Road safety a priority as Manitoba construction season kicks off

With the beginning of road construction season getting underway the 2024 SAFE Roads spring campaign officially launched Thursday morning. The theme for this year’s road safety campaign is “They’re Not in Your Way, They’re at Work,” as a reminder for motorists to reduce their speed and drive with extra caution as workers are set to become more and more common on Manitoba roadways.

The campaign will work to raise that awareness of drivers via social media, radio spots, and billboards throughout the province.

Chris Lorenc, president and CEO of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association and chair of the SAFE Roads Committee says every driver needs to pay attention to road safety and respect workers in their workplace.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“It only takes one motorist to turn a construction site into a danger zone,” said Lorenc. “We ask motorists to be respectful, slow down and drive with caution so our workers can get home safely.”

All areas of the city are slated for some road construction with a number of major arteries such as St. Mary’s Road, Abinojii Mikanah, Inkster Blvd, Portage Ave, and westbound Broadway.

Winnipeg city councillor Janice Lukes chairs the Public Works Committee, she understands residents frustrations but says this work it vital.

“We have $138 million dollars worth of regional and local roads, that’s a lot of work that’s going to be done,” Lukes explained. “One of our big roads is Abinojii Mikanah. That’s going to be starting shortly, that’s going to be a really frustrating road.”

Numbers provided by the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba show that 240 transportation-related incidents occurred within construction zones between 2018 and 2022.

Too see if whether or not your commute will be impacted you can visit the City’s website, also the Province has an interactive Infrastructure Projects Map to help you stay up to date on any delays you could expect on your travels.