All four lanes of Plessis underpass open to motorists

All four lanes of the Plessis underpass are now open to motorists, a year and a half after the $88-million project was supposed to be completed.

Politicians from all three levels of government gathered at the corner of Dugald Road and Plessis Road on Friday morning to mark the conclusion of the project, which wound up $13 million over budget.

"This was like giving birth," said Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt, who successfully lobbied the former Harper government in Ottawa and former Selinger government in Manitoba to fund the project.

Wyatt acknowledged the project was delayed by engineering and construction challenges, partly because the project was not entirely shovel-ready when it was announced,but said it was better to move forwardwith the construction while infrastructure dollars were available.

"There were literally hundreds of millions of dollars being announced across the country and we needed to move fast. We had to take advantage of the federal opportunity to invest in our communities," he said.