The rubber has hit the road on consultations for a possible twinning of Highway 46 between Balgonie and Regina.
Ministry of Highways employees presented RM of Edenwold council with “preliminary designs and plans for twinning” the road, according to council’s Jan. 23 meeting minutes, discussing the project for over an hour.
The ministry was represented at the meeting by Brent Miller, Sylvia Marshall and Scott Golding. They were joined by WSP Global consultants Kerra Mruss and Kristen Faber, who attended via Microsoft Teams.
Minutes further state that “two public open houses are tentatively planned” at dates to be determined, and that “the final design presentation will be” delivered this fall.
In a Feb. 16 email interview, a Ministry of Highways spokesperson said the meeting was held “to discuss the very early stages of a long-term functional planning study for a transportation corridor in the future, which may eventually include twinning of Highway 46 and other related road improvements.”
RM chief administrative officer Karen Zaharia told Grasslands News in a Feb. 20 email that those discussions date back to the summer of 2021 when the RM was contacted about the possibility.
“Prior to the project kick-off in 2021, the RM has been vocal at the provincial level regarding the safety improvements required throughout the entire RM,” Zaharia wrote. “This specific area of the RM (Highway 46) was identified for safety improvement.”
Among those earlier conversations was a Nov. 19, 2019, letter from the RM to the ministry addressing safety concerns and expressing a desire to discuss future planning for the road. That letter was also endorsed by councils in Pilot Butte and Balgonie, while the RM of Sherwood declined Edenwold’s request for endorsement.
In the letter, the RM stated “the current situation is having negative impacts on economic development opportunities in our communities and the region.”
Though the letter did not cite specific traffic data, it noted that the existing ministry plan at the time of the letter was developed in the early 1990s, and identified intersections with Highway 362, Range Road 2185, and an access road at the northwest edge of Balgonie town limits, along with 5th Street and Butte Street in Pilot Butte, as particular areas of safety concern.
It also stated that traffic volumes and a “lack of future planning” presented “substantial impediment related to development” and had caused “considerable delays in the development process in some cases” while also being “entirely prohibitive to development in others.”
Examples included development restrictions at Tonita Industrial Park, the Boyd industrial development, Inland and Lafarge gravel pits, and a NorthRidge industrial development due to uncertainty over the ministry’s future plans for Highway 46.
Balgonie CAO Karen Craigie told Grasslands News the town was also contacted about a possible twinning project in the summer of 2021, though by WSP rather than the ministry.
“This study was to include planning for the future twinning of the highway and identify future interchanges and other potential intersection improvements,” Craigie said in a Feb. 21 email.
“In their consultation, we were asked for information about future developments that might occur in Balgonie along Highway 46 as well as future growth in the area. They also asked for any additional concerns that the Town of Balgonie might have regarding this matter.”
One concern Craigie said the town identified at the time was that the community’s water line from Pilot Butte is located in the southern ditch of Highway 46 until it crosses the road near the Viterra terminal about two kilometres west of Balgonie.
“As with any highways project, the Town of Balgonie will review the proposed plans to ensure that the citizens’ needs are represented and voiced,” Craigie said. “It is important that any plans take safety and accessibility into consideration. The Town of Balgonie is very interested in discussing this project with the Ministry of Highways and all possible options for improved traffic conditions will be evaluated.”
Zaharia added that prospective benefits of the project would include “increased safety, more efficient flow of traffic, reduced wait times for vehicles entering the highway from intersecting roads and decreased first responder calls for emergency personnel” as regional growth continues.
Census data shows that from 2011-21 Balgonie’s population grew 8.1 per cent to 1,756. Pilot Butte’s population grew 42.7 per cent to 2,638 people. And the RM of Edenwold’s population grew 7.2 per cent to 4,466.
The ministry spokesperson however said that “provincial highway construction, if deemed necessary, is not expected in the near future as it depends on evolving traffic patterns in the area.”
Data from SGI’s Traffic Accident Information System show those patterns on Highway 46 between Balgonie and Regina dropped from 7,644 vehicles per day in 2017 to 4,930 vehicles per day in 2022. That 35.5 per cent reduction coincides with the five years following the official grand opening of the Regina Bypass project along Highway 1.
SGI’s TAIS reports also show 204 collisions were recorded along Highway 46 in the six calendar years from 2017-22, resulting in 21 injuries and no fatalities.
The ministry spokesperson added that a final decision has not been made on any related highway improvements in the area and that “the functional planning study is expected to be complete by 2025.”
He declined in a follow-up email to provide any specifics around what constituted “the very early stages of a long-term functional planning project” or whether construction could conceivably begin in 2025.
Pilot Butte mayor Peggy Chorney said in a Feb. 22 phone call that the town would be “eagerly awaiting consultation with the Ministry of Highways because it definitely impacts us and we will need that information for our residents.”
