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The major $40 million Highway 5 project in the St. Denis area is now halfway done.
Construction on a 15-kilometre portion of the highway began in June of 2023 to add a set of passing lanes, resurfacing and shoulder widening.
The work also includes the re-alignment of two roads. Range Road 314 to the south and St. Denis access road to the north connecting to Highway 5 to improve sightlines and safety for vehicles.
The project’s target completion date is next summer.
“This work is among the recent and planned traffic safety and capacity improvements to the Highway 5 corridor between Humboldt and Saskatoon,” said Saskatoon Willowgrove MLA Ken Cheveldayoff, who spoke on behalf of the province’s Highways Minister Lori Carr on Thursday.
Cheveldayoff said an estimate of the entire project is approximately $125 million.
According to the province, other completed work includes two sets of passing lanes between Humboldt and Highway 2 that were completed in 2018.
Roger Nordick, a counselor with the city of Humboldt, said Highway 5 is the main corridor for commerce in and out of the city, and the completed portions have made a significant difference.
“With the improvements that were made especially with the passing lanes, people can actually get a chance to pass the semis,” he said.
Resurfacing, sightline improvement, and shoulder widening work was also done on Highway 5 between the junctions of 316 and 671 back in 2021.
Cheveldayoff said the province’s highways need improvement with increased traffic within an 80-kilometre radius of Saskatoon.
Still, work like twinning and resurfacing needs to be done on 10 km of Highway 5 between Saskatoon and 1.6-kilometre East of the Highway 316 junction which is expected to start early next year.
Cheveldayoff reminds motorists to slow down in work zones, obey flag persons, follow all signs, and remain alert to road conditions.
“After all, the short-term inconvenience from any highway project is for a long-term benefit,” said Cheveldayoff.
This year Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Highways budget invests $741 million to improve key transportation corridors, and since 2008 the province has invested $13 billion in more than 20,700 kilometres of highways.