Canada news today — Manitoba highway buckling in 2026 caused serious damage across the province on Sunday July 13 as a brutal heat wave pushed temperatures into the mid-thirties and caused concrete roads to expand, heave, and violently break apart. At least seven highways were affected including the Trans-Canada and the Perimeter Highway near Winnipeg. One driver watched his gas tank get punctured by chunks of broken concrete. Emergency maintenance crews across the city could not keep up with the demand.
By Maplestime News Desk | Winnipeg, Manitoba | September 19, 2026
Sources: CBC News, CAA Manitoba, Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure | Last updated: September 19, 2026
Key Takeaways
- At least seven Manitoba highways experienced buckling and blowups on Sunday July 13 during the province’s extreme heat wave
- Affected roads: Highway 7, Highway 8, Highway 30, Highway 59 South, Highway 75, the Trans-Canada, and the west Perimeter Highway near Winnipeg
- The west Perimeter was closed between Saskatchewan Avenue and the Trans-Canada — one of Winnipeg’s busiest outer routes
- Garth Thomson’s 2011 Mustang had its gas tank punctured by broken concrete on the Perimeter; the fire department managed the gas leak
- CAA Manitoba received at least 892 roadside assistance calls province-wide as of Monday afternoon — up 10% over a typical heat period
One Driver. One Big Bang. One Very Bad Sunday.
Garth Thomson wasn’t expecting trouble when he took his 2011 Mustang convertible north on the Perimeter Highway just past Assiniboia Downs near CentrePort Canada Way shortly after 4 PM on Sunday.
The car ahead of him moved. That’s when he saw it — a large hole sitting in the middle of the road.
“So I swerved to miss the most of it. I heard a large bang, bang, and thought I better pull over and have a look,” he said.
What he found wasn’t good. Several other vehicles had already pulled over. Many had flat tires. People were walking around their cars looking confused and frustrated in thirty-seven degree heat.
Then Thomson noticed something worse. Gas was pouring out from under his car.
He called the fire department. They came and got the road blocked off. Then Thomson waited two hours for a tow truck in the full force of a Manitoba summer heat wave.
“It took a beating,” he said simply.
Thomson believes his car hit loose chunks of concrete that had broken away from the road surface — and those chunks punched straight through his gas tank. The damage also left an oil patch on the ground from his engine. His car was one of many caught out by a phenomenon Manitoba’s infrastructure simply wasn’t ready for at that scale on that day.
Why Roads Buckle in Extreme Heat
Concrete roads are built with expansion joints — small gaps between sections of pavement designed to give the concrete somewhere to go when it expands in warm temperatures. Under normal summer conditions, the concrete expands by day and contracts overnight, and the joints absorb the movement.
But Manitoba’s heat wave pushed temperatures well beyond what the joints were designed to handle. When air temperatures significantly rise, concrete pavement can expand beyond the available space at the joints, a Manitoba government spokesperson explained. When the concrete runs out of room — it goes somewhere anyway. It pushes upward. The surface heaves, cracks, and in severe cases like the Perimeter Highway on Sunday, breaks apart violently and throws chunks of concrete onto the driving surface.
Although buckling isn’t common, it can happen during extreme heat and it can happen fast. Michelle Stainton, the City of Winnipeg’s project management engineer with public works, put the danger plainly: “It’s an emergency repair.”
Concrete roads — and especially sidewalks — are more susceptible to heat buckling than asphalt, which is why drivers in older parts of Winnipeg with concrete pavement noticed more problems on Sunday than those on newer asphalt roads.
Seven Highways. One City Overwhelmed.
A Manitoba government spokesperson confirmed that highways 7, 8, 30, 59 South, and 75, along with the Trans-Canada, all experienced blowups and buckling during the heat wave. The province said all highway and road closures due to buckling have since been resolved — but the repair work was significant and the traffic disruption was real across multiple major routes simultaneously.
Inside Winnipeg, the city’s public works department was dealing with its own crisis. Emergency maintenance crews could not keep up with the demand, said Julie Horbal Dooley, a city public works spokesperson. They continue to respond.
Winnipeg doesn’t formally track the number of buckled roads it deals with annually — but the response was immediate. “We’ll definitely get out there immediately and barricade it,” Stainton said.
Given the increased intensity and length of heat waves, Stainton said the city is paying attention to the broader infrastructure challenge. “It’s not new” — but the frequency and severity of events like Sunday’s are increasing in a way that demands a more systematic response.
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Your Car Is Also at Risk
The roads weren’t the only things struggling. Richard Porco, owner of West Kildonan Auto Service, said at least ten cars have come in needing cooling system repairs since the heat wave began. In a normal hot spell, that number would be a handful over the same period.
At 37 degrees Celsius, the interior of a parked car can reach 40 to 50 degrees. Cooling systems under that kind of sustained load fail more frequently. Engines overheat. Drivers get stuck on the side of the road in dangerous conditions.
Porco’s advice for Manitoba drivers: check your coolant levels before every long drive, make sure your radiator is clear of debris, and verify your tires are properly inflated. That last point matters more than most realize — CAA Manitoba says tire pressure actually increases in summer heat, the opposite of winter, and over-inflated tires are more vulnerable to failure when they hit road damage like Sunday’s buckling.
CAA Manitoba received at least 892 roadside assistance calls across the province as of Monday afternoon — a 10% increase compared to a typical period, said Kaitlynn Furse, CAA Manitoba’s communications director. The majority were for battery calls, breakdowns, and tire issues.
Furse also urged drivers to prepare for being stranded: pack an emergency kit with extra food and water, keep your phone charged, and keep your gas tank at least half full in case you run into anything unexpected.
What Manitoba Drivers Should Do
Before getting on any highway in Manitoba during a heat wave: Check your tires — pressure increases in heat; don’t drive on over-inflated tires. Check your coolant — top it up; a cooling failure in 37-degree heat on a closed highway is a genuine safety emergency. Keep your gas tank above half — if you’re stuck waiting for a tow, you need fuel to run the AC. Pack water — more than you think; a two-hour wait in direct Manitoba sun in July is serious heat exposure. Drive slowly on unfamiliar roads — buckled sections can appear without warning; leave space so you can react the way Thomson did rather than hitting damage head-on. Report damage immediately — call 511 in Manitoba; the faster crews know, the faster they can barricade and repair.
Maplestime will provide updates from Manitoba’s heat wave and highway damage as reports come in.
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