The Province of Manitoba has confirmed a new plan to make PTH 75 north of Morris a flood-proof route.

In November 2014, Manitoba Infrastructure originally proposed raising 14 KMs of Highway 75 about one to two meters all the way to Aubigny in order to keep the arterial road open when the Red River swelled to 2009 levels.

However, Herb Mahood, Regional Director with Manitoba Infrastructure, said that at the time they didn't know what the final cost would be, and explained that as estimates started to come in officials decided to take another look.

"We knew it was going to be expensive, but when the actual costs came in we said, 'Wow, we have over a hundred million dollars worth of structures on this one, fourteen kilometre stretch of road'."

The final tally for the initial plan, which included mitigation structures that would prevent the damming of water, eventually came out $181 million.

Mahood explained that once the cost realization set in, officials decided to take a step back and search for a better solution.

"We looked at a map...an aerial photograph from 2009, that shows PR 246 in 2009 was high-and-dry," said Mahood. He added it was then that they decided to explore that route as a way to keep traffic moving in the area when flood waters threatened PTH 75 north of Morris.

The updated plan, unveiled at an open house Wednesday in Morris, would see traffic redirected east out of town on Highway 23, up one mile to PR 246 then back down to PTH 75 along PR 205. Mahood noted this plan would include paving PR 246 between Morris and Aubigny and PR 205 to R-TAC standards in order to accomodate the heavy truck traffic that typically travels on Highway 75.

"So we looked at that and we did some cost estimating and it became clear this was the best way to go," he said.

Cost of this new plan is expected to come in $100 million less than the original at about $80 million.

This updated solution also includes a full rehabilitation of Highway 75. Mahood said the portion north of Morris will eventually be re-paved at its current height, it just won't be flood-proofed.

Ultimately, the Morris Bridge will also be refurbished but Mahood noted that work is at least 15 to 20 years down the road.

Work on PTH 75 north of Morris is expected to get started in the next five years with PR 246 to see improvements shortly after.