Ring Road lighting project to begin Monday

The City of Regina is set to install lighting on Ring Road between Wascana Parkway and Albert Street.

The city said Friday that warmer temperatures and a relative lack of snowfall will allow crews to start work on the project on Monday, earlier than was expected.

“This project will improve visibility and safety for drivers on our road network and is expected to be complete by the end of July 2020,” the city said in a media release.

There have been complaints from some residents about the lack of lighting along that stretch of road.

The area has been the site of numerous accidents, including a crash in September and one Monday in which a 23-year-old man died.

The work Monday is to start at 9 a.m., when crews will begin doing underground work. Speeds will be reduced starting with the northbound lanes before moving to the southbound lanes.

“Future phases will include installing concrete light pole bases, cabling, light poles and fixtures as weather allows, with most of the work taking place in the ditch,” the city added.

Mayor pledges 24-hour construction timeline for some roadwork

As the weather warms up and road construction kicks off, Mayor Michael Fougere is promising drivers won’t feel like they’re in a battle zone this summer.

Speaking at the annual state of the city address Thursday, Fougere said companies hired to do some roadwork projects will be scheduling workers 24 hours a day and seven days a week to improve efficiency.

“If it’s appropriate and we’re not impacting people’s lives trying to sleep at night, that will be in the mix, yes,” Fougere said.

The mayor said he felt the same frustration as every other driver last summer when it felt like motorists couldn’t get anywhere in the city without hitting traffic restrictions due to road work.

Fougere said the city has learned from the mistake of starting projects across the city all at the same time.

“That’s not going to happen again,” he said. “There’s going to be a different strategic way to do this and again a more efficient way to do it as well.”

Fougere said as long as the mandates are spelled out in contracts with private companies ahead of time, there shouldn’t be a higher cost to the city. He said the contracts will have clauses with incentives to finish the work more quickly.

While there has been resistance to doing roadwork 24 hours a day and on weekends in the past, Fougere said the city is responding to pressure to find another way.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Adriana Christianson