Ring Road (Regina, Saskatchewan)

Ring Road is a 4 lane controlled access highway in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is an extension of the Trans-Canada Highway that bypasses the city on the north-east side. Ring Road has a speed limit of 100 km/h (62 mph) and consists of 7 interchanges.

About Ring Road

Ring Road serves as a high speed connection between Regina's east and northwest suburbs and commercial districts with Regina's industrial centre between. In addition to being used as a commuting highway, Ring Road sufficiently connects Provincial Highways 6 and 11 to the Trans-Canada Highway and is a boon to truckers crossing the province/nation. As of 2004, the traffic count on Ring Road is at its highest between Winnipeg Street and Provincial Highway 6 at 38,900 vehicles per day.^[1]

It is important to note that Regina residents often use the name Ring Road to refer to the above as well as the Trans Canada Highway bypass, as a single roadway. Although considered a ring road or beltway, it does not form a complete circle around the city, nor is it likely to in the foreseeable future as no western leg of Ring Road is planned; the function of this nonexistent western leg is instead covered by a north-south non-freeway route consisting of Pasqua Street North and Lewvan Drive, which provide a link between the northwest terminus of Ring Road and the Trans-Canada Highway in the south end of the city (and, accordingly, the southwestern terminus of the TCH bypass route). However, work is underway on the Regina West-By Pass; a separate new road that will connect Highways 1 and 11 and serve as the primary access to the Global Transportation Hub (GTH).^[2]

With the west suburban developments flourishing in Regina, the Pasqua Street and Ring Road intersection becomes congested at peak hours. Thus the city plans to construct a new interchange at this point in the near future.^[3]

Route details

Going from the south to north, the first interchange is a diamond interchange that bridges over 7-lane-wide Victoria Avenue (also a part of the Trans-Canada Highway), next is a 1/2 diamond interchange that overpasses 3 lane wide Dewdney Avenue.

Continuing north, Ring Road descends to underpass the Canadian Pacific rail line, curves to the north-west and also underpasses 5 lane Ross Avenue that connects to Ring Road with a 1/2 diamond interchange. Immediately after this underpass, another rail line bridges over the highway. Ring Road then ascends to overpass Provincial Highway 46 (also labelled McDonald Street at this point) with a full diamond interchange.

After this point, there are 2 light-controlled railway crossings that are not bridged over Ring Road. The first is a CN line that has infrequent train crossings, and shortly afterward approaches the CP line that has moderate train crossings. Even though typically the trains crossing these lines are short in length, evening rush hour in Regina often causes vehicle stand-stills at this point of Ring Road stretching over the Highway 46 interchange.

Immediately after these 2 rail crossings, Ring Road underpasses 5 lane wide Winnipeg Street which connects with a diamond interchange and curves to the west. Next, the highway underpasses Broad Street (with no interchange) followed by a pedestrian walkway. Ring Road then underpasses 6 lane wide Provincial Highway 6 (an extension of Albert Street) with a partial cloverleaf interchange (the loop on the south-east corner is occupied by restaurants).

Finally, Ring Road underpasses 5 lane Argyle Street connected with a 1/2 diamond interchange before ending with a traffic light controlled intersection at Pasqua Street. Further west from this point, the road becomes 9th Avenue North.

Exit list

The entire route is in Regina.

km[4]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Continues as 9th Avenue N
0.0	0.0	Pasqua Street – Regina International Airport To Hwy 1 (TCH) west / Hwy 11 north	Interchange planned Ring Road travels east
0.6	0.37	Argyle Street	Half diamond interchange Westbound exit, eastbound entrance
1.6	0.99	Albert Street N – Downtown Regina Hwy 6 north – Southey, Melfort Hwy 11 north – Lumsden, Saskatoon, Prince Albert	Cloverleaf interchange Hwy 6 / Hwy 11 joins Ring Road
3.5	2.2	Winnipeg Street	Diamond interchange Ring Road turns southeast
3.7	2.3	Railway crossing	At-grade crossing
3.9	2.4	Railway crossing	At-grade crossing
4.9	3.0	McDonald Street Hwy 46 east – Pilot Butte, Balgonie	Diamond interchange
6.2	3.9	Ross Avenue	Half diamond interchange Northbound exit, southbound entrance Ring Road turns south
7.4	4.6	Dewdney Avenue	Half diamond interchange Southbound exit, northbound entrance
8.3	5.2	Victoria Avenue E – Downtown Regina Hwy 1 (TCH) east – Indian Head, Brandon, Winnipeg	Diamond interchange Hwy 11 ends; Hwy 1 (TCH) / Hwy 6 designation begins Officially designated as the TCH Bypass after this point
9.5	5.9	Arcola Avenue Hwy 33 east – Stoughton, Carlyle	Diamond interchange TCH bypass turns southwest
10.9	6.8	Assiniboine Avenue	Y interchange Northbound exit, southbound entrance
11.2	7.0	Crosses Wascana Creek
13.2	8.2	Wascana Parkway	Diamond interchange Access to University of Regina and Saskatchewan Polytechnic (formerly SIAST Wascana Campus)
15.8	9.8	Albert Street S – Downtown Regina Hwy 6 south – Weyburn, Minton	Cloverleaf interchange Hwy 6 concurrency ends TCH Bypass turns west
17.7	11.0	Lewvan Drive – Regina International Airport	Folded diamond interchange
22.3	13.9	Pinkie Road (West Regina Bypass)	Folded diamond interchange Access to Global Transportation Hub
Continues as Hwy 1 (TCH) west (Trans-Canada Highway) – Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Calgary
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Route transition       Unopened

References

1. "2007 Traffic Flow Map". City of Regina. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
2. Vigliotti, Marco. "Traffic danger increasing in Regina's west end with growth in commercial trucking, critics charge". Metro News. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
3. "Current & Future Road Construction Projects". City of Regina. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
4. "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2 May 2016.