. Pushing those exit/entry lanes more to the south with much extended merge lanes would do miracles for improving the overall safety of the overpass.

[bomberjet]

Likely have to wait until after election time for any specific announcements. I think they can say "we'll spend a billion dollars on infrastructure" but not say "we're going to be doing this specific project and this location".

We'll see what happens if the PC's get in. They want to spend on infrastructure, but reduce the PST. Somethings gotta give there.

[cslusarc]

Just to update the group, I've noticed that all the buildings that were on the expropriated properties on the Southwest corner of PTH 59N/101 (2206, 2220 & 2240 De Vries Avenue) have been either demolished or moved (yesterday the last remaining building was loaded onto a trailer) in preparation for the future realignment of De Vries Avenue to the west.

This is a sad month for my parents and I to see my childhood home moved, and my former neighbours' homes demolished.

[CoryB]

When I went past yesterday half the west bound span of the Roblin overpass was already removed and it looks like the shoring work on the east side of the ramp has begun.

[bomberjet]

So, with the election, we'll see over the next year or two how MIT's plans will change. I'm betting most work will be "put on hold" aka cancelled.

Pallister wants to spend money on infrastructure but lower taxes at the same time. PST is to be kept as is for the next few years, until election time comes. Most of the PST money, it seems, will go to make up for the shortfalls from tax reductions elsewhere.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

So, with the election, we'll see over the next year or two how MIT's plans will change. I'm betting most work will be "put on hold" aka cancelled.

What will make the cut? I'm assuming that the 59/101 is far enough along now that it won't have the plug pulled?

[bomberjet]

Ya 59/101 is too far gone by now. They should already have that money stored away.

But all the plans for CentrePort and St. Norbert bypasses, and the South Perimeter upgrades/interchanges, would be at the top of the list for holds. I guess if anything were to go through it would be the 100/2/3 interchange. I don't really know, or have any inside info on that end.

[CoryB]

I would actually guess that the Headingley bypass would be head of the 100/2/3 interchange mostly as we are talking mainly about an at-grade road through mostly undeveloped land over a complicated interchange design.

I think vote counts and who becomes minister will also factor into things.

[Biff]

It is anybody's guess what will happen but we will know more in 3 weeks when the PC's table their budget. My gut tells me the Headingley Bypass will proceed. Anything else who knows.

59/101 wont be an issue.

[CoryB]

If I had to guess beyond the 59/101 and Headingley bypass I would hazard a guess that the east-west corridor routes on the north of Winnipeg including Headingley bypass, CCW, CPT and the Oak Bank Corridor (HWY 15 replacement) most of the ridings that route would go through are pretty safe PC seats and they will want to reward people like the St Paul riding that almost always vote PC. But that is just a guess.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by CoryB

If I had to guess beyond the 59/101 and Headingley bypass I would hazard a guess that the east-west corridor routes on the north of Winnipeg including Headingley bypass, CCW, CPT and the Oak Bank Corridor (HWY 15 replacement) most of the ridings that route would go through are pretty safe PC seats and they will want to reward people like the St Paul riding that almost always vote PC. But that is just a guess.

I can't imagine the PCs cutting highway projects. That's usually their thing. Perhaps they would move some of the activity out of the Winnipeg area out to rural regions that need better roads.

[jmt18325]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I can't imagine the PCs cutting highway projects. That's usually their thing. Perhaps they would move some of the activity out of the Winnipeg area out to rural regions that need better roads.

Rural areas have seen huge investment in terms of highways. The PCs have promised an additional $50M per year for highway infrastructure. That could do a lot of good is if it went to provincial roads in rural areas. While the highways have steadily gotten better in the last decade, the roads have continually gotten worse. The average age of AST (the thin membrane gravely pavement) roads in Manitoba is 35 years, and almost all gravel provincial roads are in poor condition.

[bomberjet]

Does anyone know to what depth the Headingley Bypass or even the south Perimeter design has progressed. There have been zero open houses, so I'm guessing not very far.

[Biff]

There have been no open houses for the South Perimeter. The Headingley bypass had an open house spring last year. They are currently working on property acquisition. There are a couple sticking points in that respect. Once everything is secured the design will proceed further.

[bomberjet]

That's right, they had 3 options for the connection to the Trans-Canada. Thanks Biff.

So it would seem if anything was to go ahead, that would be it. Even then, they could just sit on the property.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I can't imagine the PCs cutting highway projects. That's usually their thing. Perhaps they would move some of the activity out of the Winnipeg area out to rural regions that need better roads.

Pallister committed to capping infrastructure at $1B per year... I'm not sure exactly what the NDP was spending but presumably it was more than that, so something will have to give.

I'm expecting that there will be more or less a moratorium on new highway project announcements for the next few years... the question, to my mind, is how many of the projects that have been announced will actually get the green light?

59/101 is already well in hand, and it sounds like the Headingly Bypass is pretty much a given. But beyond that it's a little iffy. The badly needed 2/3/100 diamond was announced a while back but little has been heard about it since... I wonder if that's going ahead? I wouldn't be surprised to see the more ambitious projects like the express route to Selkirk, the Oakbank Corridor and possibly the St. Norbert bypass get put up on a shelf for a while until the fiscal picture stabilizes a bit.

[bomberjet]

I'll bet the Selkirk thing never happens and is low on the priority list. Oakbank maybe one notch above that. If anything were to go ahead after CCW west, IMO, it would be some of the south Perimeter stuff. Probably 100/2/3. Moving eastward from these.

[CoryB]

Springfield, which includes Oak Bank, tends to be an extremely secure PC riding having never swung to the NDP in their time in office. The Oak Bank corridor was actually a very publicly discussed project pre-NDP including public consultations on possible routes. It is also being proposed to address the significant safety issues which come from the high traffic volume on the two lane HWY 15 which it will heavily replace. It would not be surprising to see this project gain significant traction under a PC government as a reward to that area for long supporting the party.

Depending on what the PCs want to accomplish they could also invest into the southwest Perimeter which have been more of swing ridings in the past. That could include the 100/2/3 diamond, the additional lanes and even the St Norbert bypass.

I would also suspect the strength of the trucking lobbying will factor into which routes are done if they have influence with the PCs.