Provincial Trunk Highway 1 (PTH 1) is

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

's section of the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

. It is a heavily used, 4-lane

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

, with the exception of a short 18 km section in the southeastern corner of the province. It is the main link between southern Manitoba's largest cities, and also serves as the province's main transportation link to the neighbouring provinces of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

(to the west) and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

(to the east). The highway is the only major east-west

in Manitoba, and carries a large majority of east-west traffic within and through the province. It has full freeway status sections at Portage la Prairie and

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

. The total distance of the

is approximately . PTH 1 is a very important part of the national highway system. It is the only road that links the province of

(and thus the entirety of

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

) with the province of

, making it a major section of Canada's primary commercial and leisure route for all traffic travelling between Canada's largest cities, from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

in the east to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

in the west.

Routing

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 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

to become Manitoba Trans-Canada 1. The highway is designated as T-C 1 throughout Manitoba until it reaches the eastern provincial boundary with

, where it continues as the main route to

Kenora Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (french: Portage-aux-Rats), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District. The his ...

and the rest of

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/ Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labra ...

as Highway 17. The entire length of the

in the province of

is a 4-lane

, with the exception of the Winnipeg city route and an 18 kilometre section in eastern

between the town of Falcon Lake and the

provincial boundary which is a two-lane highway. PTH 1 has full expressway status on the routes around

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 The following is a list of Manitoba provincial trunk highways and provincial roads. Provincial Trunk Highways are the primary highways, and Provincial Roads are the secondary highways. Primary Routes These Provincial Trunk Highways are number ...

). Currently,

exit number An exit number is a number assigned to a road junction, usually an exit from a freeway. It is usually marked on the same sign as the destinations of the exit. In some countries, such as the United States, it is also marked on a sign in the go ...

s only exist at three interchanges, and only small sections of PTH 1 and the Perimeter Highway have

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

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 A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

which encircles Winnipeg and is frequently used by commuters and through traffic on the Trans Canada Highway wishing to avoid congested city streets.

History

Manitoba welcome sign on the Trans-Canada Highway at the Saskatchewan border

The first Provincial Trunk Highways in Manitoba were numbered in 1926. 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: * 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

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.

Recent developments

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 The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...

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

provincial boundary and the town of Hargrave was completed, with of newly divided highway lanes opened to traffic. On April 9, 2008, the Government of

announced that construction of a new interchange would begin in the summer of 2008 at the intersection of Highway 16 (the

Yellowhead Highway The Yellowhead Highway (french: Route Yellowhead) is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western ...

) and the Trans Canada Highway mainline route, located a short distance west of Portage la Prairie. As of 2020, the option for a new interchange was replaced by a study to instead construct a roundabout at this intersection

Speed limits

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

. 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. 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. 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)

Major intersections

References

External links

Official Name and Location
- Declaration of Provincial Trunk Highways Regulation - The Highways and Transportation Act - Provincial Government of Manitoba

- 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 001 Manitoba 001 Manitoba 001 Yellowhead Highway