The Manitoba government is going to find a permanent fix for the St. Mary's Road issue in the Rural Municipality of Montcalm and fully finance it.

St. Mary's Road has sustained major damage over the past number of years by floodwaters from the Red River which have ripped through the roadway and forced the evacuation of several families in the municipality.

Premier Brian Pallister announced on Wednesday that the province will improve that situation and finance 100 percent of the project.

"Our reaction to this is one of elation," said Reeve Paul Gilmore. "We've been waiting for this type of news for some 15 years. Every time there's a flood, thousands of dollars are spent on repairing that road."

Gilmore is grateful the province is going to pick up the full cost of this project and he's anxious to see how the province intends to fix St. Mary's Road. He said a study on that issue was last conducted in 2001 and recommended several options to fix the problem.

"One was building causeways to eliminate the damage to the road. Another option was raising St. Mary's Road, but nothing was definite and it's now an old study. I'm assuming the eventual fix will have to be re-studied because things have changed."

Gilmore says this will be a great mitigation project that should help eliminate the evacuation of families from their homes. "It's wonderful news."