2022 construction season comes to a close in Regina

A City of Regina construction barrier is seen in this file photo. (Brendan Ellis/CTV News)

Regina’s construction season is coming to a close and Kim Onrait, executive director of citizen services for the City of Regina, is proud of the progress made.

“I would say, just in the response from the community, construction season this year went better than it did in the previous years,” he said.

Wrapping up the 2022 campaign after investing $97.5-million in transportation, water, wastewater and drainage projects, he believes that there was a lot accomplished in the Queen City this season.

From the $16-million in the Residential Road Renewal Program, to the almost $14-million for the Street Infrastructure Renewal Program, Onrait thanked staff and crews for all the achievements reached this year.

“Several major projects will be completed this year on time and in budget, including the Albert Street Rehabilitation and the McCarthy Boulevard Improvement projects,” he said.

Trying to include cost saving practices, while avoiding as much impact to residents day-to-day activities, Onrait said a different approach was needed.

“We changed our communication plan,” he said, “And the timing of our projects is critical to traffic planning.”

The city focused on improving sidewalks, completing more than eight kilometres of sidewalk repairs and renewals, up from 5.5 kilometres in 2021. The city added this would continue to be a priority area in the coming construction seasons.

Though there were some setbacks that pushed projects into 2023, like increased cost and demands of many industries, with decreased supplies.

One such project was the Northeast drainage project because it came in over budget. The city is looking at re-designing it and re-tendering it in 2023.

The selection of projects comes down to many factors pre-construction season, including road contains, sidewalk conditions, age, neighbourhood, and the impact the project will have on day-to-day operations.

As construction season comes to an end, the city reminds residents that work is still being completed.

Winter work can see traffic signal upgrades, as well as water and sewer repairs.