Construction season in the Queen City is reaching the halfway point as we near the quarter mark of August 2019.
As of Wednesday afternoon, city officials say they are around 47 per cent complete with scheduled projects this summer.
Roadway, water, drainage and waste water projects happening around Regina are also on schedule and are staying on their targeted budget of $83.9 million.
Chris Warren, the city’s acting director of roadways and transportation, discussed how long drivers can expect the construction season to last in Regina.
“Obviously our construction season is fairly short and we try to work right up until conditions wouldn’t allow that with the snow and cold, typically the end of October,” said Warren.
Major road projects, including the activity on Lewvan Drive and the Ring Road bridge replacement over Wascana Creek, are running smoothly according to Warren.
Answering questions from reporters near the bridge repairs, he was pleased to report that workers have moved over to the southbound side after doing extensive work on the northbound section.
Warren expects the Ring Road project will be finished by the end of September to early October and said there hasn’t been any significant delays so far.
“Weather often causes some delays, we had quite a bit of rain in July, but our crews work hard to mitigate any of those delays if they do occur.”
One of the bigger projects happening around the city throughout the summer has been the sewer re-lining project.
Residents near downtown, and most recently around 15th Avenue, are just some who have been affected from the re-lining and have voiced their displeasure to the city.
It involves redirecting sewage with a bypass pump for residents which can create a lot of noise to residences in its vicinity. And work is done 24 hours a day to ensure workers are following their timeline.
Pat Wilson, who serves as the director of water, waste and environmental service, knows it has been an inconvenient process for citizens, but crews are nearing completion.
“In order to do any repairs on those lines, we have to move the waste water around the section that we’re working on, and that requires us to have pumping overnight,” said Wilson.
“By doing it this way, we’re able to make the whole exercise much shorter.”
Wilson mentioned that the project is still on time and on budget. It should be completed by August 19th.
