Government spending $164 million on Winnipeg road repairs this summer, most to date

There are roughly 200 different street construction areas around the city of Winnipeg, temporarily blocking a few major routes. 

"There are several big ones we're working on," says Michelle Stainton, Project Engineer with Public Works. "The Jubilee reconstruction is two years that we're starting this year. It's definitely noticed as is the one on Stafford and we're doing that over two years as well. Nairn Avenue is a big one as well."

According to Stainton, these projects had been decided upon last year already as a lot of planning is involved to do a complete reconstruction of the roadway. 

"Our work takes at least a year of planning ahead. These are growing needs that Winnipeg has had for a while. All the layers you see going in, each one of them has a purpose to support the pavement above. When we're digging, we go down to the natural clay and preparing that properly and then building up in layers, which is why it takes a long time."

Other areas have superficial construction done to them, to extend the life of the pavement. 

"When we are starting over on a roadway, we're looking to get 50 years with proper maintenance along the way. With a rehabilitation, with enough concrete work, we're looking to get 15-20 more years."

Stainton says that Bishop Grandin is one of the major routes that will be rehabilitated, but not this year. 

"Fixing Winnipeg’s roads has been a priority during my time in office and next year, we’ll reach over $1 billion in investments in road repairs since 2014," says Mayor Brian Bowman in a news release. "The work of Dr. Ahmed Shalaby, the University of Manitoba’s Municipal Infrastructure Research Chair, has also improved pavement service life by up to 15%, which reduces the frequency of maintenance and rehabilitation. Roads represent Winnipeg's largest infrastructure asset. The City has made significant progress in fixing and improving how they are built after decades of neglect."

Some projects have their own webpage, including project timeline and detours to take, for the Jubilee and Stafford projects. Winnipeggers can also download the WAZE app which helps people navigate their drive.