Phase Two of a project that aims to improve safety, sightlines, and highway quality is now at the halfway point of completion.
The Province’s Highway 5 Improvement Project began last June, and Phase Two is expected to wrap up in summer of 2025.
Once complete, drivers will notice new shoulder widening, resurfacing, and one set of new passing lanes around the St. Denis area.
Travis Hryniuk, Reeve of the rural municipality of Grant, says getting the highway widened will, hopefully, enhance safety and prevent potential accidents.
“I’m (a member of) the Prud’homme Fire Department, and during my career as a volunteer fire department member, we’ve been to numerous accidents on the number five highway; anything from vehicle collisions to rollovers, mainly because of the highway being so narrow.”
Humboldt City Councilor Roger Nordick says Highway 5 usage has increased in the last ten years and will continue to pick up with the BHP Jansen Potash Mine project nearing completion in 2026, about 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon.
He adds that wait times at the construction site have exceeded 20 minutes at peak busy season, but motorists are starting to become more understanding.
“The short-term pain for long-term gain has certainly paid off, and people are starting to realize now that it wasn’t so bad.”
Nordick says there has been skepticism around how the project will turn out, but the results of Phase One can speak for themselves.
“You’ve got to drive it. It’s looking excellent. Whoever did that, whoever finished that project, the finishing is amazing.”
Phase Two is expected to cost roughly $40 million, with the cost of the entire project totaling about $125 million.
Phase Three will commence as early as 2025. Remaining work includes twinning and resurfacing a 10 kilometre segment of the highway between Saskatoon and the Highway 316 junction.