Watch above: aggressive overnight road construction campaign better for daily commuters
SASKATOON – The City of Saskatoon says 80 per cent of its overnight construction on major roadways has already been completed this season.
Extensive overnight work on Circle Drive, 51st Street, and College Drive has been completed said Mike Gutek, the city’s infrastructure services manager.
The overnight program was made possible due to an increase in funding for rehabilitating roadways from roughly $10.6 million last year to $23.8 million in 2014.
“That was able to give us enough volume so that we could package up enough of these volumes so that it made it economical,” said Gutek.
The city only has to complete overnight work on Millar Avenue and Faithfull Avenue before their list of accelerated construction areas is complete. Gutek said they choose major routes to operate on that were not in residential areas.
“We steer away from road work that would happen at night directly in front of people’s houses and then try to stick to more of the expressway type locations,” he explained.
The congestion alleviated from the overnight work has made driving more pleasant in the city according to a number of residents Global News spoke to. However, the possible safety benefits could outweigh the added driver convenience.
“By lessening traffic flow … you got a smaller chance of hitting someone who’s working on the road,” said Carl Kuhnke, the managing director of the Saskatchewan Centre of Excellence for Transportation and Infrastructure
Kuhnke added that tax payers could also benefit in the wallet, as less accidents mean less health care usage and costs.
“The fewer accidents, the fewer collisions, and the fewer injury accidents that take place on our roads, the better off the health care system is,” he said.
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