Improving road safety focus of Sask. 2018 highway construction season

With the highway construction season underway, Saskatchewan’s $924.5 million budget for highways and infrastructure is ready to be put to use.

The government said construction will focus on improving overall safety on the provincial highway system, with a number of passing lane projects and other highway improvements scheduled to be undertaken.

“Our government is making a major commitment to improving safety on some of our busiest highways,” Highways and Infrastructure Minister David Marit said. “Constructing passing lanes on Highway 6, south of Regina for example, will greatly improve safety throughout this corridor.”

In a May 15 news release, the government confirmed construction will begin in 2018 on two sets of passing lanes on Highway 4, between North Battleford and Cochin, with plans to construct another two sets of passing lanes on Highway 6, between Regina and the Highway 39 junction.

“Highways 6 and 39 are important arteries for the trucking industry and connect Canada to the United States – Saskatchewan’s largest trading partner,” Nicole Sinclair, the Saskatchewan Trucking Association director of policy and communications, said in a release.

“Passing lanes along these highways will make the movement of goods along these key trade corridors both safer and more efficient.  Any project that increases those two key factors is always strongly supported by the trucking industry.”

Motorists can expect to see road work in every region of the province throughout construction season, according to the government. Construction was said to continue on the Regina Bypass, Highway 7 twinning west of Saskatoon and the new overpasses on Highway 11 at Warman and Highway 12 at Martensville.

An investment of $118 million will allow 700 kilometres of repaving and preventative maintenance across the province, including repaving of Highway 2 south of Chamberlain; Highway 4 north of North Battleford; Highway 26 between Vawn and Mervin; and Highway 35 south of Weyburn.

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure operates and maintains 26,000 kilometres of provincial highways, and have invested more than $8 billion in the provincial transportation system since 2008, including $3 billion in the last three years.

With all of the expected construction this summer, the government is reminding drivers to slow down and be alert when entering work zones and to check the Highway Hotline for road restriction information.