Fougere says major roadwork projects nearing completion

Mayor Michael Fougere tried to pave the way for Regina drivers to be a happier group Tuesday.

Asked on The Greg Morgan Morning Show when the construction on Lewvan Drive will be completed, Fougere said the final stage is underway.

“Weather permitting, it’s done by the end of this week …,” Fougere said. “The last thing we’re doing now is paving. The project is finished.”

Between Wednesday and Saturday, the city will be paving two intersections on Lewvan Drive, at Dewdney Avenue and Seventh Avenue.

During that process, east-west traffic will be intermittently blocked from crossing Lewvan.

Chris Warren, the city’s director of roadways and transportation, gave an update at City Hall on Tuesday afternoon. He said access from Dewdney Avenue will be closed on Thursday and Saturday while access from Seventh Avenue will be closed Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Traffic on Lewvan will not be affected and lane reversals will continue along that stretch.

“We do understand that these closures may cause an inconvenience to our residents and we thank them in advance for their patience,” said Warren.

The $2.9-million construction project on Lewvan Drive that began May 13 has forced the City of Regina to come up with different ideas to ease traffic woes.

But Lewvan Drive was only one of a few roadwork projects done in the city this year — many of which had drivers grumbling. That included work on Ring Road.

Fougere was well aware that drivers’ patience had reached the end of the road.

“There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “It’s tough, but we’ve got to get the work done. It has to be done and if we don’t get done, then things are even worse.”

The goal is to have everything done before the snow flies — and Fougere said that should be accomplished, weather permitting.

“As far as I know, there is no project that is actually behind schedule,” he said. “The Ring Road at Assiniboine Avenue, that should be finished by mid-October, I believe … They’re all being finished on time.”

While many of the city’s main thoroughfares have undergone repairs, a number of texters to 980 CJME also have raised concerns about the state of some of the city’s residential streets.

Asked if roads in any particular areas of the city are targeted, Fougere replied: “Absolutely.”

“We have a residential road renewal program and that does target those areas where we have some big problems,” he said. “We do have issues. We have clay as part of the base and that cracks roads all the time.

“We’re doing that work and we’ll get to it, but we do have a priority system.”

Every year, the city sets a list of which streets need work. Fougere noted that residents who have specific streets in mind for repairs should contact their city councillor — or the mayor himself.

“I understand their concerns,” Fougere said. “We want to get to them, but we have a lot of streets to fix, too.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Andrew Shepherd