MTO to look at improvements for Highway 61

Four years after it started a study to look at potential improvements to Highway 61, the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) says it will once again see what changes could be made to the provincial roadway.

The MTO will recommence a planning and preliminary design study, which could look at a number of ways to improve safety and traffic flow along the highway. The road itself is four-laned until just south of Neebing Avenue and Princess St., leading into the Thunder Bay Airport. 

The study will focus on an area running from Arthur St. to Loch Lomond Rd.

"This Study is being completed to define an improvement plan to address the needs of the corridor for both the short-term as well as the long-term and to ensure safe traffic operations as growth and development expands in the area," the ministry said in a statement to CBC News.

The study is slated to wrap up in the summer of 2023.

In 2017, when improvements to the highway were first proposed, the engineering firm heading up the project said it would look for more areas for vehicles to pass each other, potential active transportation south of Chippewa Road and reducing congestion.

At the time the 2017 report was written, there were additional traffic demands on the roadway, as the James St. swing bridge was still unusable for traffic following a fire in 2013. The bridge re-opened to traffic in 2019, although large vehicles are still unable to cross it.