SASKATOON -- The province has awarded an $18.8 million tender to HJR Asphalt of Saskatoon for the first phase of Highway 5 improvements.
“I have personally driven the highway a number of times over the years, and have experienced the safety challenges that can surface from time to time. Whether it be a family driving to hockey practice or famers moving equipment, I look forward to a more efficient and safer corridor for those in the region,” Highways and Infrastructure Minister Greg Ottenbreit said in a news release.
The project includes about 10 kilometres of widening and sight-line improvements through the hills and valleys east of the old Highway 27 to Blucher Road.
Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring and be completed this fall.
The second phase of improvements, along a 30 km section of Highway 5 from Blucher Road to Highway 2, is to include passing lanes, widening of the shoulders, resurfacing, grade-line improvements, access consolidation, intersection realignment on the St. Denis access intersection treatments and culvert replacements. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2021, with completion set for the fall of 2022.
The third segment will include twinning of Highway 5 from the existing section east of Saskatoon past Highway 316 to the Old 27 road. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2023.
The entire project is scheduled to be complete by 2025.
Traffic volumes range from 2,500 to 4,000 vehicles per day, but that number is expected to increase substantially on the west end of the corridor, which is why twinning is necessary, the province says.
