Highway 11 twinning complete

MACDOWALL, Sask. – Twinning of highway 11 is officially complete, the remaining 13 kilometer link near MacDowall opened Friday.

Linking Regina, to Saskatoon to Prince Albert with a double lane highway makes for a safer commute and also means the province’s north now has an easy link to transport mineral and timber resources, support manufacturing and even tourism.

“We know we have people from Prince Albert commuting into Saskatoon or some of the outlying areas as well to go and work in the mining sectors and such within the province,” said Martin Ring, Prince Albert city councillor.

Both the federal and provincial governments committed $62 million to the project.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Although it finished one year later than planned, due to wet weather in 2012, it did come in under budget at $49.5 million each.

Over the past five years traffic between Saskatoon and Prince Albert has increased by 33 per cent, up to 20,000 vehicles travel the stretch each day but the extra traffic hasn’t necessarily translated into extra business for bedroom communities along the way.

Sales in Duck Lake at Russell Hanson’s Mounted Police Museum have decreased by about 25 per cent.

“This used to be the old highway right here and there was just one lane going each way,” said Hanson,

The new double lane highway routes around Duck Lake rather than through, like it used to, meaning less foot traffic and less sales for Hanson. The asphalt does the same at MacDowall, jutting out around the small community.

“You don’t see a twinned highway going through those communities because it’s a safety issue,” said Darryl Hickie, MLA for Prince Albert Carlton.

Businesses are trying to cope by reminding motorists they exist, erecting flashy new billboards along the fresh asphalt.

Hanson is hopeful, with a little creativity, his small business in his small town will feel the benefits of a twinned highway just like the big businesses in the big centers who are now connected by the open road.