Manitoba Infrastructure will construct a new bridge on Edwards Creek and the RM of Dauphin disagrees with them about where the detour should go.

Jack Bremner says MI’s proposal is for the detour to start at the junction for Ochre River, go all the way down the highway, turn onto road 109, and head north into Dauphin.

“That’s not going to work for us because we have a huge population at the lake, we have a huge population in that area. There’s no way they’re going to go back to the highway and take that detour that they are officially making a detour. They’re going to come down our municipal roads and really rip them up. They’re going to put 20 years’ worth of wear on our roads in a year.”

Bremner says the RM of Dauphin would have to bear the costs of MI’s detour, meanwhile, the government would save almost a million dollars by not putting in a shoefly bridge which the RM wouldn’t have to pay for.

Bremner adds they would like some of those savings so the RM isn’t paying a penalty for the government to save money.

Under MI's proposal, there will be approximately $200,000 in costs that the Rural Municipality will incur, including grading, gravel, and dust control, that they won’t be reimbursed for.

This would cause taxes to go up for residents in the RM, or it would force the RM to make cuts so they can afford the costs.

The RM’s proposed detour would start at Edwards Creek Road, go a mile north, and come into Dauphin on road 146 N.

This detour would have an estimated cost of just over 400 thousand dollars but that cost would include road upgrades and the cost would have been borne by Manitoba Infrastructure and not the Municipality.