It appears traffic signals will be going up along Highway 12 at Blumenort.

Roger Harder is Chair of the Local Urban District committee for that community. He says in fall they made a request to Manitoba Infrastructure (MI) for improvements at that intersection, including traffic signals and acceleration lanes. This week, MI sat down with the LUD committee and staff of the Rural Municipality of Hanover, confirming the need for signals.

"I think they also realized that this intersection wasn't working and traffic wasn't smooth," suggests Harder. "Also, from a safety perspective there was some safety concerns."

MI has confirmed traffic signals are warranted due to their policies and criteria that look at traffic volume and crossing delays.

The next step is for the Blumenort LUD committee to make an official resolution, something expected to happen next Wednesday. Harder says the resolution will then go to Hanover council and then to MI. Once MI receives the letter and resolution from the RM of Hanover, it will be added to their regional capital improvements list. The list is subject to provincial approval. MI has indicated it hopes to have the lights installed within two years.

Harder says this project will be funded entirely by the province.

"This also is very exciting for us," he says.

According to Harder, MI will decide whether it is just traffic signals needed or if additional safety improvements are required there. He is uncertain how much this whole project could eventually cost the province.

"I'm very excited," says Harder. "To have traffic flow here smoothly and to avoid the congestion and some of the situations we've been running into, and also to allow heavy trucks, highway tractors and also farm tractors and other equipment to run through there smoothly, we're actually very excited about this."

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Blumenort Pushing For Intersection Improvements