Manitoba spends $6.1M to reconstruct portion of Highway 11 in Powerview-Pine Falls

A stretch of Manitoba's Highway 11 that municipal officials say has been "in very rough shape" for more than a decade is receiving $6.1 million in provincial funding for a highway reconstruction project. 

"The highway's in very rough shape. The shoulders on it are gravel shoulders with potholes," says Les Barclay, the mayor of Powerview-Pine Falls, located about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg near the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg. 

"It's in the condition that it definitely needs it."

The project involves rebuilding a 1.7-kilometre section of Highway 11 from Highway 304 westward, a Manitoba government release issued Monday says. That location includes a stretch of highway passing through Powerview-Pine Falls.

The planned work will add curbing, catch basins to contain water and culverts to redirect flow into the Winnipeg River. Open ditches will be filled and paved to create sidewalks, which Barclay says will improve road safety for local pedestrians, drivers and residents. 

He says this project has been on the books for more than a decade, with multiple provincial governments passing it down the line over the years. 

The work is expected to begin this summer. 

"We're excited to get this stretch of highway done," Barclay says, thanking the province and Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor for putting the project in gear.

"The town, the mayor and council are very pleased with getting the work done and we look forward to it starting in June." 

This new price tag, however, is 52 per cent higher than the $4-million cost estimate included in the transportation ministry's 2024-25 multi-year investment strategy. 

On Monday afternoon, a provincial spokesperson told CBC that the project costs listed in the strategy were "preliminary estimates," which can change after the design and tendering processes are complete.