Highway 227 Being Upgaded

This July will see part of Highway 227 in the RM of Portage la Prairie receiving some upgrades from Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation.

It's about an 8-mile stretch west of Oakland.

Reeve Kam Blight says it's good news for the municipality.

"Any time we see some of our highways and roads getting improved, it's always a positive for our municipality," he says, "This is going to help with a certain "S" curve that's in that road -- that's going to eliminate that, straighten it out a little bit. They're going to deepen the ditches, and raise the road slightly, so this all should be a huge positive for that area. It should make for better driving conditions in the summer and winter times."

Blight stresses the road will remain open while the work's ongoing.

"However, it'll be narrowed down to a reduced size," he says, "So that brought forward some concerns for us about heavier equipment, or wider equipment, so we're going to have to probably take a look at our existing roads that feed off of that, and look at some re-routng options and possibilities going forward."

Blight outlines what will happen.

"We're going to do a bit of an assessment of exactly what routes might be in the best interest for people to use," he says, "I think for the most part, our roads are in pretty good condition in that area, and can handle this diverted traffic, if necessary. I think, after speaking with the councillor in that area, that we should be okay, but we just want to make sure that we are prepared, going forward."