Construction concerns raised over Lagimodiere overpass

A Winnipeg city councillor believes the city did not due enough to prevent traffic congestion during a two-year construction project. CTV’s Jeff Keele reports.

A Winnipeg city councillor says the city did not do enough to prevent congestion around a major bridge project.

Drivers are forced to slow down on the Lagimodiere overpass. Traffic is at one lane in each direction on the bridge over Concordia Avenue because of the construction.

Many say they’re avoiding it altogether.

“It’s a mess,” said a driver. “It took me forever to get home one day, so I bypass it.”

“It seems to be quite slow these days, so I try to reroute around it as much as possible,” said another driver.

Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) said that’s causing congestion on those other routes.

“You’re going to have two-lane roadways fully congested; they were already busy before,” Wyatt said. “We have a hospital that is waiting for all of Molson (Street) to be twinned.”

The project is expected to take two years, with delays expected during construction, including a six-to-eight-week period where interchange ramps will be closed for pavement repairs.

Wyatt is pushing a motion through City Hall, calling for portions of Concordia Avenue and Molson Street to be twinned as soon as possible to curb congestion on those roads.

He said this should have been done before the project began.

“It’s really a sad thing to see that this is happening, and it’s once again poor planning by the public works department,” Wyatt said.

In a statement, a city spokesperson told CTV News they are keeping an eye on traffic impacts.

“We monitor traffic in the area and have not observed significant delays since the lane reduction was put in place,” reads the statement.

“More information on the project can be found online, and we will continue to communicate updates on the project to the public as it progresses and access points change.”

The repairs are needed to add 50 more years to the bridge’s lifespan, at a cost of $51 million.

However, not everyone agrees more should be spent to twin the alternate routes. At a community committee meeting on Jan. 7, where Wyatt’s motion passed its first hurdle, Coun. Emma Durand-Wood (Elmwood-East Kildonan) voted against it, saying she is not in favour of any road widenings at all.

“It’s pretty clear the city is struggling to keep up with its existing roads, so I will not be in favour of having any additional lanes,” Durand-Wood said.