The Town of Altona and Municipality of Rhineland continue to wait for the Province to approve a traffic study they feel could help resolve the Highway 30 access management issue.
Prompted by a possible development at the highway's intersection with 6th Ave NE in Altona a few years ago, Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure (MTI) ran an assessment of the roadway, citing its access management policy. It then drafted recommendations that included removing nearly two dozen access points along the stretch and, instead, build a series of service roads parallel to the highway which also serves as a boundary between Altona to the west and Rhineland to the east.
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However, the proposal didn't sit well with either local council, and they've been trying to maintain dialogue with the department on the matter.
"This has been an incredible stall and both municipalities have found that quite frustrating," said Rhineland Reeve, Don Wiebe.
Then, according to Wiebe, about a year ago, the newly elected NDP government agreed to collaborate with the municipalities and fund a traffic study that he hopes will bring forward a compromise.
"That study is the basis on which (economic) planning can move forward," explained Wiebe.
So, earlier this year, administrators for both Altona and Rhineland drafted a Request for Proposals (RFP) that would seek out a firm to conduct the study. But first, it was forwarded to MTI for feedback and approval.
"We've heard nothing back," added Wiebe. "Now, there's a meeting coming up shortly and maybe we can confirm the RFP and get it to an engineering firm so that traffic study can be done."
At the recent Association of Manitoba Municipalities Fall Convention, Altona Mayor Harv Schroeder says, while they didn't get the chance to meet with the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, the Altona delegation did bring the issue up with the Municipal Relations Minister.
"MTI has indicated they are collecting comments internally, but administration is still waiting for the department's response. So, we will continue to write letters and emails and also contact the Minister to see where things are at."
For Altona, a resolution is crucial to establishing a direct route from Highway 30 to the north end of its expanded industrial park.
Ideally, Wiebe says he'd like to see a compromise and that the traffic study results would result in redefining what Highway 30 can be used for.
"This is, by definition, a bypass but we're quite prepared to lower the speed limits there because it's not really a bypass. There's houses and businesses on both sides and, going forward, we're looking at how we can work with Altona to put more businesses on that (east) side of the road."