Construction season wraps up in Regina

The City of Regina’s construction season is finishing up.

Kim Onrait, the city’s executive director of citizen services, said during a media conference in Victoria Park on Thursday that the city achieved its construction goals despite a shorter time frame caused by COVID-19.

“New approaches were needed to finish projects before the end of the season,” Onrait said. “Some projects had to be done during the night. There was also contract incentives for early completion.

“We lost about six weeks of the season, so we went back to the table and re-evaluated projects based on priority. We also had to take into consideration the adjustments to safety by making sure we were adapting to changing protocols.”

In total, $79.5 million was invested in infrastructure projects throughout the city.

The projects included $10.3 million for the Residential Road Renewal Program, $13.9 million for the Street Infrastructure Renewal Program and $51.5 million for water, wastewater and drainage programs to ensure water systems were running smoothly.

Another $6.4 million for the Residential Road Renewal program and $14.2 million in utility work projects will be deferred until the next budget cycle.

Around 23 kilometres of roadway in the city were resurfaced in 2020, 16 kilometres of sidewalks were replaced and four kilometres of multi-use pathways and bike lanes were built.

Alleys were repaired, sewer mains and water mains were cleaned and relined, and traffic signals were installed or upgraded.

As well, the multi-year, $6-million Victoria Avenue infrastructure improvement and beautification project — which was started in 2019 — was completed.

Chris Warren, the director of roadways and transportation for the city, said even though there aren’t definitive numbers as to how many people were employed in construction projects throughout the year, it was a great boost to the economy.

“We have about 350 people working directly for the city,” Warren said. “But there are numerous employees for these contractors … It’s a very high number.”

Some notable projects that were completed during the year include the two-year project for lighting along Ring Road between Albert Street and Assiniboine Avenue East, as well as the Park Street rehabilitation and bike lane project.

Two multi-year projects will continue as planned in 2021. The twinning of Dewdney Avenue will be completed and the North Central drainage project will start up in the spring.

“I always say we have two seasons in Saskatchewan: We have winter, and we have construction season,” Onrait said. “We achieved what we set out to do in 2020.”