The Rural Municipality (RM) of Portage la Prairie is continuing its focus on road and infrastructure improvements, with recent paving and dust control efforts underway across the region.
Roy Tufford, Reeve for the RM of Portage la Prairie, confirmed that several key paving projects have been completed, including work on East Road in the Peony Farm and in Macdonald, Manitoba.
"We did some paving on the East Rd. at the Peony Farm. It just recently got paved," Tufford said. "We paved another street in the hamlet of Macdonald, Manitoba. And we've been doing some other small amounts, on the Northeast Transportation route that takes truck traffic into the city's industrial park."
Tufford emphasized that maintaining road and drainage infrastructure remains the RM’s top priority.
"That's our big-ticket item in our budget. So that's ongoing all the time," he added.
In addition to paving, the municipality has also been implementing dust control measures, a service available to residents for a fee.
"At the request of our residents, we put down dust control and it's about a dollar a foot," Tufford explained. "If you want a 300-foot strip done in front of your place, it costs about $300."
However, dust control has generated some debate among locals. Tufford acknowledged that residents are often frustrated when roads they've paid to treat are later graded due to safety concerns.
"People think that when you put dust control down then you shouldn't grade it ever again," he said. "We try and accommodate that, but there are situations where [grading] has to happen for safety."
The RM plans to continue prioritizing road maintenance throughout the summer months.