Tories reverse decision to dump Pinegrove rest stop

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This article was published 30/05/2018 (2304 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government has backed down on its decision to close the Pinegrove Rest Area and will also reopen a public rest area it closed last week near Piney in southeastern Manitoba.

Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler told question period Thursday that Pinegrove will remain open, and infrastructure for the Menisino rest stop on Highway 12 south of Steinbach will be returned.

The Menisino rest stop was closed days after Schuler told reporters last week he wasn’t contemplating closing any other rest stops other than Pinegrove. The portable toilets, picnic tables and fire pit were removed from the Menisino site and a “closed” sign was put up.

The government’s decision Thursday follows a 10-day blitz by Wayne and Penny Lovenuk, the former owners of Zack’s Burger Bus that was located at Pinegrove, to save the Trans-Canada Highway rest stop. The Lovenuks ran both a social-media petition and a written petition, which they presented to the government.

“We’re Joe Nobody, and the satisfaction that even someone like us were able to make something happen is unbelievable,” said Penny.

The Lovenuks also credited the Manitoba Trucking Association, which has had several conversations with the government since the announcement last week that the popular bathroom and break stop would close in the fall.

“I think it’s great,” said Terry Shaw, association executive director. “There was a public outcry, there was a lot of attention to this in the media, and there was an industry concern raised about safety.”

Commercial truck drivers often park at Pinegrove to rest or check their loads and trucks. Many will spend the night. Convoys of large trucks often line the road into the rest area at night.

Shaw credited the government for listening to other viewpoints.

“Kudos to them for recognizing the opportunity to take a step back and change course,” Shaw said.

The government gave notification about two weeks ago that the Pinegrove rest area, the only public rest stop on the Trans-Canada Highway between Winnipeg and Ontario, would be closed. Schuler said the rest stop would be closed in September and demolished. The reason given was its lagoon needs replacing at a cost of $1.6 million.

Schuler did not say on Thursday what will be done about the lagoon. The RM of Reynolds shares the Pinegrove lagoon.

In a statement to the Steinbach Carillon weekly newspaper this week, the province blamed the former government for the closure, calling it “the NDP plan.”

“As part of the previous NDP government’s plan to close 12 of 17 rest areas across the province, Pinegrove was one of two remaining that had not yet been closed,” the province said in an email to the Carillon.

The Lovenuks collected more than 7,000 names on their online petition, many of which came with pointed comments.

“I’m thrilled they’ve put a stop to it,” Wayne said. It got a lot of use, he said. “There were always people there.”

As to whether he will set up Zack’s Burger Bus, Wayne said he has sold the bus and doesn’t know the new owner’s plans.

“We would like to thank everyone who supported us and voted on the online petition and wrote letters to the minister’s office. We’re really happy that highway safety is going to be protected,” said Penny.

Some businesses were also bracing for an influx of motorists wanting to use their washrooms without making a purchase.

Melanie Parent, a councillor for the RM of Piney where the Menisino rest stop is located, said it seemed as though government departments were at odds with each other.

“The government has been spending more dollars on tourism and then they go and remove some tourism infrastructure that I’m pretty sure was low-cost,” she said.

She cited Plan 96/4 where the province has committed to reinvesting four per cent of taxes collected from tourism back into the sector, as an indication of the province’s greater commitment to tourism. Closing rest stops runs contrary to that agenda, she said.

The Menisino rest area doesn’t have running water like Pinegrove and is only open six months of the year but still gets a lot of use, Parent said.

“In the summer, you would always see people there. You drive by, you’d see people camping there, cyclists stopping, people having picnics. It’s a nice little area,” she said.

The “closed” sign at Menisino came down Thursday afternoon and the infrastructure was returned shortly after the Free Press asked the province for an explanation for its closing.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca