Improvements to Provincial Road 280 near Split Lake as well as surfacing of Provincial Road 373 from Minago River to Whiskey Jack are among $502 million of planned provincial spending on highways in the 2017-18 construction season.
Other projects planned for Northern Manitoba highways include paving 17.6 kilometres of Highway 10 from The Pas to Provincial Road 287 as well as other projects that have already been tendered or begun construction, including paying 17 kilometres of Highway 10 from the Flin Flon airport access to the east junction of Highway 10A, and paving of 22.7 kilometres of Highway 6 from north of Woodlands to St. Laurent, which is being cost-shared with the federal government.
“Manitoba‘s new government is showing a strong commitment to provincial infrastructure with $502 million in planned investments for 2017-18 and a commitment of $500 million per year over each of the following four years,” said Infrastructure Minister Blaine Pederson in a Nov. 18 news release. “This stable, predictable, five-year funding allows industry the time to plan and invest both in the coming year and beyond.”
NDP MLA Jim Maloway says the government is spending $126 million less than the previous government did in 2015-16 and not even as much as the $540 million it had budgeted earlier this year.
“We invested $628 million in 2015-16 in roads and bridges,” Maloway said. “Today, the province admitted it is cutting that by 20 per cent next year. Rather than admitting it is cutting investments, the government today portrayed this cut as a ‘strong commitment to infrastructure.’ It is nothing of the sort. The federal government has promised millions more for infrastructure, which means now is the time to increase investments in Manitoba’s roads and bridges, not cut them.”
The provincial government says releasing the list of tenders early gives construction companies time to prepare for the season and that the work completed in 2017-18 can create about 5,000 jobs and contribute $400 million to Manitoba’s GDP.
