Regina Bypass completion at 43%, Phase 1 on track for fall
Construction crews are moving ahead despite winter weather, water and mud
Despite some delays due to weather, the Regina Bypass project has been moving along over the winter and is almost halfway complete.
“We are well underway,” said Darrell Trapp, Area 2 manager.
The bypass, now 43 per cent complete, is the largest transportation project in the province’s history. The scope of the project consists of 12 overpasses, 38 bridges, 45 kilometres of new four-lane highway, 21.4 kilometres of resurfaced four-lane highway and 54.4 kilometres of new service roads.
The first phase, which extends from Highway 33 to Balgonie, will open in the fall.
Phase 2, which runs from Highway 11 in the north to Highway 33 in the south, will open in 2019.
“At the end of the year, we will see that whole east side substantially done,” said David Stearns, executive director of major projects for the Ministry of Highways. “The interchanges will open up at Balgonie and White City. There will be part of the interchange opened up at Pilot Butte and Tower Road.”
The opening of the interchanges will alleviate some of the congestion on Victoria Avenue East, but divert more to Arcola Avenue for the next two years.
“That will sort out once the rest of the bypass project is done in 2019,” Stearns said.
Once the entire bypass is complete in 2019, it is estimated that 70 per cent of traffic, mostly trucks, will be diverted south of the city rather than along Victoria Avenue East.
“It will not only improve the overall safety of the road, but from a congestion relief point of view, there will be a safety improvement overall,” Stearns said. “We have a very good handle on for what we anticipate for traffic and what this bypass will do to alleviate congestion.”
The project has been hit with several challenges from Mother Nature over the past six months.
“The winter weather has impacted us a bit. We are dealing with mud and it is tougher to get around,” Trapp said. “We (also) found that the ground around the area is very unpredictable. There is water and Regina clay is a challenge to work and deal with. We are very much experiencing that.”
Construction on the stretch from the Trans-Canada Highway interchange to the Highway 6 interchange is 50 per cent complete and work is ramping up at the Highway 6 interchange to build two new bridges.
“We are just getting started on the two bridges here. Highway 6 will also be twinned from Regina to the south here,” Trapp said. “The goal is to get at least one of the bridges open for the summer or this fall so we can stage and get the twinning construction completed.”
Construction is also moving along at the Highway 11, 9th Avenue North and Dewdney Avenue interchanges, which involves 13 bridges.
“We have started on the bridge works and we have constructed the sub-structure (at the Highway 11 interchange),” said Dave Callander, Area 1 project manager for structures. “Later this year, there will be girders and bridge decks at this bridge and other bridges in area 1.”
Area 1, like the other areas of the bypass construction, has not been immune to the challenges of the weather. “It has been a cold winter which is good for us in terms of earth moving, but not so favourable for bridges,” Callander said.