Article content

After two years of construction, the new Balgonie overpass — the first of several to open as part of the Regina Bypass project — is scheduled to be open to traffic Monday.

Located at the intersection of Highway 46 and Trans-Canada Highway, the overpass is long-overdue for the Balgonie and surrounding communities.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Balgonie overpass to open early next week Back to video

“We’ve had many fatalities on this highway and since this project started we’ve not had one and so we’re hoping to continue that trend,” said Frank Thauberger, mayor of Balgonie.

According to David Marit, minister of highways and infrastructure, the overpass is actually ahead of schedule, initially planned for a fall opening. But he recognized that for some, it wasn’t soon enough.

“I understand what they’re going through and it’s unfortunate, but I can only say … that we look to the future and moving forward I hope we never have an incident like that again,” said Marit.

Both Marit and Thauberger, attended a celebration for the overpass Thursday morning, along with other government representatives, community members and crew members from Regina Bypass project team. A band, a hotdog stand and a bed derby, where members of the Balgonie Elks and the Regina Bypass team pushed beds-on-wheels around a roundabout and through a ceremonial banner, all helped mark the occasion.