$1.16M Territorial Drive widening moves ahead with change at Airport Road

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City of North Battleford engineering drawings show planned changes along Territorial Drive between the service road and Airport Road as part of a $1.16-million widening project. Light blue areas show where new asphalt widening is planned, while grey areas indicate asphalt overlay and yellow areas show existing medians to be retained. (Image Credit: City of North Battleford)

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City of North Battleford engineering drawings show planned changes along Territorial Drive between the service road and Airport Road as part of a $1.16-million widening project. Light blue areas show where new asphalt widening is planned, while grey areas indicate asphalt overlay and yellow areas show existing medians to be retained. (Image Credit: City of North Battleford)

City of North Battleford engineering drawings show planned changes along Territorial Drive between the service road and Airport Road as part of a $1.16-million widening project. Light blue areas show where new asphalt widening is planned, while grey areas indicate asphalt overlay and yellow areas show existing medians to be retained. (Image Credit: City of North Battleford)

Mayor Kelli Hawtin said the improvements at the service road entrance “will be welcome.”

“That’s a very challenging intersection,” Hawtin said. “So there will be addition of some medians that you’ll actually be able to visibly see.”

Farther north, Johansen said the project is intended to address a northbound lane that currently merges unexpectedly, which he described as a safety issue that can “catch some people by surprise.”

Under the revised configuration, Airport Road will become right-turn only for the time being.

“The Airport Road is going to become a right-only lane for now,” Johansen said. “We’ll have to sign that, but it will be a right-only lane. That’s a safer condition than a disappearing lane.”

The project was scaled back after both bids received by the city exceeded its $997,000 budget, with $747,000 of that amount coming from an Urban Highway Connector Program grant that expires at the end of the province’s fiscal year. K&S submitted the lower bid at $1.5 million for the full project, while G&C Asphalt Inc. bid $2.48 million.

To reduce the cost, the city removed plans to replace the existing grassed median with concrete and eliminated work north of Sakewew High School, bringing K&S’s price down to $1,161,135.11.

Administration also agreed during the meeting to look at eliminating a small additional portion of widening near the Sakewew entrance after a councillor questioned whether it was necessary. Johansen said the change would produce some additional savings.

To help cover the higher cost, council approved reallocating about $230,000 previously set aside for two road projects around Highway 4, West Territorial Drive and South Railway Avenue. 

The money consists of $50,000 from the west approach project and $178,000 from the east approach project. Any unused funds will be returned to the original projects.

Johansen told council the larger intersection improvements associated with those projects are estimated to cost between $2 million and $5 million, beyond what the city can currently afford. He said the city will continue applying for Urban Highway Connector and other grant funding to upgrade the intersection.

K&S proposed beginning construction in September and completing the work in October. The city said significant traffic accommodations, detours and road closures will be required during construction and could affect access and business traffic along Territorial Drive.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com