MORE THAN $50 MILLION OF WORK UNDERWAY IN LLOYDMINSTER AND WEST CENTRAL SASKATCHEWAN

The Province is injecting more than $50 million into the provincial and municipal road network in Lloydminster and west central Saskatchewan to better support the region's growing economy.

"Our province is going through an amazing period of rapid expansion and growth, and the time is now to invest in the infrastructure that is so crucial to sustaining Saskatchewan's current economic momentum," Highways and Infrastructure Minister Wayne Elhard said.

Lloydminster Twinning
Construction on Highway 16 through the City of Lloydminster is now underway. This $11.4 million twinning project involves a 1.6 kilometre (km) section of single-lane highway along 44th Street under the Province's Urban Highway Connector Program.

"We recognize the challenges of rapid growth occurring in Saskatchewan, and we understand that the Province has a role and interest in improving and maintaining these highway connectors on a cost-shared basis," Elhard said.

Urban connectors are urban municipal roads that connect to two provincial highways. Under the voluntary program, municipalities with populations greater than 1,000 are eligible to apply for funding for improvements. The program addresses issues of traffic safety and enhanced movement of goods and people, with the level of funding reflecting the amount of provincial interest in the route.

The Lloydminster twinning project is being cost-shared on a 75-25 per cent basis, with the Province contributing $8.4 million and the City of Lloydminster adding an additional $3 million. The Province's share of funding comes from last year's $140 million sale of the NewGrade Heavy Oil Upgrader in Regina.

"We are so pleased to have reached this agreement with the Province to twin this last section of Highway 16," Lloydminster Mayor Ken Baker said. "As Canada's only border city on the boundary of Alberta and Saskatchewan, we are the main commerce centre between Edmonton and Saskatoon. When you add to that our growing heavy oil industry, the need to twin this important urban connector is obvious."

Twinning work along 44th Street got underway during the first week of August with ASL Construction, a Lloydminster paving company. The eastbound lanes are being constructed first, followed by the westbound lanes. Work is expected to wrap up sometime in October, pending favourable weather and contractor progress.

Upgrades to Rural Corridors
Nearly $36.2 million is being spent on several highway improvement projects in west central Saskatchewan, funded in part by proceeds of the NewGrade Upgrader sale. They include:

• Hwy 3 and Hwy 303 (Turtleford area): A nearly $12 million grading and paving project is slated for an 18.7 km section of thin membrane surface (TMS) highway this summer east of Turtleford on Highway 3. The project is expected to be complete by next summer. An additional $6.66 million is being spent to strengthen more than 22 km of paved highway immediately west of Turtleford on Highway 303. The work should also be completed by 2009.

• Hwy 26 (St. Walburg-area): Two surfacing projects are underway this summer in the St. Walburg-area. Work is underway on a $5.27 million dollar surfacing project from St. Walburg to 13.8 km north on Highway 26. In addition, a nearly $8 million project will be tendered later this summer to widen and surface 14.3 km immediately north of the first project. That project is expected to be complete by the end of next summer.

• Hwy 4: A $3.87 million shoulder widening and paving project is slated for a 6 km section of Highway 4 about 38 km north of Glaslyn. That project is expected to be complete by late fall 2008.

• Bridge access off Hwy 4: A $400,000 new bridge access is being built into Aquadeo Park.

"Enhancing traffic flow along these rural corridors will help facilitate economic development and create safer highways for everyone," Elhard said.

Municipal Road Improvements
Proceeds from the sale of the NewGrade Upgrader are also going toward the improvement of municipal roads impacted by the increase in heavy truck traffic.

"RMs in this area will receive $6 million of the $7.25 million available through the Municipal Roads to Resources and Heavy Haul - High Volume Roads programs," Elhard said. "Both programs are designed to help improve municipal roads battered by heavy truck traffic generated by the active crude oil industry in the Lloydminster area."

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For more information, contact:

Lynette Piper
Highways and Infrastructure
Regina
Phone: 306-798-2116
Email: lpiper@highways.gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-536-9692