It’s the final weekend of the year that a portion of the Pembina highway will be closed, which is a big relief to motorists.
The closures have backed up traffic on alternate routes and raised questions about the city’s handling of the traffic flow.
The City of Winnipeg says crews are working as quickly as they can to make sure the project is completed.
While the city said they listened to frustrated drivers last weekend, they didn’t feel changing parking would improve the situation.
“We did look at options for restricting parking on Jubilee and Osborne but because of the impact on local area businesses we’re not pursuing that for this closure,” said Ken Allen, communications officer for Public Works at the City of Winnipeg.
That left some drivers in Osborne more frustrated.
“We’ve been exercising patience for far too long now,” stated one driver. “They can’t seem to think three feet in front of themselves when it comes to not putting in so many traffic lights and slowing down traffic. This is the 21st century not the 19th century,”
Others say they can see the bigger picture.
“I mean it is, what it is. You do small sacrifices to make the city better. Sure we have to put up with a couple days of troublesome bother but its for the bettering of our city,” said another driver.
The city said the heavy traffic is temporary.
“We really are asking for everyone’s patience, It is short-term pain for long-term gain for a project like this. Once it’s completed, we’re going to have a brand new corridor through the underpass for many years to come,” added Allen.
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