Crews started construction this week on an earthen ramp on the north end of Morris to keep traffic moving for as long as possible.

The Red River continues to rise and is expected to peak at Morris sometime between April 22-25. The peak water level on the Red at Morris will determine the need for closure over the next few days.

Mayor Scott Crick remains hopeful the highway won't have to close down. "From our perspective, we're still guardedly optimistic. Right now we're looking at the flood peaks that happened south of the border and we're seeing crests that are approximately half a foot above last year. If that trend continues north to where we are we should hopefully see no major disruption in the area."

Current projections have the crest between Emerson and St. Jean forecast at just above 2006 spring levels, with areas north of St. Jean just below. In 2006, floodwaters from Red River forced the closure of Highway 75 for 18 days.

Crick said if water levels hover around 2019 levels then the highway will likely remain open. "That's always the hope that if the river gets a half-a-foot over last year there will still be an opportunity to keep 75 open."

The mayor pointed out that Manitoba Infrastructure makes the call on whether to close the highway and they will follow their lead. "We're very interested observers, obviously, but the province certainly knows our preference to do everything possible to keep all access points to the town open unless they need to be closed."