Steinbach City Council · Jan 2022 – Sept 2026 · Chamber forum topic: traffic congestion
Traffic in Steinbach: what can council do, and what has it done?
What has Steinbach City Council done about traffic congestion on Main Street, Highway 12 and city streets, what reasons has it given for not doing more, and how do other growing municipalities manage traffic?
Bottom line
- Steinbach's worst traffic is on roads the city doesn't control. Main Street is Provincial Trunk Highway 52 and Brandt Street is PTH 12. The province owns and runs every traffic signal in the city, so council's tools there are data, lobbying and paying a share of upgrades.
- Council has used those tools. It pays for a traffic count every year and sends it to the province, and it split the cost of an $11.2M rebuild of the Loewen Blvd and PTH 12 intersection, which reopened in November 2025. Its push also got badly timed signals on PTH 12 fixed in 2023.
- Results from the province come slowly. Signals at PTH 52 and Giesbrecht St met the standard in 2021 and were requested in February 2022. They were switched on in October 2026. A 2024 request for flashing crosswalk lights on Main and Brandt has no recorded outcome.
- On its own streets, council has no plan. There is no transportation master plan. Council rejected a 3-way stop at Loewen and Hespeler 3–4, and the roundabout the mayor prefers isn't in any published budget. Staff say there is no money for a traffic-calming study, and speeding is treated as a police matter.
- Peers plan and charge for traffic growth more directly. Cochrane, Alberta, has a transportation master plan and charges developers for highway intersections. Brandon added a transportation charge on development in 2025, and Niverville is sharing a $17.65M road rebuild with a roundabout with the province.
Part 1 · The council record
Whose roads?
Steinbach's two busiest corridors are provincial highways: PTH 12 (Brandt Street, north–south) and PTH 52 (Main Street, east–west). Under Manitoba's Transportation Infrastructure Act the province runs, maintains and controls those roads, including where they cross city streets. The city is responsible for the sidewalks, sewers and water lines under and beside them. The province is the “traffic authority” that decides on signals on its highways; the city decides on its own streets. The two can share costs by agreement (Transportation Infrastructure Act, s. 3, 15, 18; Highway Traffic Act).
“the province is responsible for everything above ground, the city is responsible for everything underground, because those are our utilities.”
Councillor Jac Siemens · May 21, 2024 · 0:23:00
The city's busiest intersection, PTH 12 at Main Street, handled nearly 3,500 vehicles an hour at the evening peak in the 2025 count (SteinbachOnline). The city has paid for counts on both highways for decades. In 2024 its head engineer said: “All traffic signals in Steinbach are owned and operated by the province” (SteinbachOnline).
What council has done
Counting traffic and lobbying the province
“Every year we— the city commissions a traffic study, and the reason is that because we're a fast-growing city and one of the fastest-growing cities in in the province, we know that traffic continues to be a major issue.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · Feb 15, 2022 · 0:22:24
“This is not something the city was required to do. This is something that our city has chosen to do because it is an effective way of getting accurate information that we can then use when we're lobbying the province for improvements.”
Michael Zwaagstra, Deputy Mayor (chairing) · Mar 5, 2024 · 0:17:31
“Some of the complaints I've heard are due to the amount of time it takes to drive through Steinbach on any given day, especially during peak hours.…The left-hand turn at Superstore Co-op intersection allows only 6 cars through when there's often 10 or more cars stacked up in the turning lane.”
Councillor Jac Siemens · Jan 3, 2023 · 0:19:46
“there were several intersections that were found to have programming for the existing signals that, for whatever reason, had become locked into certain cycles inappropriately.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager, reporting the province's fix · May 2, 2023 · 0:28:00
Rebuilding PTH 12 intersections with the province
“It's the last of the major intersections along Highway 12 that we are seeing undergo significant upgrades.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, on the Loewen Blvd intersection · Mar 15, 2022 · 0:15:50
“we had to postpone and postpone and postpone. And now we are finally doing it.”
