Construction season is almost here in Saskatchewan. As soon as the poor weather conditions clear up, and workers are able, construction will commence on a popular highway for southwest residents travelling to Saskatoon. The plan is to start the ground work for 11 km of double lane on Highway 7 between Delisle and Vanscoy.

Last year, around nine kilometres of newly twinned highway between Saskatoon and Vanscoy opened to traffic. This was the first phase in the major project to twin approximately 25 kilometres of Highway 7 between Saskatoon and Delisle. This year's construction is a continuation on this project.

Minister of Highways and Infrastructure, David Merit said that the plan is to get all the dirt work done in 2017 and the paving will be completed in 2018. "Weather permitting, they will be working through the summer season to get the road done. Our goal is to get all the dirt work done this fall, weather permitting. Just to give you an example, there's over 50 culvert installations, so there's quite a bit of detailed work."

Merit mentioned that if highway construction goes smoothly, it will be done in about a year and a half, "We're looking forward to construction moving ahead. We can hope that we can keep everything on schedule, next year get the paving done, and hopefully turn that highway on in Fall of 2018."

Highway 7 tends to be a busy highway, as it connects communities such as Kindersley, Rosetown, Delisle and Saskatoon, as well as Calgary. Over the last 10 years, traffic volumes have increased by about 50 per cent, from 5,000 vehicles per day to about 9,100 per day.

David Merit also mentioned that they are looking at adding passing lanes between Kindersley and Rosetown on Highway 7. "We are doing some preliminary work in that process. It is one of our top 4 priority areas for passing lanes... It all comes down to budget but I'm hoping in the next 3 to 5 years my top four areas can be addressed."