Mom who lost daughter in 2015 crash grateful for completion of Ring Road lighting project

In 2015, Lisa Boehm lost her 17-year-old daughter Katie in a single-vehicle crash on Ring Road.

The incident took place on a stretch of road that went without lighting for years, between Assiniboine Avenue East and Albert Street South.

On Tuesday, the City of Regina announced the completion of an expressway lighting project along that stretch of Ring Road.

Lisa Boehm says she is relieved and grateful to see lights finally installed along Ring Road, nearly five years after her daughter’s death. (Libby Giesbrecht/980 CJME)

“It’s just a relief,” Boehm said during a media conference. “It’s really a relief after so many years of having conversations with the city and highways and my ward counsellor and so on that finally all the efforts have paid off.”

Work on the $1.984-million project began in March 2019.  The project was funded through a partnership between the provincial and municipal governments.

Boehm said she is grateful to the city and the province for undertaking the project.

That area of Ring Road has been the site of numerous collisions, including a crash in September and another in February. Now, the stretch is a lot brighter for motorists.

“With the completion of this work, visibility is greatly improved and therefore so is the safety of drivers,” said Regina Mayor Michael Fougere.

Fougere called the project an example of the collaborative relationship between the province and the city.

Tina Beaudry-Mellor, the MLA for the Regina University constituency and the province’s minister of advanced education, said the government was very pleased to be working with the City of Regina on the project.

“We know how important the transportation system is to our citizens and to the businesses in our province,” Beaudry-Mellor said.

Since 2008, nearly $10 million has been spent on Saskatchewan roads.

“(Ring Road) provides for much safer transportation,” Beaudry-Mellor said.

For two years, Boehm has been pushing to see the project done to improve road visibility and driver safety.

“It really was just not stepping back from my beliefs and wanting to make the change,” she said. “I am confident the lights will reduce future accidents and save lives.”

Through it all, Boehm said her daughter has been on her mind.

“All the time. She has been the driving force behind this from Day 1,” Boehm said. “I feel like the completion of this project is really a nod to her and hopefully a legacy that will always be attached to my daughter.

“Thank you for making our road safer for everyone.”

The new system is made up of 111 eco-friendly, high-intensity LED light poles. The fixtures are expected to require little maintenance over the next decade and provide an average of 26,000 lumens.