Manitoba Highway 17

Highway 17
Route information
Length:	127 km (79 mi)
Existed:	1977 – present
Major junctions
South end:	PTH 9 near Winnipeg Beach
North end:	PR 325 near Hodgson
Location
Towns:	Teulon, Inwood, Fisher Branch
Highway system
Manitoba provincial highways ← PTH 16A PTH 18 →

Provincial Trunk Highway 17 (PTH 17) is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It runs from an intersection with PR 325 near Hodgson to an intersection with PTH 9 near Gimli.

The majority of the route is paved, with a gravel section between PTH 8 and PTH 9. The speed limit is 100 km/h (60 mph).

The route can be very dangerous as thousands of snakes cross PTH 17 to get to/from the Narcisse Snake Pits. Once the snakes are run over, the road can become very slippery. To help counter this, a series of 'garter-snake fences' were built in this area.

History

Prior to 1964, Highway 17 was the designation of the route connecting PTH 3 near Crystal City to the Canada - US border. This highway is now the southernmost section of PTH 34.^[1]

PTH 17 was designated to its current route in 1977. Prior to this, the route was the northern configuration of PTH 7 between 1956 and 1966^[2] before it was reconfigured to its current route. After PTH 7 was reconfigured to Arborg, the route was redesignated as PTH 16. The route number was changed to its current designation when the Manitoba portion of the Yellowhead Highway was changed from PTH 4 to PTH 16 so that the route maintained one number throughout the four western provinces.^[3]

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. Manitoba Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Manitoba Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation. 1961. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
2. Manitoba Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Manitoba Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation. 1964–1965. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
3. Manitoba Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Manitoba Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation. 1971. Retrieved March 6, 2015.