‘We got way more’: Regina Bypass finished

It was a cold and windy morning at the top of one of the new Regina Bypass overpasses on Monday morning, but the mood inside the final ceremony’s tent was almost jubilant.

Several leaders of the project partners and special guests were in attendance at the ceremony that marked the completion of the four years of construction on the Regina Bypass.

Speakers thanked everyone involved with the project. Premier Scott Moe said, years ago, community leaders envisioned a project that would connect communities, improve traffic flow, help the province’s export-based economy, and — above all — keep our families safe.

“This is a very, very good day for the people in our province of Saskatchewan,” Moe said to the crowd.

Instead of a ribbon-cutting, leaders removed the barricades on one section of the highway, and Regina Bypass trucks — along with the premier driving a semi — were the first to drive on it.

Commuters won’t be able to use the new section of the bypass until Tuesday evening, as crews still need to remove all the barricades and uncovers signs.

Wanda Campbell and her son, Lane

Among the special guests at the ceremony Monday morning was Wanda Campbell, who was introduced to the crowd ahead of her speech as someone who best understands the importance of the improved safety the project brings.

Wanda Campbell said, to her, the completion of the Regina Bypass means a future for more people driving the highway. Campbell’s 17-year-old son, Lane, died after a highway crash in 2013. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

“For these communities, it is truly about safety, and for me personally, I never wanted another parent to hear those words, ‘Your child has been killed in a fatal collision along the No. 1 Highway,’ ” Campbell said.

A cross set up for Campbell’s son, Lane, still sits under the new diverging diamond intersection east of Regina.

In August 2013, Lane left the Campbells’ home in Pilot Butte to go to the Dairy Queen in White City. When he tried to cross the Trans-Canada Highway, his vehicle was T-boned by a semi — and Lane died that day.

The first phase of the project, east of Regina, has been finished for a while and Wanda said it has made a huge difference to the area. She said that section of highway used to be notoriously dangerous.

“There was a trail of crosses, a trail of heartbreak and broken lives connected with this part of the highway, and something needed to be done,” said Campbell.

Campbell said the spring after Lane died, his classmates at Greenall High School, sick of seeing their classmates killed, went to the legislature with a petition and to lobby for traffic lights and a safe intersection.

“But we got way more with the bypass,” Campbell said.

“Those kids from Greenall, they don’t have to fear travelling on that highway. The residents, the community, none of us have to fear travelling on that highway, making that turn — going to White City, going to Tim’s, we don’t have that fear anymore,” explained Campbell.

Campbell said, to her, the bypass means the future of the students, their kids, and everyone who uses the highway.

“We will never forget the lives that were affected and the lives lost by collisions that happened along that highway. For me, if Lane’s legacy is to forever be associated with the bypass, I’m OK with that — I find comfort knowing that future lives will be saved,” said Campbell.

NDP has concerns with project

Saskatchewan’s NDP isn’t exactly applauding the completion of the bypass. In a news release shortly after Monday’s ceremony, the party called it “the most expensive stretch of flat road in Canadian history.”

The party listed a number of concerns its members have with the project — from a rise in estimated cost early on, to the decision to hire a French company, Vinci, to lead the group chosen to build the bypass, along with a list of 1,100 minor deficiencies which were found in the build. The NDP said a list of major deficiencies was redacted by the provincial government.

“Should we really celebrate the fact that the Sask. Party paid a French company to build the most expensive stretch of flat road in Canadian history?” Cathy Sproule, the NDP’s critic for the Regina Bypass, said in the release.

“We could have put people first by building this road with our workers and our companies. Instead, the Sask. Party has let people down yet again with their entitlement.”