Except for local traffic, a portion of Highway 75 is now closed to both commercial and passenger traffic as Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure prepares for flood levels closer to a 2009 event, or possibly higher in some parts of the region.

Continued flooding in southern Manitoba has closed down a piece of Highway 75 and Morris is now blocked on three sides. Surrounded by floodwaters, detours are causing headaches for those in the area as well as truckers that use the route on a regular basis. It’s added an extra 165 kilometers to the trip many trucks use when crossing the border at Emerson.

Travel restrictions on Highway 75 due to dike closures at Morris:
Highway 75- from PR 205 to Morris, closed (local traffic only).
Highway 75 - from Morris to Highway 14, closed (local traffic only). Alternate route detour: Highway 3 through Carman to Highway 14 through Winkler to Highway 75.

Travel restrictions on Highway 23 due to flooding:
Highway 23 - from the west side of Morris to PR 422, is now closed. This closure is due to dike construction, and water on the road.

According to the province's latest flood report issued Monday afternoon, following this weekend’s precipitation, forecasted peak levels on the Red River from Emerson to the Red River Floodway inlet are expected to peak at levels similar to 2009 during the second week of May.

For the latest road reports, click here.

Meanwhile, there are numerous closures in the R.M.'s of Morris and Montcalm and rising waters continue to impact rural roads.

For the latest R.M. of Montcalm closures click here. As of Tuesday morning, there were more than three dozen closures within the municipality.

For the latest R.M. of Morris closures click here. As of Tuesday morning, there were nearly three dozen closures within the municipality.

Further west, gravel roads in the Municipality of Rhineland, R.M. of Stanley, R.M. of Thompson and R.M. of Dufferin are showing the after-effects of overland flooding throughout the region over the past two weekends. Officials continue to urge caution when traveling on rural roads, and not to remove or pass barricades that have been put in place for the public's safety.

An inundation map for a portion of the Red River basin has been prepared by the Strategic Policy and Results Sector of Natural Resources Canada using data collected by the Canadian RCM-3 Earth observation satellite. This map is shown as Figure 2 below and shows inundated areas as of Sunday evening, May 1.

red river flood map

Meanwhile, as of Monday afternoon, Provincial crews were deployed in several communities in the Red River Valley preparing for and implementing ring dike closures, as required. Dike closures are in place at the following locations:
- A partial closure of the Emerson dike at Noyes, which does not affect traffic. A rail closure on the CN rail line is being implemented today.
- A dike closure at West Lynn.
- A partial closure of the dike at the railway near PTH 23 west is underway at Morris, The south CN tracks on southbound PTH 75 will be removed Tuesday morning.
- A partial dike closure on PTH 3 and a railway closure at Brunkild.
- A dike closure on PR 200 at the north end of St. Adolphe is in place. A dike closure at PR 210 east of St. Adolphe will be implemented Monday.
- A dike closure at St. Jean Baptiste does not affect traffic.
- The east dike closure in Ste. Agathe is currently being built. This closure won’t affect traffic on PR 305.