On October 29th, the largest transportation infrastructure project in Saskatchewan’s history, the Regina Bypass, opened to traffic. This achievement caps nearly 6.5 years of work for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure’s Owner’s Engineer team led by Associated Engineering with CIMA+ as a partner subconsultant.
Safety has been at the forefront of this $1.88 billion private-public partnership (P3) project, which received a $200 million investment from the Federal government. At the grand opening ceremony Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe emphasized, “The Regina Bypass will save lives.” The Fire Chief of nearby White City added that, after the opening of Phase One of the project in 2017, accident frequency and severity dropped considerably.
A new part of the Trans Canada highway, the Regina Bypass diverts heavy truck traffic away from the City of Regina’s Victoria Avenue and Ring Road onto a new free flow corridor, improving safety and easing congestion in the City. The Regina Bypass also provides a better connection to the Global Transportation Hub inland port in Regina.
The Regina Bypass project includes 66 kilometres of 4-lane highway, 12 interchanges, 33 new bridges, and 54 kilometres of service roads. The project also features Saskatchewan’s first diverging diamond interchange, a design that reduces the potential for traffic collisions. The Regina Bypass is a state-of-the-art highway with Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) infrastructure such as traffic data counters, CCTV cameras, variable message signs, road-weather information systems, weigh-in-motion scales, and a new Data Management Centre to oversee all ITS infrastructure across Saskatchewan.
As Owner’s Engineer, the Associated team assisted with developing the project’s business case and completed the P3 technical and performance specifications, documents, and drawings. We also participated in the procurement phase, overseeing the process and reviewing submissions from three short-listed proponents.
At the grand opening ceremony, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe drove the first transport truck on the highway
The design and construction phase of the Regina Bypass began in 2015, with key members of the Owner’s Engineer team relocating and working on site with the Ministry, the Regina Bypass Partners, and the Regina Bypass Design Builders. Co-locating was instrumental in fostering the One Project, One Team approach and, ultimately, the successful delivery of the project in terms of schedule, budget, quality, environmental protection, and worker and public safety.
Associated staff from across the company contributed expertise to the project, including engineers, technologists, environmental scientists, and project analysts from our Regina, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, and Winnipeg offices. Our Environmental division led the environmental program for the project.
While the Bypass is open to traffic, our work isn’t over yet. The Owner’s Engineer Team will continue to support the Ministry over the initial year of a 30-year Operations, Maintenance and Rehabilitation phase of the Bypass Project. Congratulations to the Ministry and the Owner’s Engineer team on the successful completion of the Regina Bypass.
