Removal of south Sturgeon Road access on Perimeter Highway sparks concerns
The removal of uncontrolled intersections along the North Perimeter Highway is underway – but it's raising concerns in a rural municipality that fears the changes may lead to a delay in emergency response times in the community.
Frances Smee, the Reeve for the Rural Municipality of Rosser, said the province has removed the south access from the Perimeter Highway to Sturgeon Road, along with the median access.
She said this is an integral intersection for the community, and now that it is gone, drivers have to go on a detour to get to Sturgeon Road both north and south of the Perimeter.
Frances Smee, the Reeve for the Rural Municipality of Rosser, says with the removal of the south access from the Perimeter Highway to Sturgeon Road, drivers have to go on a detour to get to Sturgeon Road both north and south of the Perimeter. (Source: CTV News Winnipeg)
Smee said council's main concern is how this will impact emergency vehicles. She said the community already has issues with emergency vehicles not getting to where they need to be in a timely way.
"To add this kind of almost nonsensical restrictions – it really concerns us," she said.
"Everybody wants (the Perimeter Highway) to be safe. But if emergency vehicles cannot get where they need to be in a timely manner that is completely unsafe."
Smee said council is also concerned with large farming equipment now having to travel for longer distances on the Perimeter Highway rather than crossing at Sturgeon Road.
"They don't want to be travelling down these roads. They want to be crossing these roads, and they want to be crossing them safely," she said.
Manitoba Infrastructure Ron Schuler said his department has met with first responders both in Rosser and in Winnipeg, and said they are aware of the changes.
"There are all kinds of ways for them to access where they need to go into those residences," Schuler said. "We met multiple times with the fire department and with the paramedics and they're all aware and they've all signed off on this."
As for the farm equipment, Schuler said the province believes it is far more dangerous to have equipment crossing a centre median in an uncontrolled intersection.
Schuler said the plan is to remove all the uncontrolled intersections from the Perimeter Highway in the next five years, with the hope of giving the Perimeter a freeway status within the next 25 years.
'THERE'S NO SECRET IN THIS': MINISTER SAYS PROVINCE'S INTENTIONS HAVE BEEN CLEAR
Smee said while the rural municipality knew the median crossings were going to be removed, the removal of the south access to Sturgeon Road came as a shock.
She told CTV News the RM council had met with provincial engineers in the spring.
"We were assured at that meeting that it made no sense to close Sturgeon Road, and that wouldn't be closed," Smee told CTV News.
When asked to respond to this, Schuler said, "That becomes a ‘he-said-she-said’. No, it is our intention to remove them."
Schuler said the province has been clear with its intended plans for the North Perimeter.
"There's no secret in this. There are press releases, media conferences, correspondence back and forth," he said.
"We had indicated we were going to close the South (Sturgeon Road) crossing – so the right in, right out on Sturgeon. We made it very clear that the centre medians were all coming out."
He said the province did say it is going to keep the north access to Sturgeon Road open for the time being.
"We've assured individuals that before we take the North right in-right out on Sturgeon, that we will provide them (a paved) RTAC road," Schuler said.
'YOU CAN'T JUST CUT OFF FARMS AND BUSINESSES': RESIDENT WRITES LETTER TO SCHULER
Valerie Gough, who lives just north of the Perimeter Highway, wrote a letter to Manitoba Infrastructure Ron Schuler on Monday highlighting her concerns with the changes.
"No one's denying that there are safety improvements that can be done in the north Perimeter, but a road like Sturgeon is so vital for the community of Rosser," she said in an interview with CTV News.
"Everyone wants the Perimeter to be safe. But it has to be done in a way that makes sense for everybody. You can't just cut off farms and businesses, because you think it's safer and not deal with the consequences of those actions."
Gough said she would like to see the access put back on Sturgeon Road, along with the addition of turning and acceleration lanes.
Schuler said he recognizes the removal of these access roads is painful.
"There's upheaval, there's inconvenience, there's concern, and all of that is legitimate. We get it," he said.
"We will work with people on this. Nobody's shutting anybody down, but in the end, safety has to be our number one priority."
Smee said the RM of Rosser will keep working with the province.
"We intend to put it back on the table and talk about how we can make this work, make it most safe for people using the Perimeter Highway as well as all of our residents."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Angst and calls for resting places as Surrey, B.C., pet cemetery development continues
A single headstone is all that remains of dozens of markers for long-buried pets in a subdivision in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood, where a half-acre parcel bears a large sign announcing the proposed construction of new homes.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.