The Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure conceived the Regina Bypass project to support the Province’s 2012 Planning for Growth Initiative, which projected Saskatchewan would reach a population of 1.2 million by the year 2020. The Regina Bypass project includes approximately 60 kilometres of 4-lane highway, 12 interchanges, 33 new structures, and 54 kilometres of service roads. The project is essential to public safety, transportation needs, and the growth and economic development of Regina and the surrounding region. The $1.88 billion Regina Bypass is the largest transportation project in Saskatchewan’s history, and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure’s first Public-Private Partnership.
To deliver this historic and landmark project, the Ministry retained Associated Engineering and CIMA+ as their Owner’s Engineer. The Owner’s Engineer team provided project management, technical expertise, and quality management services to support the development of the conceptual design, the business case, planning, procurement, as well as oversight of design and construction.
Opened in 2019, the Regina Bypass offers a route around the city centre and comprises 12 elevated interchanges to replace at-grade intersections on Highway 1 east of Regina, resulting in safer transitions onto and off the road. The Bypass also provides faster, safer access along two important trade routes – Highway 1 east-west and Highway 6 to the United States. Staging of design and construction was planned to accelerate completion of the east end of the project, delivering much needed safety improvements for commuter traffic from Regina-area communities.
The Owner’s Engineer team consisted of a diverse, multi-discipline team with more than 200 individuals from Associated Engineering, CIMA+, and our subconsultants in Canada and the US. With such a large team, strong project management, coordination, and communication were critical to the project’s success.
At the project outset, the Owner’s Engineer and Ministry staff established an integrated partnering approach, which fostered constructive and collaborative relationships among all parties. We developed a project collaboration website to ensure secure data storage, facilitate communication among the team members, and promote the integrated partnering approach. Team members from varying organizations and physical locations were able to access project information and work together efficiently. During construction, the Owner’s Engineer team and Ministry staff co-located in one office.
“Being part of this project was an incredible experience." - Senior Project Engineer, Angela Hickie-Miller
Our collaborative approach and ‘One Team’ mentality was instrumental in its successful delivery.” Design and construction of the Regina Bypass was completed on time and under budget, with no major claims.
In 2020, the Regina Bypass project received the Infrastructure Gold Award at the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships National Awards and an Award of Excellence and the Brian Eckel Pinnacle Award from the Association of Consulting Engineers - Saskatchewan.
