Deja vu for McPhillips motorists: roadwork once again snarls traffic at underpass

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This article was published 23/05/2019 (1797 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hard hats, yellow vests and lane closures have come to McPhillips Street once again thanks to unexpected construction delays last summer that left city crews unable to finish scheduled reconstruction work prior to the winter shutdown.

The work, which was supposed to be finished last summer as part of a $5.3-million contract, is likely to slow down motorists on one of Winnipeg’s major arteries for the foreseeable future.

“(The work) was not completed by the end of the 2018 season due to construction delays and seasonal shutdown for winter,” city communications officer Ken Allen said in a written statement.

“To clarify, the work remaining this spring will take approximately one month to complete, and is expected to be completed by the end of June.”

The southbound lanes on McPhillips Street at Logan Avenue are now being reconstructed, as are median and traffic barriers between Logan and Jarvis Avenue.

In addition, sidewalk restorations and landscaping work are underway along both sides of McPhillips Street.

Last year, a two-phase construction project was launched that saw city crews working on sewer rehabilitation and road reconstruction. That work left McPhillips Street reduced to one lane in each direction.

However, later that summer in August, transit users and motorists were forced into taking a huge detour after it was announced that unexpected repairs were needed on the CPR bridge crossing between Higgins Avenue and Jarvis avenues.

As a result, northbound traffic was completely severed for weeks, with only a single southbound lane remaining open. In 2016, city stats logged more than 48,000 vehicles passing through the underpass each day.

In 2010, work crews replaced 160 metres of water main at McPhillips Street and Logan Avenue in preparation for major road reconstruction the next year.

From May to October 2011, a two-stage project was launched that led to parking and traffic restrictions on Logan Avenue from McPhillips Street to Arlington Street.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe