Bumpy negotiations could cause delay for Perimeter Highway interchange project

Winnipeg -

An interchange project planned for St. Mary’s Road and the Perimeter Highway has hit a speed bump.

Negotiations between the city and province over land needed for the project may have caused a short delay for the project.

According to a city report, the province needs 94 acres of city-owned land to build the interchange.

The two sides have been unable to come to a sale agreement, so the matter is going through the expropriation process.

In the meantime, city council voted to allow access to the property to start construction.

Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler said the process has delayed things by a month or two.

“This is a bridge predominately for the City of Winnipeg, to give the City of Winnipeg a route around the city that’s safe and freeway-status, and we need the city to be a part of that because some of the land does belong to them,” Schuler said.

Schuler added he hopes to announce something in early November.

In 2020, Manitoba released the South Perimeter Highway Design Study, which involves two stages of changes to the highway. The first stage includes upgrading the highway to a four-lane divided freeway and improving the highway, interchanges, and bridges. The second stage involves upgrading the Perimeter to a six-lane divided freeway, reconfiguring the existing highway, and building new interchanges.

- With files from Kayla Rosen