The cost of the Regina bypass has risen to $1.88 billion, according to the latest numbers from the Saskatchewan Government.
That figure includes the cost of designing, building, financing and maintaining the project in current dollars over the 30-year span of the contract. The government says it will save $380 million by using a public-private partnership model.
The price tag for the project was previously pegged at $1.2 billion. The bypass will include 40 kilometres of new highway, four lanes wide, and 12 overpasses.
Overpasses at Balgonie and White City are expected to be built by fall 2017, and all other construction, including an overpass at the Pilot Butte turnoff, is slated for completion in fall 2019.
The project is expected to create 8,200 construction-related jobs in Saskatchewan.
Regina Bypass Partners, formerly Sasklink Global Transportation Partners, was selected to build the project. With contract negotiations now over, the government says it will release a detailed value for money report at the earliest opportunity.
The bypass will begin on Highway 11 northwest of Regina and run south to the Trans-Canada Highway. It will then wrap around the city about five kilometres south of Highway 1, and will be routed 400 metres east of Tower Road to connect back with Highway 1 on the east side of Regina.
