Regina executive committee looks at combining underground infrastructure with road, sidewalk repairs

The City of Regina says millions more may be needed yearly to meet road and sidewalk renewal targets. Sierra D’Souza Butts reports.

Regina executive committee is taking a concrete look at improving its service levels for roads and sidewalks across the city.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the committee reviewed the city’s Road and Concrete Renewal Strategy and Annual Update. The report focused on the past work and future projections for repairing roads and sidewalks across Regina.

Ward 4 Coun. Mark Burton spoke about concerns residents have about the road conditions within The Greens.

“If I can’t go the speed limit, there needs to be some changes in our documentation or specifications here. It is unacceptable. It is that bad on Chuka Blvd.,” Burton said at Wednesday’s meeting.

People in other areas of the city, like Wascana View, are questioning current construction work, he added.

“Residents that I stopped on the side of the street and talking to Wascana Glen, those people whose road is now just about to be repaired, are asking why? They feel it’s in that good shape that it’s an inconvenience that the city should spend money better elsewhere,” Burton said.

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As part of the city’s strategy plan, administration said underground infrastructure plays a role in deciding what roads and sidewalks are repaired entirely or at the surface level.

“We also are considering the entire infrastructure envelope when we’re developing these projects, understanding what the condition of the underground water, wastewater and stormwater lines look like, as well as the surrounding concrete conditions are important as well as we start to scope out those projects, explained Evan Guenther, director of sustainable infrastructure for the city

The committee spoke about increasing the renewal rate of local roads in poor conditions based on the city’s Level of Service (LOS) target.

However, in order to achieve Regina’s current target within the next 25 years, approximately $20 million needs to be invested annually – a goal city administration said is “inadequate” due to the current funding set aside being insufficient.

“It highlights that we’ve been under investing in our infrastructure. We’ve got good data. It shows where we need to invest and I know administration is doing some really, really incredible work in terms of trying to pair underground infrastructure work with the above ground roadwork and sidewalk work,” Mayor Chad Bachynski told reporters.

“The numbers seemed a little maybe scary at first, but what we’re seeing is a lot of those projects are going to get paired together where the road replacements or road surface work is actually included as a part of the capital work of the underground.”

Closer to the city’s budget season, Bachynski added council will take a closer look at pairing the different types of infrastructure projects together in attempt to improve the longevity of road conditions, as well as maximizing the city’s available funding.

The executive committee unanimously approved the report. Final approval will be presented to Regina City Council on June 3.