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A group of southeast Regina residents is trying to halt a long-term plan aimed at improving traffic in the area.
The Wascana View Action Group says a road extension that would connect Wascana Parkway and Prince of Wales Drive threatens the McKell Wascana Conservation Park. According to the group, roads are not permitted on the McKell easement.
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The 171-acre park is a natural conservation area made up of prairie grassland and wetlands with interpretive trails. It was developed in a partnership between the McKell family, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and the city, and was dedicated in 2005 by the Duke of Edinburgh.
Group spokesperson Jack Huntington said given the budget crunch City Hall is facing, a $300,000 functional study of the Prince of Wales extension should be scrapped.
“Doing the study, in fact, is a third step that’s going to come back with the same answer, that they can’t go across the McKell reserve,” he said.
The city’s proposed capital plan includes $3.9 million in 2029 for design work. According to a 2022 study of the Arcola Avenue corridor conducted by KGS, a two-lane road would cost $27.8 million not including land acquisition.
The study says building the extension would delay the need for additional lanes on Arcola Avenue.
In addition to cost and conservation concerns, Huntington said adding to traffic on Prince of Wales Drive raises safety issues for nearby W. S. Hawrylak School.
“With this extension, there could be as many as 15,000 to 20,000 cars a day,” he said. “There’s obviously a great concern around child safety on a major thoroughfare that is being suggested by the city.”
Mayor Chad Bachynski said it’s been known for some time that some sort of connection is needed, but adds the study is really the beginning of engagement on the proposal.
“It will be a study that engages stakeholders, doing public engagement with residents, with other organizations that would potentially impacted,” he said.
“There’s no routing set in stone, there’s nothing decided yet. It is truly a study to start the conversation around what that looks like.”
Huntington said in addition to expanding Arcola Avenue, an alternative to the Prince of Wales extension could involve a connection to the Regina Bypass, using the existing Fleet Street intersection.
He added it’s been delightful and encouraging to see busloads of children visiting the McKell conservation area, and would hate to see it destroyed.
