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Sarah Mills breaks down some traffic woes in today's commentary, and says she's not shy about using the horn when people...
Ongoing construction on numerous Regina roads is causing traffic delays for drivers — and that includes Mayor Sandra Masters.
Masters was late for her weekly visit to 980 CJME on Thursday because she got stuck in traffic because of construction.
Masters told Greg Morgan Morning Show guest host Kevin Martel she didn’t plan her route appropriately or give herself an extra five minutes.
“Oh, the irony,” she jokingly said.
The mayor said she acknowledges residents are frustrated, adding people complain about construction every year.
“It’s just a really short construction season. We’ve got a lot of roads going under,” Masters added. “(People still haven’t got used to) the movement slowing and adjusting (their) daily schedule (quite yet).”
Masters pointed out she believes construction season this year actually improved from what it was like a number of years ago.
“They do try to go quadrant by quadrant knowing there’s work to be done all over the city,” she said. “From a communications standpoint, it shouldn’t be a surprise … Sometimes it’s just the fact that it’s slower and then (people) end up in a line.”
Masters knows it’s difficult for drivers to detour because many major roads — including Lewvan Drive, Broad Street, McCarthy Boulevard and Ring Road — are under construction.
“I’ll use Lewvan north-south as an example because then … people pop off to get on Pasqua to move, but four-way stops and whatnot (cause issues) and then that backs up,” she added. “Morning and afternoon commutes are tough.”
According to Masters, construction in Regina doesn’t happen overnight.
“A little bit I think has to be with the collective bargaining agreement,” the mayor said. “We’re doing longer days now, so that could be positive.”
If the city does reach an agreement with workers in the future permitting road work to be done overnight, Masters said construction would not be done on residential roads.
“But there’s other work on main arteries that could be done,” she said.
