On a given day, hundreds of vehicles use Provincial Highway 8. To help traffic flow, the province announced in 2025 it would build several passing lanes between Gimli and Winnipeg. Now, Interlake residents are concerned the roadwork, which was supposed to be completed this fall, isn’t done. “I was hoping it would solve some of the near misses… because there are people driving slow and the passing lanes would even all that out,” said Pat Morrow, a mechanic for Maxim Truck & Trailer. “There really hasn’t been much going on for the last couple of months.” Morrow lives in Gimli and says he drives Highway 8 five days a week to and from work in Winnipeg. He said the drive has gotten slower and more dangerous because every passing lane segment still needs work. Now, his big concern is what the highway will look like come winter. “It’ll be a hazard all winter if we don’t have clearly marked and proper shoulders,” Morrow said. “I think there’s going to be an additional cost to this, as they’ve got to build all the shoulders if that’s what they are going to do.” “There’s a dropoff of at least a foot in some cases two and a half feet right off the pavement, so your vehicle is within inches, and only a little row of plastic pylons between you and this dropoff,” said Ron Scott who lives in Aspen Park right outside of Gimli. Scott lives just off Highway 8 and used to drive it multiple times a week. He told CTV News he has been avoiding it altogether since the roadwork began in the spring and says the province shouldn’t have tried to build all these passing lanes at once. “We should do one or two sets completely finish them, then if the season has allowed it, do more,” Scott said on Tuesday. A provincial spokesperson says the schedule for the passing lane project on Highway 8 was affected by significant spring flooding. The spokesperson says nearly three-quarters of the project has been finished to date. The department adds that if the weather permits, the project may still be completed this year. If not, paving will start next spring. Drivers in the area hope it will be finished and not left in its current state. “There’s a lot of dangerous spots especially with winter coming on,” said Michelle Peach, manager of Park Place Meats & Grocery in Winnipeg Beach. “The government needs to step in and get it done.” “We have five months of winter driving,” Scott said. “I don’t know how other than filling all of those dropoffs that it’s going to be feasible or safe at all.”
