In its recently released budget, the Province committed $1.5 billion for a three-year highways strategy that invests in infrastructure across the province and Premier Heather Stefanson and Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk were in Dauphin yesterday to announce how the City fits into those plans.

Specifically, Stefanson announced the $13.5 million redevelopment of Main Street South has been fast tracked and will be completed this year.

“Manitobans have told us they want safe roads and reliable infrastructure and we are listening and we are acting,” Stefanson said. “Collaboration with the City of Dauphin over the past several years has been instrumental in realizing this project. Resurfacing and dividing the road along with upgrading service roads and installing traffic signals will ensure that Dauphin can continue to expand its economic activity and host future celebrations which we look forward to attending in person.
“We are excited for this important work to begin this year.”

PTH 5A serves as the main access into the City of Dauphin from the south. Expanded commercial development along the route has resulted in increased traffic volumes and higher collision rates. Improvements and restorations to the road will benefit the community and the region by enhancing safety and traffic flows along the high-volume, main thoroughfare that is an integral trade route to economic development in the area, Stefanson said. The 1.7-km project covers a section of PTH 5A from Whitmore Ave., south to Triangle Road, and includes surface reconstruction with the creation of a divided highway. The plans call to improve safety in the commercial area by having all local accesses connect to service roads, and service roads connecting to PTH 5A at upgraded intersections. Those service roads will be constructed along both the east and west sides of highway from their existing points south to Triangle Road.

As well, a new intersection allowing access to Dauphin Market Place Mall will be developed, complete with traffic signals.

“Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure has been working in collaboration with the City of Dauphin and its officials for several years to finalize the design concept and details to ensure the project meets the needs of the community,” Piwniuk said, adding the $1.5 billion for highways was part of an overall $2.4 billion in infrastructure funding announced in the budget. “We look forward to strengthening our partnerships with communities across the province by investing in long-term strategic goals to build the foundation of Manitoba’s economic growth through trade and commerce infrastructure.”

With the work originally being slated for 2023, Piwniuk said the province found itself in a position to be able to move the Dauphin project up the schedule and jumped at the opportunity.

“In our infrastructure investing we want to make sure we do it right across the province. And so we moved it up to make sure the work gets done now that we have a larger budget to work with,” he said. “We have a 10-year plan and we want to make sure we can move this project forward.”

For mayor Christian Laughland, having the project completed a year early just means all the benefits will be enjoyed sooner.

“This is great and exciting news for our city. The improvements made to PTH 5A will help improve the flow of traffic in the south end and make things safer for not only pedestrians who work in the area, but drivers going to and from our local businesses,” Laughland said. “We also look forward to the impact these changes have when it comes to economic development in our community.”

Those benefits are extremely important for the community and will help drive economic success well into the future, Dauphin MLA Brad Michaleski added.

“This is a project that is important for Dauphin and it has been on the radar for a long time to get done,” Michaleski said. “We appreciate the premier and minister Piwniuk for attending here today.”

The province will advertise the tender for the project by the end of May. The work is anticipated to be completed before 2023, in advance of Dauphin serving as host community for the 2024 Manitoba Summer Games.