PTH 12, Loewen Boulevard intersection opens to traffic

Constructions crews uncovered new street lights and removed construction barriers on Monday as the Loewen Boulevard and Highway 12 intersection fully opened to traffic.

Vince Loeppky, owner of Loeppky Auto Sales at the corner of the intersection was excited to see traffic flowing through the streets without needing detours.

“It will make it a lot easier for our customers to come and get their cars serviced and view our beautiful selected inventory of cars here,” he told The Carillon.

The $12-million two-year project added new turning lanes on Loewen Boulevard, merge lanes and safer pedestrian crossing areas.

During construction, Loeppky said he saw a drop in customers coming through the door, and many people struggled getting to the dealership because of the restricted access. He said the dealership had no highway access for 12 weeks and online maps, such as Google Maps, weren’t up to date on the latest detours.

“We’re very excited for it to go back to normal,” he said.

The province and the city each offered half of the needed funding for the joint project, said city engineer Aaron Rach. He said the improvements to the intersection were done to address increased traffic congestion as more cars filled the roads.

“There hadn’t been some improvements for quite some time at that intersection, and just with the rapid growth Steinbach has seen over the last decade, these improvements are needed just to keep up with those increased traffic volumes,” Rach said.

He said the dedicated left turning lanes on Loewen Boulevard will create fewer traffic backups and improve the safety at the intersection. He said the completed project will support commercial growth in the city.

Both the province and the city are eyeing the intersection at Highway 52 and Giesbrecht Street as the next project. Work will begin in 2026 to add traffic lights to the intersection, Rach said.

“Steinbach has been a pretty booming city the last while, so these improvements are needed just to keep up with all that rapid growth,” he said.

Mayor Earl Funk is excited to see traffic move freely through the intersection. He said the completed project was the last major infrastructure improvement for intersections on PTH 12.

“I’m really looking forward to this serving our city for many, many years,” he said.

He expects the new intersection will bring traffic flow back to normal and “open up everything.” Funk said he understands the struggles businesses experienced during the construction and the inconveniences caused. But the long-term benefits outweigh the inconvenience, he said.

“It’s a short-term pain for long-term gain, right? That’s kind of how we have to look at these upgrades that we do to our traffic,” Funk said.