Construction hassles tie up traffic in Regina’s downtown

Maneuvering through Regina’s downtown area has become difficult for drivers.

Several main roads are under construction, including Saskatchewan Drive and 11th Avenue. That’s caused traffic congestion downtown during rush hour.

Regina Mayor Sandra Masters said the city needs to figure out how to keep people moving.

“We need to make sure folks aren’t stuck downtown for an hour. It may take an extra 15 or 20 minutes – we know that might happen – but an hour to an hour and a half is completely unacceptable.”

The mayor noted that the city had no control over all the roads being under construction simultaneously, as Saskatchewan Drive and 11th Avenue are both SaskPower projects.

“Because it’s their infrastructure under the ground, they basically advise us of the work that they’re performing,” Masters said.

With both projects underway this summer, as well as the City’s Dewdney Avenue revitalization in the Warehouse District, Masters said the city isn’t going to do any construction on College Avenue, Victoria Avenue, Eighth Street and Fourth Street in order to keep those routes free of congestion.

“Keeping those pathways open is incredibly critical right now,” she said.

Multiple downtown construction projects have been making things difficult for drivers in the Queen City. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

“It is very challenging, especially when you’re thinking about the folks that are working downtown and parked in those parkades and trying to exit from those parkades at the end of the workday,” said Masters.

Traffic personnel helped get traffic through a parkade and along Saskatchewan Drive during the afternoon rush hour on Wednesday after the construction led to jams.

SaskPower upgrading electrical grid

SaskPower said the work underway on Saskatchewan Drive and 11th Avenue is going to upgrade the electrical grid, which will help the company find and restore power outages in the future.

SaskPower spokesperson Scott McGregor said the Crown corporation is investing $13.5 million in the Queen City’s downtown project.

“Every year we conduct a push to upgrade and modernize the equipment in the central area in Regina, and some of the equipment we are replacing is nearing the  end of its life,” he said.

“Other bits we have upgraded in other years was wildlife protection  equipment (and) modernizing the grid to make sure that as the electrical needs of downtown Regina change, we can meet that demand.”

He said the work along Saskatchewan Drive is expected to wrap up at the end of August, while the 11th Avenue project is expected to last until October.

“The majority of the work we are doing is replacing underground equipment, called duct banks. So they are essentially large metal housing that houses underground cable to make sure they are not exposed to the moisture or shifting ground,” McGregor explained.

Along Saskatchewan Drive, McGregor said they are also replacing around 400 metres of underground cable.

“It is a pretty substantial undertaking,” he said.

It means there could be road closures, restrictions, and planned power outages from now till August.

SaskPower said most of the work will be done from Monday to Friday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. However, the company noted that some work may need to be done overnight or on the weekends.

But while the construction is hampering drivers, a major business said it hasn’t slowed things down much.

In a statement to 980 CJME, Casino Regina said the road construction on Saskatchewan Drive has not had a significant impact on operations so far.

“The casino’s guests and staff have been able to come and go without much interruption, and concerns from guests about access during the construction have been minimal,” the statement read. “Casino Regina will continue to monitor the situation. The safety of guests and staff is always a priority.”