Regina City Council approved a motion to hire a consultant for the relocation of the Ring Road rail crossing.

The move comes after years of discussion and planning.

Mayor Sandra Masters says the decision makes the relocation that much more of a reality.

“There have bee talks ongoing with both the consultant that works with the rail companies, as well as the rail companies themselves about moving forward,” said Masters. “So, it’s something that’s already in process, and there’s a significant amount of work to be performed on that.”

She says with major projects from Viterra, and Cargill, set to be built near the city, making sure the rail line is in place is crucial.

“There’s a little bit more of a push on those right now in order to line-up if Viterra opens up in the next few years, or Cargill, or Red Leaf that’s also announced,” said Masters. “We need to be in a position to be ready to go and actually seize the opportunity of rail needing to be located for that specific business that we can kind of piggyback on to that. That’s a little bit of the reason for that push.”

While Council approved one train project, they decided to postpone another.

A motion to hire a consultant to look into whistle cessation in the Eastview/McNabb area was defeated, meaning residents will have to deal with the noise for a little bit longer.

Masters says she’s hoping the Ring Road rail relocation might actually deal with train traffic in the area.

“If we can deal with the rail line relocation off the Ring Road, potentially, the answers for some of that may reduce some of the rail traffic within the city, potentially,” said Masters. “So, seeing that process through, we can come back and revisit once that’s resolved itself. Hoping we can find a solution, even in the interim, without doing that report.”

 The set cost of the rail relocation is around $2 million.