Manitoba Highway 75

Provincial Trunk Highway 75
Lord Selkirk Highway French: Route Lord Selkirk
PTH 75 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Manitoba Infrastructure
Length	101 km (63 mi)
Existed	1949[1]–present
Major junctions
South end	I-29 / US 81 at the Pembina–Emerson Border Crossing
Major intersections	PTH 14 PTH 23 in Morris
North end	PTH 100 (TCH) / Route 42 in Winnipeg
Location
Rural municipalities	Emerson – Franklin, Montcalm, Morris, Ritchot
Major cities	Winnipeg
Towns	Morris
Highway system
Manitoba provincial highways Winnipeg City Routes ← PTH 68 → PTH 77

Provincial Trunk Highway 75 (PTH 75, also officially known as the Lord Selkirk Highway) is a major highway in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is the main link between the city of Winnipeg and the United States border, where it connects with Interstate 29/U.S. Route 81 (I-29/US 81).

Route description[]

The highway, which is part of Canada's National Highway System, begins at the Pembina-Emerson Border Crossing and runs approximately 101 kilometres (63 miles) north, along on the west side of the Red River, to Winnipeg where it connects with Pembina Highway (Winnipeg Route 42). The northern end of PTH 75 is its junction with Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway, which is part of the Trans-Canada Highway system.^[2][3] PTH 75 is also part of an International Mid-Continent Trade Corridor, a network of highways and rail lines that connects cities in central regions of North America.

The entire route is a four-lane divided highway, but access is not fully controlled. Proposals exist to upgrade the highway to an expressway or freeway standard, with bypasses at the town of Morris and Winnipeg neighbourhood of St. Norbert.

Speed limits[]

On February 27, 2008 the Manitoba Highway Traffic Board approved a request by the Government of Manitoba to raise the speed limit on PTH 75 to 110 km/h (70 mph).^[4] The speed limit change took effect on July 1, 2009, with the speed limit raised to 110 km/h (70 mph) from St. Jean Baptiste to the Canada-U.S. border. The remainder of the highway continues to have a speed limit of 100 km/h (60 mph) except in urban areas.^[5]

• U.S. border to St. Jean Baptiste: 110 km/h (70 mph)
• Morris: 50–80 km/h (30–50 mph)
• Remainder of highway: 100 km/h (60 mph)

History[]

The PTH 75 route originated as the Pembina Trail, which was used to travel between the Selkirk Settlement and Fort Pembina during the 19th century. The provincial government commemorated this by designating the road as the Lord Selkirk Highway in 1962.^[6] By the early 20th century, the trail evolved into the Canadian leg of the Jefferson Highway leading from Winnipeg to New Orleans.

The highway was originally designated as PTH 14 when Manitoba introduced the highway numbering system in 1920.^[7] It was re-numbered to PTH 75 in 1949 as, at the time, it connected with US 75 at the Noyes–Emerson East Border Crossing and it was common practice for Manitoba to match highway numbers with connecting U.S. routes.^[1] Coinciding with the renumbering, the section between Emerson and Letellier was replaced with a more direct route approximately three kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the original one along the Red River.^[8] Further changes occurred in the 1950s when a more direct route was constructed in the Rural Municipality of Ritchot and bypasses were added around the communities of Ste. Agathe and St. Jean Baptiste.^[8]

PTH 75 was gradually converted to a divided four-lane highway between 1985 and 1994 except within the Town of Morris and a three-kilometre (1.9 mi) section between the Emerson East border station and (former) PTH 29 junction near the West Lynne (now Emerson) border station. The closure of the Noyes and Emerson East border stations (Canada in 2003; the U.S. in 2006) relegated PTH 75's southern terminus a dead-end at the border; thus, PTH 75 was re-routed to its present southern terminus (superseding PTH 29) in 2012. Most of the short decommissioned section of PTH 75 was added to Provincial Road 200. Motorists now wishing to travel US 75 are required to detour through Pembina, North Dakota via I-29, North Dakota Highway 59, and Minnesota State Highway 171.^[9]

In 2020, the Canadian and Manitoba governments completed reconstruction of PTH 75's approach to the Emerson border crossing to accommodate future expansion at the port of entry. This included the removal of the old PTH 75/PR 200 (former PTH 29/75) intersection near the border and extending PR 200 to its new southern terminus further away from the border.^[10] The Manitoba government also has future plans to reroute PTH 75 around the Winnipeg neighborhood of St. Norbert and connect it to Winnipeg Route 90 (Kenaston Boulevard).^[11]

Flooding issues[]

PTH 75's proximity to the flood-prone Red River causes closures of the highway during spring flooding. The town of Morris is one of the most problematic areas, as the town is forced to close off the dikes surrounding the town, thereby cutting off PTH 75. These closures have a significant impact on the trucking industry, as PTH 75 is the primary transportation route between Winnipeg and the United States. The Manitoba Trucking Association estimates the closing of the highway costs the industry $1.5 million CAD per week. The closures also have a significant impact on Morris businesses that depend on travelers passing through town.^[12][13] Several solutions have been considered to fix the ongoing problem, including the building of new bridges and raising of roadways along PTH 75.^[14][15] In June 2020, the Manitoba government unveiled a plan to upgrade a portion of PR 246 to utilize it as a bypass when the dike at the north end of Morris is closed.^[16]

Major intersections[]

This is the travel route for Provincial Trunk Highway 75 (PTH 75) from south to north:

Division	Location	km	mi	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Emerson – Franklin	Emerson	0	0.0	Canada – United States border at Pembina–Emerson Border Crossing I-29 / US 81 continues into North Dakota towards Grand Forks
		0.5	0.31		PR 200 north – Emerson	Formerly PTH 75 south to US 75 and northern terminus of PTH 29 (1949–2012); junction closed in 2019
		2	1.2		PR 243 west (Post Road / Boundary Commission Trail) – Gretna PR 200 north – Emerson, Dominion City	[17]
Montcalm	​	15	9.3		west –
	Letellier	19	12		PR 201 – Altona, Letellier, Dominion City
	​	26	16		PTH 14 west – Winkler, Morden, Plum Coulee
	St. Jean Baptiste	35	22		PR 246 north – St. Jean Baptiste	PR 246 bridge over Red River permanently closed, no access to PR 246 north of St. Jean Baptiste
Town of Morris		45	28		PTH 23 east (Montreal Avenue)	Southern end of PTH 23 concurrency
		46	29		PTH 23 west (Boyne Avenue) – Baldur, Miami, Ninette	Northern end of PTH 23 concurrency
Morris	​	48	30		PR 330 north – Domain, La Salle
		59	37		PR 205 – Rosenort, Aubigny, St. Pierre-Jolys
Ritchot	Ste. Agathe	73	45		PR 305 – Brunkild, Ste. Agathe, Niverville
	Glenlea	82	51		Glenlea Road	Formerly north
	​	87	54		PR 210 east – St. Adolphe, Ste. Anne, Landmark	Formerly PR 429 east
	Howden	92	57		west – La Salle
City of Winnipeg		98	61		Turnbull Drive	Southern end of Route 42 concurrency
		101	63	94	PTH 100 (TCH) (Perimeter Highway / Trans-Canada Highway) – Brandon, Kenora	Interchange; northern end of Route 42 concurrency; signed as exits 94A (east) and 94B (west); PTH 100 exit 18
				Pembina Highway (Route 42) continues towards Downtown Winnipeg
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also[]

• List of Manitoba expressways
• Red River Trails

References[]

External links[]

Route map: