2022 highways capital program focus of talks: MHCA
A review of the provincial highways tender advertisements and awards indicates the program may miss its targets for the 2022 construction season.
“It can be difficult to track, with exactitude, the tender ad schedule issued in the fall and again in spring by Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure against delivery of the program,” MHCA President Chris Lorenc said. “This is why we are in contact and discussions with MTI senior managers, to verify our observations and to ensure roll-out of the highways infrastructure program meets the 2022 budget.”
A meeting recently with the MTI senior office holders discussed last year’s program experience, a review of the new MTI strategic infrastructure investment plan and an interactive map the department has created to allow users to see where projects are ongoing or planned for the next years.
The strategic investment plan can be found here and the interactive map here.
The MHCA will follow up with the department, including with suggestions for accelerating the posting of tenders, awards and project start dates.
“We want to work with the province to see that the full program budget is expended within the year it is designed for,” Lorenc said. “Industry has capacity to take up the full budget. We just need to see the work tendered, to ensure it can be completed in this construction season.”
The 2022 highways infrastructure budget is set at $407 million, with another $59.7 million worth of projects in carry-over from unexpended amounts in 2021.
