Pop go the wagons in Southern Manitoba

WINNIPEG — Record-setting temperatures in southern Manitoba this wwinter, accompanied by awkward thaw and freeze cycles, played havoc with provincial highways the first quarter of the year — to the point where stretches of Highway 75 from Winnipeg to the American border may have tricked drivers into thinking they’re riding on train tracks.

The bumpy drive shook up a lot of truckers’ kidneys and led many on a search for an alternative path, even on slightly longer routes. “Some of our drivers were reluctant to go down Highway 75,” says Greg Arndt of Winnipeg-based Jade Transport Ltd. “They were going around the highway as much as they could even if it meant driving 15 or 20 minutes more to reach the border.”

The Trans-Canada from Winnipeg to the Ontario border had just as rough of a winter, but truckers taking a beating on their trek out east found there were far less options.

“All our drivers could do there was reduce speed and suck it up. I’ve heard a lot of complaints,” Arndt said.

Greg Arndt of Jade Transport says his drivers were taking
20-minute detours to avoid Hwy 75 earlier this year

Bob Dolyniuk, the Manitoba Trucking Association’s general manager, says he’s heard of loads falling off flatbeds and parts breaking loose off rattled trucks traveling on those two roadways. “People driving on Highway 75 were driving half on the shoulder to try to avoid the bumps,” he says.

Much of the blame for the crumbling roads was pegged on “frost boils” affecting older concrete with an asphalt overlay. Freezing and thawing pushed up ridges across those parts of the highway, explains Lance Vigfusson, the Manitoba Department of Highway’s manager of transportation services.

Dolyniuk says that the frost boils simply exaggerate what are already deteriorated roads. “Highways 75 and 1 east of Winnipeg have been problems for quite a while,” he says. Dolyniuk blames the sad state of the highways on the absence of sustainable funding for highway maintenance and repair.

Peter Nelson of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association resides in a region where roads, especially in southwestern Nova Scotia, have also been badly battered this year.

Not only is Nova Scotia’s highway network plagued with potholes and cracks, but traveling in general is made more difficult because almost all the highways are two-lane routes compared to New Brunswick, where most highways are twinned, Nelson points out. “The lack of twinning and inadequate passing creates problems for transportation in general,” he says.

— by Myron Love