Saskatchewan gov’t lays out plan for highway improvements

As many as 15 passing lanes on the Yellowhead Highway are among the highway projects that will be done as part of the economic stimulus package announced by the Government of Saskatchewan last week.

The province is putting $300 million into highways over the next two years as part of its $2-billion “booster shot” to the economy. The new investment into the province’s roads is on top of the $358 million in capital projects laid out in the government’s spending estimates.

The new funding includes $151 million for upgrading 325 kilometres of thin-membrane surface highways including:

• Highway 24 near Leoville;
• Highway 26 through Goodsoil;
• Highway 43 from Gravelbourg to Highway 19;
• Highway 51 from Highway 317 to the Alberta border;
• Highway 56 south of the junction with Highway 10;
• Highway 229 to Good Spirit Lake;
• Highway 312 east of Rosthern; and,
• Highway 322 from Glen Harbour to Rowan’s Ravine Provincial Park.

There also is $101.5 million for between 24 and 26 sets of new passing lanes, including:

• Highway 2, north of Prince Albert to Highway 263 (two sets);
• Highway 3, 10 kilometres west of Prince Albert to Shellbrook (three sets);
• Highway 12, Martensville to Highway 312 (three sets);
• Highway 14, Saskatoon to Asquith (three sets);
• Highway 16, Clavet to Highway 6 (six or seven sets); and,
• Highway 16, Springside to the Manitoba border (seven to eight sets).

As well, there is $46 million for the rehabilitation of at least 100 RM roads and improvements to at least 15 community airports.

The $358 million in capital projects announced earlier included:

• Nine sets of passing lanes and repaving on highways 6 and 39 between Regina and the U.S. border;
• Four sets of passing lanes and repaving on Highway 7 between Rosetown and Kindersley, plus planning for three additional sets of passing lanes to the Alberta border;
• Two sets of passing lanes, repaving, and widening of Highway 5, plus planning for a short section of twinning between Saskatoon and the junction of Highway 2;
• Three sets of passing lanes on Highway 10 between Melville and Yorkton; and,
• Three sets of passing lanes on Highway 9 between Yorkton and Canora.

The government also is investing $13 million in the second year of its five-year, $65-million plan to address intersection safety. Those projects include:

• Intersection improvements at the junction of highways 55 and 123;
• Rumble strips on Highway 342 south of Plato; and,
• Intersection improvements at the junction of Highway 11 and Davidson’s south commercial access road.

There’s also $7 million to improve safety by reducing the frequency and severity of collisions, with projects such as pedestrian crosswalk improvements on Highway 155 in Buffalo Narrows, a rail crossing warning system upgrade on Highway 14 near Biggar, and intersection improvements on Highway 20 at Lumsden.

The government also is paying $60.3 million to build, operate and maintain highways and airports in northern Saskatchewan, and $52 million to upgrade or replace 28 bridges and 130 culverts around the province.