PR 200 bridge closure over floodway triggers worries for businesses, residents

Business owners and residents are raising concerns over extended travel times and potential lost costumers, following a Red River Floodway bridge closing for repairs.

The province closed the Provincial Road 200 bridge for repairs on Oct. 15 and set up a detour on Provincial Road 210, leading to Highway 75.

“That’s going to be a big pain in the ass for us,” said Denis Gobeil.

The 23-year-old and his father operate Good N Tension, a Saint Adolphe auto body shop.

Gobeil said the bridge closure will delay how quickly they can complete repair jobs because delivery services, such as Piston Ring, will have to take longer routes.

Many customers come from Winnipeg, and he’s worried the delays will deter people from coming to the shop because of the extra 30 minute detour.

“They’re just going to choose to stay in the city or go somewhere else that doesn’t have you taking a detour and getting all confused,” Gobeil said, noting that revenues could be impacted due to the year-long closure.

He’s expecting to get calls from annoyed or confused customers who don’t know where to find the detour.

First built in 1965, the bridge rehabilitation project is expected to cost $38.million, a provincial spokesperson said in an email to The Carillon. With the reopening slated for fall 2026, the project will extend the bridge’s life by more than 40 years.

The bridge will also have wider shoulders on both lanes, when the work is completed.

This isn’t the first traffic disruption Sage Garden Greenhouses owner David Hanson has dealt with. His Winnipeg greenhouse on St. Mary’s Road was at the centre of confusion in December 2024 when the province began work on the interchange between the road and the Perimeter Highway. That project cost him customers who got confused by the two new roundabouts and gave up travelling to the shop, he said.

When the PR 200 bridge closure was announced, Hanson was anxious again.

“Now when you have a whole new project, the whole déjà vu feeling comes back,” he said.

From the first day the bridge was closed, Hanson already got emails from customers wondering how to get to the greenhouse.

He’s expecting to have another drop in drive-by traffic or in new people discovering the shop. While access hasn’t changed for people traveling north of the Perimeter highway, Hanson said many customers come from Niverville and neighbouring communities and are used to driving over the bridge.

Since the closure will last until next year, he’s worried it’ll impact their spring sales, one of the busiest seasons for his business. To mitigate some of the confusion with the detour, Hanson created his own map with different routes posted to the shop’s website and printed out.

“We appreciate that it’s confusing, and we want to make sure people are reassured that it’s easy to get to us,” he said.

Despite living south of the Perimeter, Greenview Road resident Daniel Labossiere relies on Winnipeg emergencies services because his road falls under the city’s jurisdiction.

He’s worried the emergency response times could be impacted due to the detour. Labossiere’s son has allergies and severe asthma.

“What if my child has an asthma attack, and the ambulance is 25 minutes away instead of seven or eight,” he said.

When winter hits, Labossiere is also concerned if snowstorms close down Highway 59 or 75, it could leave him with no way of getting home.

Even picking up his daily mail will become a harder task because Labossiere’s mail box is on the north side of the bridge.

“I can see my mail box, but I can’t get to it,” he said.

Labossiere and other residents on his road asked the province to build a temporary access road across the Floodway, but were unsuccessful.

Winnipeg’s deputy mayor and St Norbert Coun. Markus Chambers said the city reached an agreement with the Rural Municipality of Ritchot to provide emergency services, garbage pick-up and snow removal for Greenview Road residents while the bridge is closed.

He said temporary road access over the Floodway would be too costly and too difficult because of the potentially high water levels from spring melts.

“We don’t want to see anybody injured based on a bridge that’s service life is outdated, and those necessary repairs are considered,” Chambers said. “We’re seeing slabs of concrete fall underneath and, structurally, it’s not safe for vehicles to drive on.”

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said she understands the closure and detour are frustrating for some, but safety needs to come first.

“We appreciate Manitobans’ patience as we do this critical repair work to ensure that this bridge can be safely used for years to come,” she said in an email statement.