Manitoba Highway 1

 

The highway is routed from west to east across the province of Manitoba. It begins at the western provincial boundary with Saskatchewan, connecting with Saskatchewan's Highway 1 to become Manitoba Trans-Canada 1. The highway is designated as T-C 1 throughout Manitoba until it reaches the eastern provincial boundary with Ontario, where it continues as the main route to Kenora, Ontario and the rest of Eastern Canada as Highway 17.

The entire length of the Trans-Canada Highway in the province of Manitoba is a 4-lane divided highway, with the exception of the Winnipeg city route and an 18 kilometre section in eastern Manitoba between the town of Falcon Lake and the Manitoba-Ontario provincial boundary which is a two-lane highway.

PTH 1 has full expressway status on the routes around Winnipeg on the Perimeter Highway, and around Portage la Prairie. Plans do exist to bring the entire length of PTH 1 (except the Winnipeg city route) to full expressway status in the future (mentioned at the list of Manitoba expressways). Currently, exit numbers only exist at three interchanges,^[2] and only small sections of PTH 1 and the Perimeter Highway have freeway status.

In the Winnipeg metro area, the Trans-Canada Highway has two official routes. The main route passes directly through the city of Winnipeg on city streets, entering the city from the west and continuing along Portage Avenue, Broadway, Main Street, Queen Elizabeth Way, St. Mary's Road, St. Anne's Road, and Fermor Avenue where it re-joins the Perimeter Highway (T-C 100) and continues east on TC 1. An alternate routing exits the main T-C 1 route on the western edge of Winnipeg onto the Perimeter Highway (T-C 100), which by-passes the city completely. The Perimeter Highway is a ring road which encircles Winnipeg and is frequently used by commuters and through traffic on the Trans Canada Highway wishing to avoid congested city streets.

 

The first Provincial Trunk Highways in Manitoba were numbered in 1926.^[3] The original Highway 1 was one of nine highways fanning out from Winnipeg, but was different in that it fanned out from the west and the east. Highway 1 was routed via many already-existing highways and provincial secondary roads. (From west to east), these are:^[4][5][6]

• Highway 1A into and out of Brandon
• Provincial Road 351 into and out of Carberry
• Highway 1A through Portage la Prairie
• Highway 26 from Portage la Prairie to Headingley
• Highway 9 from downtown Winnipeg to Lockport
• Highway 44 from Lockport to Whiteshell Provincial Park

In 1949, Highway 1 had been rerouted on new construction northeast of Griswold, with the part of old route from Highway 21 to Highway 28 (as well as Highway 28 itself) becoming part of Highway 21, and the section from Highway 21 eastward being removed from the system, but later becoming PR 455. By the early 1950s, Highway 1 had become an important east-west route in all of the western provinces. Most of the provincial highways that Highway 1 originally traversed on were re-numbered and designated as Highway 4 between 1958 and 1968, and the #1 was relocated to its present route. In 1962, the Trans-Canada Highway in Manitoba was fully completed, and Highway 1 across all of the western provinces was incorporated as part of the Trans-Canada Highway.

In 1955, most intra-city traffic in the Winnipeg area was diverted onto the (then) newly built Perimeter Highway. Later that year, the Perimeter Highway's southern (PTH 100) section was merged with the Trans-Canada Highway system, due to the amount of traffic using it to bypass the city. That section of the highway was highly used, and still is today.

On October 6, 2006 the Trans-Canada Highway Portage la Prairie by-pass was closed due to a structural defect found in the bridge over the CN Rail Line. On October 31, 2007, a $19 million project to rebuild the bridge was completed, and the by-pass was fully re-opened to traffic.

On October 25, 2007, a major federal/provincial construction project twinning the highway in western Manitoba between the Saskatchewan-Manitoba provincial boundary and the town of Hargrave was completed, with 34 kilometres (21 mi) of newly divided highway lanes opened to traffic.

On April 9, 2008, the Government of Manitoba announced that construction of a new interchange would begin in the summer of 2008 at the intersection of Highway 16 (the Yellowhead Highway) and the Trans Canada Highway mainline route, located a short distance west of Portage la Prairie.^[7] As of 2020, the option for a new interchange was replaced by a study to instead construct a roundabout at this intersection^[8]

 

On February 27, 2008 the Manitoba Highway Traffic Board approved a request by the Government of Manitoba to raise the speed limit on the Trans Canada Highway in Manitoba to 110 km/h along the section between the Saskatchewan-Manitoba provincial boundary and Winnipeg.^[9] The speed limit was officially raised on July 1, 2009, though it was only raised on one portion of the highway between the Saskatchewan provincial boundary to Virden.^[10] On June 2, 2015, the speed limit between Virden and Headingley increased to 110 km/h, except at Brandon, Carberry, Portage la Prairie, and Elie, where speed is reduced due to major intersections at those locations.^[11] The portion of the highway from Winnipeg to the Ontario provincial boundary remains at 100 km/h.

