The Manitoba government is working to upgrade the highway network system in the province.

The government is committing $2.4 billion in infrastructure funding as part of Budget 2022, with more than $1.5 billion going toward a three-year plan focused on Manitoba’s highway network, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk announced today.

“Our government recognizes targeted investments in roadways and bridges are foundational to our economic growth and the quality of life for all Manitobans,” said Piwniuk. “Advancing our highway network will enable market access for international, inter-provincial and regional movement of goods, and will position our province to become a national transportation hub.”

The three-year plan to invest $1.5 billion is an approved budget and has an annual commitment of at least $500 million focused on highway capital. The minister noted the province plans to invest nearly $233 million in projects identified in the trade and commerce strategy, and had outlined a number of Perimeter Highway projects totalling over $346 million over the next three years.

A key initiative includes: The Manitoba Trade and Commerce Grid to upgrade provincial highway networks to allow heavier loads on provincial highways to support the shipments of goods and services across markets. Once completed, the grid of strategic routes would represent 36.5 per cent (7,112 kilometres) of Manitoba’s all-weather provincial road network, with 6,000 km of the grid already completed. The three-year plan will also include projects on Provincial Trunk Highway (PTH) 5, 21, 59 and 83.

“We are going to be a transportation hub and we need to invest. Our trucking industry in expanding and if you talk to anyone in the industry they are looking for new truckers all the time just to keep up with replacing retirees and how the industry is growing.”

“The trade grid impacts areas across the province and we want to make sure they wont be road restrictions at anytime of the year. In the southwest we’re looking Highways 10, 21, 83, 5, 244 and 305. Then we’ll look at Highway 1, 2, 3 and 16 in the east -west corridors.”