It was another summer of reduced speeds for those heading to cottage country down the Trans Canada Highway. Brett Wareham, Director of Regional Operations with Manitoba Infrastructure says they had a number of construction projects on the go.

Wareham says both sets of lanes were under construction from half a kilometre west of Highway 12 to the Brokenhead River, for shoulder paving and micro-surfacing. Crews there also fixed the drainage and slopes in the median lanes.

According to Wareham, that work is now largely complete. However, he says improvements are still needed at the Highway 12 interchange, though that will be done under another contract. According to Wareham, the pavement there needs to be reconstructed. It also needs reconstructing at the box culvert at Dufresne and the inter-municipal drain.

Another project that crews spent time on this summer was the shoulder grade widening along the westbound lanes between Provincial Road 308 and Highway 11. Wareham says they are getting that stretch ready for a paving job in future years. He notes there is still a little bit of work left to complete this year.

"That's where we get the proper slopes, fix the drainage, do the rock cuts to maintain clear zone requirements so anybody that goes off the road they are not going to run into a big rock outcrop," he explains.

Wareham says construction is wrapped up along eastbound Highway 1 between Highway 12 and Falcon Lake. The only portion of that stretch where the speed limit is reduced is near the Whitemouth River where westbound traffic is sharing the eastbound lanes because of a bridge replacement. Wareham says he anticipates that work wrapping up this fall.

According to Wareham, this summer has had perfect weather for highway construction. As mentioned, more work is expected in 2018. This could include paving the westbound lanes between Highway 11 and the Brokenhead River. Wareham says the pavement there is in poor condition and upgrades are part of their five-year capital program.