Mayor Earl Funk, awarding the $9.98M contract · May 21, 2024 · 0:25:53
“If it was not growing, we wouldn't need to upgrade Highway 12 because the traffic would just stay at the same level.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:31:04
The Loewen Blvd and PTH 12 rebuild was estimated at about $8M in 2021 and ended at about $11.2M: $5.1M from the province and $6.1M from the city, of which $3M was borrowed over five years (SteinbachOnline). It reopened fully on November 24, 2025. Separately, the province is spending $24M to resurface PTH 12 north of Park Road and add paved shoulders, due to finish in fall 2026. That work doesn't add lanes (City of Steinbach).
Safety on city streets
“mainly because of the extra RCMP officer that we're putting in place for this year in order to deal with traffic issues in our city.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, on the 2022 tax increase · May 3, 2022 · 0:04:56
“Reducing speed to 30 kilometers an hour certainly does affect traffic flow.…I think it makes more sense to err on the side of safety.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, approving a school zone at Southwood School · Aug 5, 2025 · 0:17:00
Follow-through
| Date | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 2022 | Accepted the annual traffic count; asked the province for signals at PTH 52 West and Giesbrecht St in its 2023 program (R22-038) | Signals switched on Oct 2026 |
| Mar 2022 | Borrowing by-law for the PTH 12 (Brandt St) and Loewen Blvd intersection rebuild, shared with the province | Contract $9.98M (May 2024); open Nov 2025; total about $11.2M, city share about $6.1M |
| May 2022 | Budget includes an extra RCMP officer, mainly for traffic | Dedicated traffic officer in place |
| Jan 2023 | Asked staff to meet the province about badly timed signals on PTH 12 | Province found signals “locked” in the wrong cycles and fixed them (May 2023) |
| Mar 2023 | Park Road West extension, $1.97M, as an alternate north route | Built |
| Feb 2024 | Letter asking the province for flashing crosswalk lights on Main St and Brandt St (R24-040) | Province said it would study them; no outcome recorded |
| Apr 2024 | Motion for a 3-way stop at Loewen Blvd and Hespeler St | Defeated 3–4; mayor prefers a future roundabout |
| Jan 2025 | Traffic By-law 2254: one by-law for speed limits and school zones; higher fines | Adopted |
| May 2025 | Active Transportation Plan accepted (R25-096) | About $11M over 20 years; items depend on yearly budgets |
| Aug 2025 | 30 km/h school zone on Kroeker Ave at Southwood School (R25-154) | Approved |
| Feb 2026 | Accepted the 2025 traffic count, which recommends retiming three PTH 12 intersections (R26-037) | Up to the province |
| Apr 2026 | Park Hill School parents' traffic-safety request sent to staff | Report expected by summer; none at a recorded meeting by Sept 15 |
Their reasons for not doing more
1“It's a provincial highway”
“Obviously, this is not directly within city jurisdiction because this is a provincial highway, but I think that by the city adding its voice to the request and letting the province know about it, and also the fact that this will also get into the news, I think these are all good, good ways of adding profile to the request.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, on flashing crosswalk lights · Feb 20, 2024 · 0:26:33
“the provincial trunk highways, if there are signals located on them, their department policy is, for instance, not to permit flashing yellows at signalized intersections.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager · Mar 21, 2023 · 0:41:08
“Where traffic impact studies typically are required and What's specified within the city's planning policy is with respect to impacts on PTH 12 or Brant Street and also on PTH 52 or Main Street. That is generally a matter that Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure focuses on.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager · Dec 16, 2025 · 0:34:07
The jurisdiction is real: the province decides on signals, signal timing and crossings on PTH 12 and 52. But the law also lets the province and a municipality share costs on a highway by agreement (Transportation Infrastructure Act, s. 15), which is how the Loewen rebuild was paid for. Selkirk and Portage la Prairie have rebuilt their highway main streets the same way.
