Investment to Highway 7 at Kindersley Among More Than 1,000 Safety Projects

Released on June 13, 2024

Today, the Government of Saskatchewan announced Highway 7 intersection improvements in the Kindersley area - two that have reached completion and two that have reached the midway point.

Funding for these four projects is through this year's $17.6 million Safety Improvements Program. They are among more than 1,000 various highway safety projects across the province since 2019. This continued support follows last year's completion of a five-year, $100 million investment in road safety for the province.

"Our provincial government is delivering on its commitment to improve and to continue to improve the safety of our highways," Highways Minister Lori Carr said. "We will keep enhancing and building the infrastructure to better protect everyone who uses our highways as we work closely with our traffic safety partners."

The province is investing an estimated $6.5 million for safety improvements at two intersections on Highway 7 in Kindersley. One intersection is Highway 7 and Highway 21. The other intersection is Highway 7 and Ditson Drive.

The work includes road widening, repaving, concrete work, street and traffic light alterations, and traffic sign alterations. On-site construction began in May, and is scheduled to be completed in October, pending weather.

Once completed, this project will make it safer for drivers to turn on and off Highway 7 as these two intersections will be widened to accommodate better turning movements of vehicles. Pedestrian buttons will also be installed to the existing traffic lights at Highways 7 and 21, along with a pedestrian crossing at Highway 7 and Ditson Drive.

"The Town of Kindersley thanks the Government of Saskatchewan for its investment to enhance intersection safety on the Highway 7 corridor through our community," Mayor of Kindersley Rod Perkins said. "We appreciate the patience and understanding of everyone as this important construction work occurs in the short term, which will benefit all who travel this highway in the long term."

Outside of Kindersley, two other intersection safety projects on Highway 7 that began in May were completed last week. That $2 million investment will see Highway 7 at Range Road 3231 and at Range Road 3243 each receive additional lanes to make left and right turns of vehicles safer.

Examples of other recent highway safety improvement projects across Saskatchewan:

La Ronge area

• $667,000 to improve sightlines for drivers on Highway 135 between Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay by blasting and clearing rock in 2022 on the Canadian Shield.
• $932,000 for such work as flattening hills and improving sightlines in 2019 on Highway 924 so drivers approaching from both directions can better see each other.

Melfort area

• $529,000 for turning and acceleration lanes for eastbound and westbound traffic in 2021 on Highway 3 about two kilometres west of Tisdale for safer access to nearby grain elevators and to reduce potential rear-end collisions.
• $286,000 in 2021 for westbound traffic turning and acceleration lanes about 1.5 km west of Valparaiso for safer access to nearby grain elevators and to reduce potential rear-end collisions.

Lloydminster area

• $1.3 million in 2023 for northbound and southbound truck climbing lanes on Highway 21 approaching the Tobey Nollet Bridge crossing the North Saskatchewan River so smaller vehicles can safely pass trucks.

Yorkton area

• $50,000 in 2022 for area lighting to improve visibility at the intersection of Highways 9 and 49 near Stenen.

Saskatoon area

• $1.5 million on Highway 11 near Hague to install in 2023 northbound and southbound acceleration lanes.
• $900,000 for additional lanes on Highway 12 in 2023 at its intersection with Township Road 381.

Swift Current area

• $1 million in 2022 to improve the Highways 4 and 379 intersection south of Swift Current by installing left and right turning lanes for southbound vehicles.

Moose Jaw / Regina area

• $2.5 million in 2021 for exit and entrance ramps from Highway 1 westbound to and from Kalium Road, which separates large volumes of turning truck traffic from other vehicles.
• $85,000 in 2023 for a pilot project to install continuous warning lights along a curve at the rail overpass at Highway 1 near Belle Plaine.

Motorists are reminded to check the Highway Hotline before travelling for the latest available road conditions at https://hotline.gov.sk.ca/map and encouraged to share on social media before driving an important work zone safety message at https://youtu.be/R8p_D-QNmUI?si=QEob9exsnqXpvY89.

The Government of Saskatchewan has invested more than $13 billion in transportation infrastructure since 2008, improving more than 20,700 kilometres of Saskatchewan highways.

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