HUMBOLDT — The bulk of the planning to improve Highway 5 between the junction of Highway 2 and Saskatoon will take place this year, with construction starting in 2020.
“In our process, we’ll actually be working with our RMs along that route determining the passing lane locations and any access points, and we’ll be working on a design for widening and other project details for that 40 kilometre stretch,” said Lori Carr, the provincial highways minister.
The planning for improvements on Highway 5 were announced in the provincial budget released March 20.
As for the number of passing lanes that will be added to the stretch of highway, Carr said that was unknown at this point and would have to be determined during the planning stage. The minister also said there will be geotechnical challenges to deal with along the route because of the rolling hills in the area.
“Once we get through this planning year and the construction starts next year, there’s going to be some short-term pain with all of the construction because we're going to have those [construction] zones and people are still going to be moving through them, but when the project is done, people are going to be very, very satisfied.”
