Timeline of the Regina bypass from 2013 to 2017

The Regina bypass would be the city's biggest-ever construction project. Here's a timeline of the project's development so far.

June 2013

The province of Saskatchewan approves the new Regina bypass meant to make traffic less congested within the city and on Ring Road.

April 2014 

The plans for the bypass are finalized. The route will go west and south of the city and reconnect with Highway 1 on the east side at Tower Road.

May 2014

It's announced that Ottawa will pay for $200 million of the project. It's going to be a public-private partnership (P3), meaning it will be financed with public dollars, but a team of private companies will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the project over a 30-year period. 

July - August 2015

The Regina bypass gets billed at $1.88 billion. It's the city's biggest-ever construction project.

Saskatchewan's opposition asks the government to put a temporary halt on the project for a "sober second thought," and to prioritize safety features.

The government has said an overpass, as part of the Regina bypass, will make a stretch of Highway 1 east of Regina where several accidents have occurred, safer.  Some call for traffic lights in the area, but the province says the overpass, with improve lighting and signage, is the way to improve safety.  

Summer 2015

Construction officially gets underway on the project. 

2019

The entire Regina bypass project is scheduled to be completed in 2019, but three officials say four overpasses in the east end will be ready in 2017.