2Waiting on the province
“The latest update that administration has received from that office is that budget funding was not available to see that project be completed in 2023. However, it has been scheduled for 2024.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager, on the Giesbrecht St signals · Mar 21, 2023 · 0:31:26
“We do not, other than we can confirm that MTI's engineering department has nearly completed the design of the proposed work to be done. However, we have not been provided a confirmed date of actual install.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager · Mar 18, 2025 · 1:33:00
“the signalization there, that was first, I think, recognized in 2021. And now we're 5 years in, 2026, and we still don't have signal lights there.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Feb 17, 2026 · 0:20:30
“This has been promised for years and the province keeps moving that.…it's a point of frustration for many of us over many years that the lights never seem to be properly synchronized.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · Feb 17, 2026 · 0:21:48
When council approved a rezoning near the intersection in 2022, despite a Loewen Windows representative (J.S.) warning that “Traffic is frequently backed up and stopped on the highway and on Geestryck Street, causing a safety concern.” (Nov 1, 2022, 0:29:38), a councillor said the lights “will be up well in advance” of the project (Damian Penner, 0:52:46). They were switched on on October 13, 2026 (SteinbachOnline). A resident, B.B., told council in 2024 that after three years there was still no answer from the province on crosswalk lights: “I probably never will” (Feb 20, 2024, 0:23:30).
3Deferring to engineering standards and the police
“The reason that we hire experts to do this kind of analysis using standards and in evaluating the overall situation is so that we don't end up with the law of unintended consequences.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, against a 3-way stop at Loewen and Hespeler · Apr 16, 2024 · 0:34:51
“The reality is there's rush hour times in every community and city.”
Councillor Susan Penner · Apr 16, 2024 · 0:38:38
“And I was the one who has been promoting a roundabout in the first place, and we had that opportunity 2 years ago when we had the corner ripped apart.”
Councillor Jac Siemens, for the 3-way stop · Apr 16, 2024 · 0:40:17
“If there are concerns about traffic disobeying the posted speed limit, this should be considered an enforcement issue and dealt with by the RCMP.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager, on a resident's speeding complaint · Feb 18, 2025 · 0:48:36
Council split 3–4 on the Loewen–Hespeler stop (for: Siemens, Jake Hiebert, Bill Hiebert; against: Zwaagstra, Damian Penner, Susan Penner, Funk). The city's head engineer called the corner “a good candidate for a roundabout” and warned that a city-run signal there would be the city's first. Winkler rejected a 4-way stop for the same reason, queues backing onto a highway, and built a roundabout instead (Pembina Valley Online, 2017).
4No budget and no plan for city streets
“I think the best plan is probably to keep working and get the roundabout in our long-term capital plan and get that project done.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Apr 16, 2024 · 0:41:21
“traditionally the city would seek the services of an outside consultant to evaluate other measures. That would come with a cost.…there is no budget funding approved for that type of initiative.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager, on traffic calming · Jan 21, 2025 · 0:33:51
“They are presented more for general consideration by city administration and city council. It would be subject to further considerations and perhaps budget funding.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager, on the traffic consultant's recommendations · Feb 17, 2026 · 0:19:50
The 2026 financial plan's only road item is $2.2M for road surface renewal and the Stone Bridge Crossing; capital for 2027–29 is given only as yearly totals, with no intersection named (2026 Financial Plan). No city-wide transportation master plan was found.
5Development first, roads after
“And some of these things take time because as development comes, we let the development happen and then we can work on the road system.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Sept 6, 2022 · 0:24:23
“But specifically to Old Tom and Lowen Boulevard, it's been talked about, it's part of our long-term planning strategies. There's not a definitive plan.”
Councillor Jac Siemens · Sept 6, 2022 · 1:19:40
“What I would like you to do is to do a traffic count. And don't do it while the road is closed under construction.…Because at 4:30, 5 o'clock, 8 o'clock in the morning, 8:30, I have a hard time getting off my driveway.”
D.E., resident of Loewen Blvd · Sept 6, 2022 · 0:27:23
“Has a traffic impact assessment been completed? Has the city evaluated whether the existing road network can safely accommodate the increased vehicle volume?”
D.J., resident, at a rezoning hearing · Jul 21, 2026 · 0:15:08
Steinbach's development fees do help pay for “arterial road expansions” (SteinbachOnline, 2023). But a traffic impact study is generally required only when a development affects PTH 12 or 52, so residents asking about city streets have usually been told none is required.
