The Manitoba government is promising to spend up to $800 million to upgrade intersections along the south Perimeter Highway, but an economist says Manitobans could end up with higher taxes in order to get the jobs done.

Premier Greg Selinger announced a plan to replace four traffic-light-controlled intersections on the major route with free-flow interchanges at:

McGillivray Boulevard;

Kenaston Boulevard;

St. Mary's Road; and

St. Anne's Road.

Premier Greg Selinger announced plans for the south Perimeter Highway at a news conference Tuesday morning.

"Following two years of record investments in building and upgrading highways across the province, we are now preparing to launch a new wave of unprecedented construction on the Perimeter Highway that will see traffic flowing smoothly, safely and without interruption," Selinger said.​

At a news conference Tuesday, Selinger said the plans are a priority.

There are currently 10 ground-level intersections controlled by traffic lights around the Perimeter Highway. One of those, at the intersection of Lagimodiere Boulevard and the north Perimeter Highway, is already in the process of being turned into a $204 million cloverleaf.

Samarjeet Singh, who has been a professional truck driver for two years, said he welcomes the proposed changes.

"Nobody wants to stop on highways," said Singh. "If I'm driving a manual truck, I have to change gears [and] everything again."

The province recently completed two major bridge rehabilitation projects on the south Perimeter, one at Pembina Highway and the other at Fermor Avenue.

CentrePort link

Also on the premier's to-do list — creating a link between CentrePort and the main truck routes of the south Perimeter and Highway 75. That's the next priority, he said.

"This investment, while certainly welcomed by the trucking industry, will have significant benefits to our tourism industry and to any members of the commercial or industrial supply chain," said Terry Shaw, executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association, who attended the news conference with Selinger.

"These kinds of strategic upgrades come with many other perks for all Manitobans. They improve our quality of life, they improve road safety, and they help the environment by permitting vehicles to operate at peak efficiency, rather than idling at lights."

'Bold ideas'

"I think they are bold ideas" said Michael Benarroch, dean of the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba.

Benarroch said the infrastructure investments will be good news to many people.

"I think they're ideas that Winnipeggers and many Manitobans have been waiting for," he said.

But Benarroch also said the province may need to nip and tuck in some areas, go further into the red, or even lean on taxpayers to help get the projects off the ground.

"I think we may have to extend the PST beyond 2022/2023 when it was supposed to lapse and there might be extra tax or fees to pay for the projects," Benarroch said.

Higher taxes

Selinger admitted the province is still committed to ending the PST increase within the promised 10 year window. He added, however, that the government remains open to shifting project cost estimates as needed.

If the infrastructure changes don't boost the economy, Selinger said he may have to backtrack on his plans not to hike taxes.

"The best laid plans of mice and men change when the circumstances change, and you have to stay open to that and still have the discipline to move forward," he said.

If the next year or two the Manitoba economy can begin to pick up, the government can redirect the new tax revenue towards infrastructure. - Michael Benarroch

Benarroch said it's worth noting the speech from the throne doesn't talk about target dates or deadlines.

"I think it really depends on how long a time frame we're thinking about for this, and the throne speech was kind of silent on that. It talked about extending infrastructure beyond 2020," Benarroch said.

"If we said, we were going to do all of this in five years, I don't think Manitobans can afford that. But, if we're looking over a 10 to 12 year horizon, I think Manitobans can probably afford that and it's probably a very good time for Manitoba to get started on these kinds of projects since the economy is weak and we've got a federal government that's willing to come to the table to talk to provinces about infrastructure spending."

While the government controls deficits and taxes, it doesn't control all the pieces of the puzzle, he said.

"I think the other unknown is how the economy is going to grow. Right now it's growing very, very slowly so the forecast for government revenue is not great," he said. "But if the next year or two of the Manitoba economy can begin to pick up, the government can redirect the new tax revenue towards infrastructure."

Intersection accident reduction

Outside of cost considerations, the changes could bring the number of Perimeter intersection crashes way down, said Mike Mager, CEO of CAA Manitoba.

All those intersections have blind spots and the inability to get through. - Mike Mager

"Anything that addresses safety and mobility on the roads we applaud and support," Mager said.

"We do believe it's very ambitious, but again it's a good thing to see for our motorists."

CAA often sees a spike in accidents in the winter at some of the key Perimeter intersections identified by Selinger's plan, Mager said.

"There are very serious accidents," he said. "It's a very highly-travelled area and anything we can do to improve the safety is beneficial. All those intersections have blind spots and the inability to get through. Just having the flow-through capability [would be] a wonderful thing."

Traffic lights in these areas are a big part of the problem, Mager said. The interchanges, on the other hand, would eliminate "that stopping-starting for traffic" at intersections and reduce the amount of crashes, he added.

Selinger's commitment is part of the main plank of the this week's throne speech. Selinger announced roughly $4.5 billion more to be spent on infrastructure, in addition to the approximately $5.5 billion that is already in the fund.