Members of the Sask. Party government and local families were on hand to mark the completion of the Highway 3 twinning project. (Derek Craddock/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Craddock

HIGHWAY 3

Province marks completion of Highway 3 upgrades near P.A.

Nov 25, 2022 | 2:00 PM

After several months of construction, upgrades have been finished on a part of Highway 3 near Prince Albert.

Friday marked the official grand opening of the Highway 3 twinning project, improving the major roadway that connects Prince Albert and Shellbrook.

The 7.5 km project runs from the junction of Highway 2 to the Shell River bridge. The four-lane highway includes a concrete median barrier in the centre of the road, which will reduce the potential for intersection collisions.

Speeds will be reduced because of the concrete median barriers, including a 70 km/hr speed from the Nordale Access to the city limits and 90 km/hr to the Shell River Bridge.

Representatives from the Sask. Party government, stakeholders, and the family of Lexi Zbaraschuk were some of those on hand for the ceremony at R&W Collision.

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Zbaraschuk was involved in a serious collision four years ago near the spot where the grand opening took place. That incident inevitably prompted her to push the government to do something about the road.

“I kinda had bad PTSD from it, and I said, ‘I have to do something about it,” she said. “I talked to my Dad and he said, ‘let’s sit down and do this.’ We ended up sending the letter to Highways and the Premier about it.”

She said she couldn’t stop talking about the project as she arrived for the opening. She was asked about what it meant for her that the project was completed.

“Coming here from P.A., I was really excited,” she said. “This is going to be the highway and I am forever going to talk about it.”

Another family in attendance in attendance for the ceremony were the Rothwells. They lost a four-year-old son and Carly’s brother at around the same location on Highway 3.

Premier Scott Moe, who also serves as the MLA for Rosthern-Shellbrook, was on hand for the ceremony and recognized the tenacity of Zbaraschuk and the Rothwells in fighting for the road to be safer.

He choked up when recalling the tragic day of the collision and what Zbaraschuk and her family went through in the days and months after.

Minister of Highways and MLA for the Battlefords Jeremy Cockrill was also thrilled that the twinning project was finished.

“Anytime we’re able to improve stretches of highways in the province, it’s exciting news,” he said. “When you think about the lives that are going to be saved by the safety improvements, by the twinning, by the new concrete barriers, by the speed limit being reduced to 90 km/hr, it means a lot to me as the Minister, but I know it means even more to the people of Shellbrook, Prince Albert and the surrounding area.”

The improvements however didn’t come without their share of inconveniences due to delays and weather-related issues.

Cockrill said with any major highways project, disruptions will happen.

“Local residents are going to feel that more because they live adjacent to the construction site,” he said. “We had a tough spring starting out in our construction season. We have five months to build roads in Saskatchewan so anytime you lose a few weeks, it sets everybody back.”

Further to that, Cockrill was grateful to the Ministry of Highways staff and the contractors for pushing through with the project.

The Highway 3 safety improvements are in addition to a $9.1 million passing lane project which was completed last fall between Shellbrook and the Shell River Bridge. The six passing lanes opened in October 2021.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @PA_Craddock