6“Traffic comes to Steinbach”: no bypass, and a car-first city
“I always get that, why isn't Steinbach building a bypass to help with the traffic? But we see when in this, these reports, we see every year when we do these, we see traffic comes to Steinbach, it doesn't go through Steinbach. So a bypass Doesn't make sense to me.”
Councillor Jac Siemens · Feb 17, 2026 · 0:24:02
“But we also realize that we are the automobile city and we do have to make sure that our vehicles still have a place on the road.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Apr 1, 2025 · 0:46:15
“Our planning has always been in our community, like many communities, is how do we move the vehicles? It's not how do we move people outside of vehicles.”
Councillor Jac Siemens · May 6, 2025 · 0:58:35
The province said in 2018 it had no plans for a bypass (SteinbachOnline). If most trips start or end in Steinbach, the alternatives are better signal timing, more connecting streets, and ways to make short trips without a car. Council's 2025 Active Transportation Plan is a first step; for buses, see Can Steinbach have transit?
Part 2 · How Steinbach compares
Scorecard
Strong ahead of or matching good practice On par typical practice Partial started, with gaps Gap common elsewhere, not done here
| Measure | Steinbach | What others do | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic data | Pays for a yearly count of 20 highway intersections and sends it to the province. | The province publishes highway counts but warns its town counts aren't adjusted for season. | Strong |
| Cost-shared highway upgrades | Loewen Blvd and PTH 12 rebuilt with the province ($11.2M, city $6.1M); earlier PTH 12 intersections were cost-shared under a provincial urban highway fund. | Niverville and the province are sharing a $17.65M PR 311 rebuild; Portage la Prairie funded a $25M rebuild of its highway main street with federal and provincial money. | On par |
| Getting provincial fixes | Signal retiming in 2023; Giesbrecht signals about 4.5 years from request to switch-on; crosswalk lights pending since 2024. | Depends on provincial budgets everywhere in Manitoba. | Partial |
| Transportation master plan | None found; an older highway access plan and a 2025 Active Transportation Plan. | Cochrane, Alberta, has one (2017); Okotoks is preparing one; Brandon has a road network plan written with the province. | Gap |
| City-street intersections | One roundabout; Loewen–Hespeler stop rejected; roundabout not budgeted. | Winkler built a roundabout to stop queues backing onto a highway. | Partial |
| Developers paying for traffic | Development fees include arterial roads; traffic studies only for highway impacts. | Brandon (2025) and Cochrane charge developers specifically for road and intersection upgrades; Morden's lot levy has a roads charge. | Partial |
| Alternatives to driving | Active Transportation Plan (about $11M over 20 years) but no transit and a “automobile city” stance. | Okotoks approved a 10-year active transportation plan in 2025 alongside its road plan. | Partial |
Key findings
1Council does what it can on the highways, but results are slow
The province really does control PTH 12 and 52 (reason 1), and council has used the tools it has: its own data, letters, cost-sharing and public pressure. That produced the Loewen rebuild and the 2023 signal fix. But the Giesbrecht signals took four and a half years from request to switch-on, and the 2022 rezoning went ahead on a promise they would come first (reason 2). There is no standing agreement with the province on the corridor, only project-by-project requests.
2On the streets it controls, there's no plan
For city streets, decisions are made one complaint at a time: a stop sign rejected, a roundabout hoped for, speeding passed to the RCMP, and no budget for traffic-calming advice (reasons 3 and 4). Peers with a transportation master plan can say in advance which intersections get upgraded, when, and who pays.
3Growth adds traffic before roads catch up
Council's approach is to let development come first and fix roads afterwards (reason 5). Development fees cover some arterial road costs, but traffic effects of new subdivisions on city streets are rarely studied, and residents at hearings repeatedly asked for counts and studies that weren't required. With population projected to roughly double in 20 years (see Steinbach in 10 to 20 years), that gap grows.
