Lumsden man calls for better signage along west bypass detour

A Lumsden man is calling for better signage along the detour back into Regina off the west bypass construction after a frightening experience last weekend.

Around 11 p.m. last Friday night, Orest Shasko took his 22-month-old granddaughter out for a highway drive to help her fall asleep.

His intention was to drive out of town past the construction and then loop back into Regina; however, the “spaghetti trail” detour led him in the opposite direction down gravel roads nearly all the way to Pense.

“In the meantime, the baby is waking up, crying her head off from the noise of the gravel hitting the car,” he remembered. “I couldn’t find my way back and I don’t have a smartphone.”

Shasko said he’s travelled the area often over the years, but with all the new construction he found himself lost and scared.

“It was 11 p.m. with hot and dangerous conditions. If I went off that gravel road and couldn’t get back on it, I don’t know if anyone would have found me there with an infant in the car,” he said, noting he drives a small car.

Leading up to that point, Shasko said there were no signs showing which way to Regina, just generic “detour” signs. It wasn’t until he began following a truck that he found his way back into the city.

Now, he’s asking for the detour to get clearer signage, or for a new, shorter route into Regina be created.

After investigating Shasko’s complaint, Mike Boan, lead construction manager for the Regina Bypass Project, said there are no plans to do either.

“We’ve reviewed the complaint and we’ve gone out there — our road safety auditors have gone out there and checked that and everything seems to be in order,” Boan said.

“It’s very clearly marked, so we don’t have any plans to put any more signage out there.”

Boan noted Shasko’s complaint was the first the Regina Bypass Project has received about the alternate route.

The detour is expected to last for another two to three weeks.