The current stall in traffic flow from the west into Portage la Prairie is starting to catch up with local businesses. Portage la Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce president Preston Meier explains.

"We do know that from a business perspective, two things that are extremely important to successful business and growth," says Preston," One, of course, is location. The second is access. We've had a number of business owners that we've reached out to who in turn reached out to us, that have actually been affected by it. We know that the traffic rerouting has been an issue, and has really pushed traffic past Portage."

Meier says businesses have informed him they've seen a 10 percent decrease in traffic flow, which is quite substantial. He notes transactional businesses -- the ones affected by traffic flowing through our city toward Winnipeg -- were affected the most, with some destination businesses also hurt.

He says he understands it takes time to repair the bridge, or replace it according to an announcement several months ago. However, Meier explains they're contacting relevant sources about acquiring some solid answers about how traffic will be rerouted so traffic can flow through the city from the west-end and down through the avenues.

Meier explains they've met with Portage la Prairie MLA Ian Wishart and the City of Portage who are all supportive of the Chamber's position. He says Wishart is meeting with the Minister of infrastructure next week to create some timelines. He says he expects the government already has some ideas in place for timelines, but that needs to be communicated with the business owners. Meier says they're resilient and can overcome obstacles, but they still need to understand what's happening to be able to address it properly.

He notes a meeting's been requested with the City, the RM, the Minister responsible for infrastructure, MLA Wishart and the RCMP to come up with a viable solution as quickly as possible. The meeting will hopefully take place in the next week or two. Meier says they've also discussed the issue with Manitoba Chambers, who are onboard and will receive a report from Portage, based on information from business owners and the appropriate stakeholders involved.

Meier adds a progressive city like Portage needs easy access from both the east and west.