Pandemic delays process of relocating rail tracks, mayor says

Progress on rerouting the train tracks that cross Ring Road in Regina has been temporarily derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Michael Fougere said Thursday the city has had to shuffle resources around to deal with the pandemic, forcing a delay in the relocation process.

“We haven’t cancelled the project, but the work being done on the railway relocation project at Ring Road and Winnipeg Street is really one of preparing a design for that and that process will be stretched out a bit …,” he said. “We’re simply looking at other priorities at the moment as we deal with COVID-19.”

The city wants to remove the CN and CP rail tracks from Ring Road and Winnipeg Street and lay them north of Regina, joining the line near Highway 6 and Armour Road.

The cost is estimated at $107 million. The project is intended to address ongoing traffic headaches for drivers.

While speaking on the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Thursday, Fougere said the city still intends to see the project through.

“The actual design, which is the important part, is still being done,” Fougere said. “The discussion of funding the project, with hopefully the federal government and the two rail companies, that process will take some time.”

Obtaining the consent of the two rail companies is essential to making the project a reality.

Dog parks to reopen Friday

The city announced Thursday that its year-round dog parks — the Cathy Lauritsen Memorial Off-Leash Dog Park and the Ross Industrial Off-Leash Dog Park — are to reopen Friday. Seasonal dog parks, however, are to remain closed.

Fougere said the provincial government’s Re-Open Saskatchewan plan gave the city the confidence to make the decision to open the parks.

“It’s reasonable that people want to have their dogs running around and get exercise and people want to get out and do that, so that’s a reasonable step to take under the current climate,” he said.

The city said signage at each park will remind visitors of public health orders that require the users to continue social distancing and avoid touching shared surfaces like fences, benches and handrails.

As well, city employees are to be at the parks Friday, Saturday and Sunday to help people keep their distances from others.

“There will be instances where it doesn’t happen as it should all the time, but I think people are using their good judgment,” Fougere said. “They understand that there’s a public health order here and public distancing is important.

“We’re still in an emergency environment and I think they’ll do the right thing.”

The city said if the physical distancing requirements aren’t met, the parks could be closed again.