An estimated $52.4 million Highway 16 project east of Saskatoon that will improve safety and support the economy is targeted to open to traffic one year early.
Funded by the Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan, the project includes the construction of 19.5 km of new twinned highway from east of Saskatoon to west of the Bradwell access road, shifting Highway 16 north of Clavet, and a new CN railway crossing.
“The Government of Canada recognizes that we need smart, strategic investments in safe and modern transportation infrastructure to support local, national and international trade, as well as create good, well-paying jobs that help the middle class grow and prosper,” said Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, on behalf of Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. “By financing projects like these highway improvements in central Saskatchewan, we can build the transportation networks that will pave the way for increased commerce and business development.”
This section of Yellowhead Trans-Canada Highway 16 from east of Saskatoon to near the Bradwell access is an important commuter link to Saskatchewan’s largest city with about 9,400 vehicles using it daily, which includes about 900 trucks moving goods and accessing nearby canola facilities.
“The Government of Saskatchewan is pleased to invest $29.6 million to twin Highway 16 east of Saskatoon,” Highways and Infrastructure Minister David Marit said. “The new lanes will improve efficiency for shippers, but more importantly, improve safety for people commuting home or to work along this corridor.”
“The Clavet area is a major hub of food oil processing and distribution, and value-added production for Saskatchewan,” Cargill Regional Transportation and Logistics Manager Greg Taylor said. “With hundreds of in-bound trucks per day to our locations in the area, and more than 150 employees accessing those businesses, twinning of Highway 16 provides staff and customers with safe access to our facilities, and creates infrastructure that encourages investment in the province.”
The Government of Canada contributed $22.8 million to the project under the New Building Canada Fund’s Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component, National and Regional Projects, while the Government of Saskatchewan will fund the balance.
Construction began in 2014 and had originally been targeted to be completed in the fall of 2017. Favourable weather and contractor capacity contributed to accelerated progress.
Pending weather, the newly twinned lanes are targeted to open to traffic as early as late October following completion of railway signals. As new highway lanes are opened, motorists are reminded to be cautious, alert and aware of changing traffic patterns.
The Government of Saskatchewan has invested $6.3 billion in transportation infrastructure since 2008, improving more than 11,000 kilometres of provincial roads.
