Manitoba's Infrastructure Minister has announced significant improvements are coming to the intersection of St. Mary's Road and the South Perimeter Highway.

Ron Schuler says as part of the $500 million Manitoba Restart Program, the province is planning to construct a new interchange to improve safety and the flow of traffic at that intersection.

"As part of the Trans Canada Highway, the South Perimeter Highway is one of Manitoba's most important trade corridors and plays a strategic role as it also connects with PTH 75, our major route to the United States," says Schuler. "A new interchange will improve reliability and efficiency of Canada's international and inter-provincial trade flows and support the growth of our economy."

The South Perimeter Highway and St. Mary's Road is an at-grade intersection with traffic signals. The minister notes the intersection currently leads to high levels of traffic congestion during peak hours and has a high rate of vehicle collisions. According to Schuler, that intersection can see up to 52,000 vehicles per day, making it the second busiest intersection in the province. The only intersection that is busier is the one at Highway 59 and the North Perimeter Highway.

In 2018, the province developed a South Perimeter Highway Safety Plan, which included closing some uncontrolled access points and median openings. It also launched a long-term South Perimeter Highway design study to reconstruct the South Perimeter Highway to a freeway standard with no at-grade crossings from the Trans-Canada Highway West interchange at Portage Avenue to the Trans-Canada Highway East interchange at Fermor Avenue. Intersecting roadways and railways would be separated through interchanges and overpasses. According to Schuler, the province held public consultation and expects to complete its study this summer.

Schuler says design work of the interchange will begin this year, with construction expected to start next year and completion by 2023. He says once complete, this overpass will closely resemble the one at the South Perimeter Highway and Pembina Highway.

"This is really good news for St. Adolphe and Ste. Agathe and Niverville. A lot of people use St. Mary's to access the Perimeter and the trade corridors," says Schuler. "So this is going to be really good news for individuals. That intersection had become so unsafe."