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The opening of the interchanges will alleviate some of the congestion on Victoria Avenue East, but divert more to Arcola Avenue for the next two years.

“That will sort out once the rest of the bypass project is done in 2019,” Stearns said.

Once the entire bypass is complete in 2019, it is estimated that 70 per cent of traffic, mostly trucks, will be diverted south of the city rather than along Victoria Avenue East.

“It will not only improve the overall safety of the road, but from a congestion relief point of view, there will be a safety improvement overall,” Stearns said. “We have a very good handle on for what we anticipate for traffic and what this bypass will do to alleviate congestion.”

The project has been hit with several challenges from Mother Nature over the past six months.

“The winter weather has impacted us a bit. We are dealing with mud and it is tougher to get around,” Trapp said. “We (also) found that the ground around the area is very unpredictable. There is water and Regina clay is a challenge to work and deal with. We are very much experiencing that.”

Construction on the stretch from the Trans-Canada Highway interchange to the Highway 6 interchange is 50 per cent complete and work is ramping up at the Highway 6 interchange to build two new bridges.

“We are just getting started on the two bridges here. Highway 6 will also be twinned from Regina to the south here,” Trapp said. “The goal is to get at least one of the bridges open for the summer or this fall so we can stage and get the twinning construction completed.”