Saskatchewan provincial boundary to Headingley- 110 km/h (70 mph)

Virden- 80 km/h (50 mph)

Brandon- 80 km/h (50 mph)

Carberry- 100 km/h (60 mph)

Portage la Prairie (Freeway)- 100 km/h (60 mph)

Elie- 80 km/h (50 mph)

Headingley-70 km/h (45 mph)

Winnipeg bypass (Perimeter Hwy. PTH #100) - 100 km/h (60 mph)

Winnipeg city route

Portage Ave. - 60 km/h (35 mph) (50 km/h (30 mph) in downtown)

Broadway - 50 km/h (30 mph)

Queen Elizabeth Way. (S. Main Street) - 60 km/h (35 mph)

St. Mary's Rd. - 60 km/h (35 mph)

St. Anne's Rd. - 60 km/h (35 mph)

Fermor Ave. (To Autumnwood Dr./Lakewood Blvd.) - 70 km/h (45 mph)

Fermor Ave. (To Lagimodiere Blvd.) 80 km/h (50 mph)

Fermor Ave. (To Perimeter Hwy.) - 90 km/h (55 mph)

Eastern Manitoba- 100 km/h (60 mph)

All at-grade intersections with traffic lights -80 km/h (50 mph)

Provincial Trunk Highway 1A
Victoria Avenue, 1st Street (Brandon) Saskatchewan Avenue (Portage la Prairie)
Location	Brandon, Portage la Prairie
Existed	1959–present

Provincial Trunk Highway 1A (PTH 1A) is the designation of two business loops off of PTH 1, serving the cities of Brandon and Portage la Prairie, both of which are former alignments of the Trans-Canada before being bypassed.

Provincial Route 301
Location	Whiteshell Provincial Park
Length	11.5 km (7.1 mi)
Existed	1966–present

Provincial Road 301 (PR 301) is a 11.5-kilometre-long (7.1 mi) east-west spur off of PTH 1 near the Ontario border, situated wholly inside Whiteshell Provincial Park.

It begins at an interchange with the Trans-Canada Highway at the Falcon Lake community, winding its way eastward along the northern shoreline of Falcon Lake, where it provides access to Faloma and Toniata. The highway now heads inland, curving northward to pass underneath PTH 1, without an interchange, before travelling past Star Lake. PR 301 comes to an end shortly thereafter at an intersection with PTH 44 (La Vérendrye Trail) near West Hawk Lake. The entire length of PR 301 is a paved two-lane highway.^[12][13]

Division	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Whiteshell Provincial Park	Falcon Lake	0.0	0.0	PTH 1 (TCH) – Winnipeg, Kenora Falcon Boulevard – Falcon Lake	Western terminus; interchange
	Faloma	5.9	3.7	F7 – Faloma
	Toniata	7.5	4.7	Toniata
	​	11.5	7.1	PTH 44 (La Vérendrye Trail) – Rennie, West Hawk Lake	Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Provincial Road 351
Location	Carberry
Length	37.3 km (23.2 mi)
Existed	1966–present

Provincial Road 351 (PR 351) runs for 37.3 kilometres (23.2 mi) along a former alignment of PTH 1 in the Municipality of North Cypress-Langford. Serving as a loop route off of the Trans-Canada, it provides access to both the town of Carberry and the historic Camp Hughes.

• Official Name and Location - Declaration of Provincial Trunk Highways Regulation - The Highways and Transportation Act - Provincial Government of Manitoba
• Official Highway Map - Published and maintained by the Department of Infrastructure - Provincial Government of Manitoba (see Legend and Maps#1,2 & 3)
• Google Maps Search - Provincial Trunk Highway 1

Trans-Canada Highway
Previous routes   SK Highway 1   Provincial Trunk Highway 16   Perimeter Highway	Provincial Trunk Highway 1	Next routes   ON Highway 17   Perimeter Highway
Yellowhead Highway
Previous route   Provincial Trunk Highway 16	Provincial Trunk Highway 1	Next route   Route 85