Construction on some of the improvements on Highway 5, east of Saskatoon. Courtesy Ministry of Highways. 

By Doug Lett

Highway 5 twinning

Another step in partial twinning of Highway 5

Feb 4, 2023 | 8:00 AM

The process of twinning a section of Highway 5 east of Saskatoon has advanced another step.

The last public consultation phase closed on January 31. Now the Ministry of Highways will go through the feedback received, and start working on final plans for the twinning. The project will cover about 10 kilometres of the highway east of Saskatoon, to the junction of Old 27 Road.

“Once the ministry collects all that information, we figure out how that fits with our aims on that project,” said Highways Minister Jeremy Cockrill, “and then design something that …works for the network, but also works for the local community.”

The Ministry has been working on the project for a number of years, and has included several stakeholder meetings, and public information sessions, the last of which closed on the 31st.

It’s part of a series of improvements on highway 5, between Saskatoon and the Highway 2 junction, which is the route between Saskatoon and Humboldt.

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Parts of the highway have been widened, and passing lanes have been built. The ministry says while the majority of Highway 5 does not have enough traffic for full twinning, the 10-kilometre section east of Saskatoon does.

“Current traffic volumes along this section of the corridor are high,” said a document from the Ministry. “The difference in this section is largely due to the number of acreages, subdivisions, and industrial developments in the area.”

So far, there is no firm date for the start of twinning. The ministry says the earliest will be 2024.

The Highways Minister said in total, all the improvements should help to handle increased traffic in the Humboldt region, expected in part from the massive BHP Janzen potash mine under construction.

“This is going to be the largest potash mine in the province, there’s going to be increased traffic out in the Humboldt area, because of that investment… And obviously, to and from Saskatoon, that’s an important route,” said Cockrill.

“We have to look at areas that are seeing investment and seeing growth, and then figure out the corridors that we need to improve,” he added.

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doug.lett@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @DougLettSK