Dangerous stretch of Highway 8 to get passing lanes

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This article was published 23/01/2025 (318 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Gimli resident Teri Nicholson tries to avoid driving on Highway 8 at the height of summer, after witnessing close calls or reckless decisions in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

She was relieved when the Manitoba government revealed that passing lanes will be built in various spots along a nearly 54-kilometre section where a surface reconstruction project will begin as early as this summer.

“Most of us locals in the summer use (different) highways,” said Nicholson, who started an online petition to lobby the province for passing lanes. “Most of us would refuse to drive on Highway 8 because you’re taking your life in your hands.”

In winter, there are concerns about the weather and ice.

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure determined passing lanes are warranted on Highway 8, between Highway 67, west of Selkirk, and Provincial Road 231 in Gimli, a government spokesperson said Wednesday.

The project is in the design phase. The provincial department’s website said construction is expected to begin this summer and finish in the fall of 2026. The cost of adding passing lanes is not yet available.

“The planning of the addition of passing lanes predates the petition and was made as part of the department’s regular process while assessing traffic volumes and safety priorities,” the government spokesperson wrote in an email.

Nicholson received an email from Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor’s office on Jan. 17 to inform her of the improvements.

“There are various locations on PTH 8 between PTH 67 and PR 231 that will be upgraded with passing lanes with construction anticipated to begin in 2025,” the email said.

Nicholson started the petition on the August long weekend last year, when local two-lane highways were busy with traffic headed to the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba in Gimli, Lake Winnipeg beaches and cottages and other destinations.

She noticed a lot of complaints about traffic or reckless drivers, while scrolling through posts on social media.

“I thought, ‘Oh God, why don’t we do something instead of being keyboard warriors?’” she said.

Her petition, submitted to Naylor’s office in September, had about 1,100 signatures.

Nicholson described that portion of the highway as “extremely treacherous” and said near-misses are common when drivers try to pass multiple vehicles in one go.

The petition said it seems to get worse each year, especially on summer weekends when tourist traffic is heavy.

At least three people have died in head-on collisions on that portion of Highway 8 since 2021. The highway is twinned between Winnipeg and just north of the St. Andrews Airport.

The 54-kilometre section that will undergo upgrades had annual average daily traffic count estimates of 4,820 vehicles on the southern end near Highway 67 in 2023, and just over 3,000 vehicles closer to Gimli, government data showed.

Much of the untwinned section runs through the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews. Mayor Joy Sul said the government’s plans for passing lanes are “absolutely wonderful news” for residents.

“In the summertime, it’s bumper to bumper,” she said.

Sul, on behalf of St. Andrews’ council, wrote to Naylor in October to raise concerns about safety at the intersection of highways 8 and 67, which the mayor described as a “dangerous” corner in need of improvements.

The RM’s fire department responded to 10 collisions at the intersection between 2021 and 2023. Data for 2024 was not yet available.

Sul said the St. Andrews council is grateful to the province for being receptive and listening to its concerns.

“This announcement is going to make many of our residents and the travelling public quite happy,” she said.

Nicholson expressed concern about speeding drivers, and the potential for hazardous situations when traffic backs up behind slower-moving vehicles.

She has nervously watched drivers pull into the opposite lane and try to pass the queue, and then try to squeeze back into the lineup to avoid an oncoming vehicle. In some cases, there was very little space or time to do so.

“People are slamming brakes on and pulling onto the shoulder. It’s incredibly dangerous,” Nicholson said. “If someone is not paying attention, it’s a recipe for disaster.”

She said commuters and local residents who drive to Winnipeg and back for shopping, events or other purposes are among frequent users of the highway, which has a top speed limit of 100 km/h.

Nicholson said she is “cautiously optimistic,” after learning about the government’s plans for passing lanes. She recalled talk decades ago about the possibility of twinning the highway.

“People are a little bit skeptical because we’ve heard these stories before,” Nicholson said. “I’m glad that I got a response and there seems to be something that is going to happen. I would hope it happens sooner rather than later.”

» Winnipeg Free Press