Manitoba is hoping this winter will run a lot more smoothly for highway drivers after last year’s barrage of back-to-back dumpings of blowing snow and high winds.
The province’s infrastructure minister, Doyle Piwniuk, says his team is working on shoring up staffing now to deal with another potential barrage of snow — a problem Manitoba shares with neighbouring provinces on either side.
“Ministers in Ontario and Saskatchewan … they’re having the same challenges as we are when it comes to recruiting, and we definitely are working hard to make sure we have the staff for this winter,” Piwniuk told 680 CJOB’s The Start.
“Our goal is to have 24/7 services on our provincial highways.
“We’ve actually hired 40 retired employees from MTI, and we got them back to work part-time when it comes to snow clearing, and we’re actively recruiting, especially in the north.”
Piwniuk said improvements are being made to Manitoba’s 511 system, also known as the Road and Traveller Information service, which will soon include a new mobile app providing drivers with more up-to-date details on roads that have been closed by RCMP due to unsafe conditions.
“Because (police) are the ones that actually determine if any highways are going to be close, (we’ll be) getting the information from the RCMP and making sure we update our 511 system to make sure Manitobans get to know the accurate information out there.”
Messages will also be posted around the province to alert drivers to hazards and road closures.
Trucker Parneet Singh says when it comes to highway conditions, especially driving through the prairies, he’s learned to “expect the worst”.
Singh told Global News he lost a friend — a fellow trucker — on the job last year in a highway crash in British Columbia, and winter driving can often feel like he’s taking his life in his hands.
“It’s very, very stressful. On a scale from one to ten, it’s eleven,” he said.
“I drive in the States too, and we see the similar weather situations there but they clean up the roads all the way — they use some kind of chemical so the snow doesn’t build up and it’s not that icy — no black ice.
“But we don’t see that here in Canada, especially in (provinces) like Saskatchewan and Manitoba.”
Singh said he’d like to see highways plowed and salted more frequency to prevent accidents.
“To keep the goods moving, we should be moving too, but not for the sake of our families or our lives.”