Major road construction projects around Transcona leave some feeling boxed in

WINNIPEG – Three construction projects in the Transcona area are leaving some with a commuter headache.

“Sometimes you do feel trapped, trying to get out, trying to cross this road,” Beth Ryan said Monday.

Dugald Road from Bates Avenue to Plessis Road is currently under construction, as is 200 metres of Plessis, part of the $77-million Plessis underpass project.

Two lanes of the Nairn overpass will be of commission starting Friday, leaving only one lane in each direction open, with construction and rehabilitation work expected to last until November.

Lester Deane, the city’s manager of engineering, said the multiple projects won’t interfere with one another.

“I would suggest the distance between the Nairn project and the Plessis project are such that I don’t think they are going to affect each other in a big way.”

But motorists said they already are.

“It’s really creating a problem for us, that’s for sure. We have a business in Transcona and it’s affecting us greatly,” one driver told Global News.

“It takes forever to get out of Transcona,” said another.

The shutdowns are forcing people to take alternate routes. Some are taking major streets, like Regent Avenue, while others are taking back roads, near Bernie Wolfe School.

“I do have to take Regent, a different route home, instead of going straight south from here,” Carl Kennedy said.

In an effort to curb speeding in residential areas, the city placed speed bumps near the school, and marked the speed zone at 30 kilometres per hour.

Still, some residents aren’t convinced it’s the best solution.

“I have noticed that people slow down, speed up till they hit the next speed bump,”  Beth Ryan said.

Those who live in the area will be dealing with traffic for a while.  The Plessis underpass isn’t expected to open until September 2015.