Ste. Anne Mayor gives an update on improving Highway 12 and PR 210 intersection

The mayor of Ste. Anne took some time during Wednesday’s council meeting to provide an update on plans to improve the intersection of highways 12 and 210, on the outskirts of town. 

Yvan St. Vincent noted another meeting was held on Wednesday with the town, the Rural Municipality of Ste. Anne, and Dawson Trail MLA Bob Lagasse. 

“We also had folks there from Manitoba Transportation, who shared with us that they've done a study, an extensive study of the area to look at what are the maybe contributing factors to some of the accidents that are taking place there and maybe some of the things that they could do to mitigate that.” 

Some improvements have already been made with rumble strips and signage to alert motorists of the upcoming intersection, he added, and acceleration lanes created. 

St. Vincent mentioned that the study confirmed there are problems with the design of the intersection that result in congestion. It was also noted that there is an issue with the angle at which the two highways meet. 

“Because it's not a perfect 90-degree angle, that skews the vision a little bit when crossing,” he said. “So, they recognize all those things that many of us who live around here see." 

There will now be some stakeholder meetings with councils and with residents and the public to get some input, St. Vincent reported. 

“And then, my understanding is that once that’s all done, they’re going to come back to councils and the public with some recommendations, two or three, about what could be changed or done at the intersection to make it safer and better.” 

St. Vincent expects those recommendations will be made early in 2024, with physical changes to begin shortly after a decision is made. 

He told council that the timeline will depend on the type of work that needs to be done. For example, if the province needs to purchase land to carry out some of the work, that could delay the project a bit. 

“What they said today which was crystal clear and I would support that, is that we'd rather have this done right, and properly, and once,” St. Vincent said. “And then everyone's safe instead of just some quick fixes that maybe could create some other problems.” 

He added that MLA Bob Lagasse has assured them that money is in the budget and set aside to pay for the necessary work to improve this intersection.

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