NDP demand meeting with province over Regina bypass plan

REGINA – The Saskatchewan NDP is renewing its call for the Sask. Party to re-think its route for the Regina bypass.

The official opposition party is asking for a meeting with the Sask. Party to discuss their plan for the new Regina bypass route.

“It’s time to cut out partisanship and talk solutions – both for the immediate safety of drivers on Highway 1 east of Regina, and to avoid a $2 billion boondoggle with a bypass in the wrong place,” said NDP deputy leader Trent Wotherspoon.

Under the NDP’s proposed plan, traffic lights would be erected immediately at key intersections along Highway 1 east of Regina and local firms would be hired to immediately start construction on the planned overpasses for that stretch of highway.

READ MORE: Sask. NDP push alternate Regina bypass plan

The NDP is also asking for a full review of potential bypass routes in order to choose the most cost efficient one.

“We want a bypass built around our capital city, but we need it built right, in the right location and for the right price,” said NDP deputy leader Trent Wotherspoon.

The NDP’s proposal would include the following five steps:

• Immediately put traffic lights up at high-risk, high-fatality intersections on Highway 1 East. Area residents have repeatedly requested this as a common-sense, temporary measure to save lives.
• Immediately tender and build the Highway 1 East overpasses. Overpasses needed along this stretch of highway are being delayed by the government’s choice to use a massive P3 deal with a conglomerate from France. The Sask. Party doesn’t plan to complete the P3 project until 2019. By looking to local construction companies to build these desperately needed overpasses, regardless of the eventual bypass route, they will be more affordable and built faster.
• Release all studies on the bypass. So far, the government has only released select, heavily redacted reports.
• Through a transparent and arm’s-length process, evaluate other potential routes using the most up-to-date information. This step should compare an east-south route that actually bypasses the city as well as an east-north route, examining a connection at Highway 46 and Balgonie, against the current $2-billion plan. Any earlier comparisons or studies were clearly inaccurate or incomplete, in that they assumed the current Tower Road route would cost only a fraction of what the government is now planning to pay.
• Compare the full price of the P3 rent-a-road scheme against a straightforward build. This comparison should be verified by an independent body and should not include inflated, bogus “risk” allocations, as independent auditors in Ontario and Saskatchewan have already shown that practice is misleading and far too costly for taxpayers.

The price tag for the proposed Regina bypass project has ballooned in the last few years – from an estimated $400 million in 2013 to nearly $2 billion.