Manitoba Highway 44

Provincial Trunk Highway 44 (PTH 44) is an east-west provincial highway in the Eastman Region of the Canadian province of Manitoba.

It begins at Highway 9 near Lockport, north of Winnipeg. The highway travels east through Beausejour before heading southeast in concurrency with Highway 11 for approximately 20 km and then continues southeast through Whiteshell Provincial Park. PTH 44 ends at the Trans-Canada Highway near the Ontario boundary. It is a substandard highway through Whiteshell Park, more comparable to a Provincial Road with little to no shoulder and an uneven driving surface. The speed limit along Highway 44 is 100 kph outside Whiteshell Park and between 60 kph and 90 kph within the park.

Route description
PTH 44 begins in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews at an intersection with PTH 9 in Lockport, with the road heading southeast as a two-lane highway through neighborhoods to have an intersection with PR 238 (River Road) and cross the Red River via the St. Andrews Caméré Curtain Bridge Dam. The highway enters the Rural Municipality of St. Clements, passing by Lockport Provincial Park and several businesses, where it has a short concurrency (overlap) with PR 204 (Henderson Highway) as it crosses the Red River Floodway to leave Lockport. After PR 204 splits off at an interchange, PTH 44 heads east to pass through Kirkness, where it has an interchange with PTH 59 and widens to a four lane divided highway. It has an intersection with PR 206 just prior to traveling through Highland Glen, where it junctions with PR 212.

PTH 44 enters the Rural Municipality of Brokenhead as it travels through Garson and Tyndall, becoming concurrent with PTH 12 and the two run along the northern edge of the town of Beausejour, where PTH 44 splits off and heads south as a two-lane. PTH 44 runs along the eastern edge of town before heading east at an intersection with Park Avenue and PR 302. It leaves Beausejour, traveling across the Brokenhead River and past the communities of St. Ouens and Golden Bay to start straddling the border between the Rural Municipalities of Lac du Bonnet and Reynolds for the next several kilometers.

PTH 44 travels through woodlands, passing by Molson and Seddons Corner (where it has an intersection with PR 214), before entering the Rural Municipality of Whitemouth at Seigs Corner. The highway begins a concurrency with PTH 11 here and the two head southeast along the banks of the Whitemouth River for several kilometers, having an intersection with PR 408 before passing straight through the town of Whitemouth. PTH 11 / 44 junction with PR 406 just prior to crossing the Whitemouth River, with PTH 11 splitting and heading south towards Elma a short distance later.

The highway enters the Rural Municipality of Reynolds and begins traveling through remote woodlands for the next several kilometers. PTH 44 travels through the community of Rennie before entering Whiteshell Province Park, with the road becoming narrow and windy for the next 31 km after an intersection with PR 307. It joins the La Vérendrye Trail here, traveling through remote sections of the park, junctioning with PR 312 as it goes around the western side of West Hawk Lake. PTH 44 travels through the community of West Hawk Lake, where the highway make a sharp right before coming to an end at an interchange with PTH 1 (Trans-Canada Highway).

History
PTH 44 was originally part of Highway 1. When the new Highway 1 route was completed as part of the Trans-Canada Highway project in 1958, this section became part of transprovincial Highway 4 (along with current Highways 9, 16, and 26). The highway was renumbered to its current designation in 1968.

Related route
Provincial Road 312 (PR 312) is a short 5.5 km east-west spur of PTH 44 located entirely inside Whiteshell Provincial Park, serving as the only road connection to the hamlet of Ingolf, Ontario, as well as several lakes, trails and the Whiteshell Fish Hatchery. It is an paved two-lane road for its entire length.