Peer municipalities
| Municipality | Approach | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Brandon, MB | Transportation development charge for road and intersection upgrades (By-law 7397, 2025); road network plan written with the province | City of Brandon |
| Winkler, MB | First roundabout (15th St and Roblin Blvd) chosen over a 4-way stop to keep queues off PTH 14 | Pembina Valley Online |
| Morden, MB | Capital lot levy includes a roads charge (By-law 07-2023) | By-law 07-2023 |
| Niverville, MB | $17.65M PR 311 rebuild cost-shared with the province ($9.65M provincial), with a roundabout and improved signals | Town of Niverville |
| Portage la Prairie, MB | $25M Saskatchewan Ave (PTH 1A) rebuild: $12.5M federal, $8.3M provincial, $4.2M city | ReNew Canada |
| Selkirk, MB | Main Street travel lanes are provincial, curb lanes are the city's; rebuild split accordingly | City of Selkirk |
| Cochrane, AB | Transportation master plan (2017); developers pay off-site levies for roads and highway intersections | Town of Cochrane |
| Steinbach, MB | Annual traffic counts; cost-shared PTH 12 intersections; no transportation master plan | This page |
What “doing all it can” would add
- A transportation master plan covering city streets and both highway corridors, prepared with the province and sized for 35,000–45,000 people, so upgrades are scheduled rather than reactive.
- A corridor agreement with the province for PTH 12 and 52: signal coordination, the Superstore/Co-op and Clearspring timing fixes, and the crosswalk lights, with dates the city can report on.
- Publish the yearly traffic count on the city website, with the province's response to each recommendation.
- Decide on Loewen and Hespeler: put the roundabout in the capital plan with a year and cost, or adopt an interim measure.
- Require traffic studies for large developments that load city arterials, not only the highways, and consider a road-specific development charge as Brandon and Cochrane have.
- A traffic-calming policy with clear criteria and a small yearly budget, so residents' requests aren't decided case by case.
- Fund early Active Transportation Plan items, such as the PTH 12 crossing at McKenzie Ave, and apply for federal active transportation funding.
About this page
- Transcripts. Meeting quotes come from automatic transcripts of the official videos. The transcription often misspells the city's name; quotes show it correctly as Steinbach. Other words are left as transcribed (“Lowen” is Loewen, “Geestryck” is Giesbrecht, “Brant” is Brandt). Each quote links to its moment in the video.
- Speakers. Every quote is from a speaker identified with high confidence. Council members, city staff and officials are named; residents are identified by initials.
- Decisions. Votes and resolutions were checked against the official minutes.
- Figures. Costs for the Loewen intersection changed over time ($8M estimate in 2021, $9.98M contract, about $11.2M final); the final figure is used. The cost of the Giesbrecht signals hasn't been published.
- Scope. Public transit is covered in a separate report. All 103 regular council meetings from January 2022 to September 15, 2026 were searched; the Giesbrecht signals news is from October 13, 2026.
Sources
Council meetings (official YouTube recordings): Feb 15, 2022 · Mar 15, 2022 · May 3, 2022 · Sept 6, 2022 · Jan 3, 2023 · Mar 21, 2023 · May 2, 2023 · Feb 20, 2024 · Mar 5, 2024 · Apr 16, 2024 · May 21, 2024 · Jan 21, 2025 · Feb 18, 2025 · Mar 4, 2025 · Mar 18, 2025 · Apr 1, 2025 · May 6, 2025 · Aug 5, 2025 · Dec 16, 2025 · Feb 17, 2026 · Jul 21, 2026
- Law: Transportation Infrastructure Act; Highway Traffic Act
- City: 2026 Financial Plan presentation; PTH 12 resurfacing notice; Loewen and PTH 12 reopening
- SteinbachOnline: Giesbrecht signals active (Oct 2026); 2025 traffic study; Loewen intersection cost; Roundabout or signals; Development fees; No bypass plans (2018)
- Earlier PTH 12 cost-sharing: Urban Highway Fund projects (2014)
- Peers: see the peer table; Okotoks active transportation plan; Traffic on Manitoba Highways 2025