Summer paving push gives Winnipeg drivers headaches

WINNIPEG – A 2.5-kilometre trip along Bishop Grandin Boulevard from Pembina Highway to Waverley Street is taking twice as long as usual thanks to road construction.

During rush hour, construction adds close to 30 minutes to Kent Morrison’s drive, he said.

This summer’s construction season is one of the worst Morrison’s seen, the broker with First Choice Couriers said.

“If I get a call to the south end … I’m pulling out my hair.”

Time is money for couriers, who are paid by the number of pickups, not by the hour.

But City of Winnipeg engineer Lester Deane said the “worst construction year” for drivers adds up to a good year for him.

The amount of money being spent on road repairs is about 60 per cent more than it was last year and more than Deane has seen in his 12 years with the city.

Construction on Bishop Grandin is part of the city’s annual pavement preservation maintenance and should be finished before Labour Day, when traffic returns to its heaviest.