Infrastructure is a priority for the City of Regina and the local roads make up a significant portion of the transportation network. Regina has approximately 680 kilometres of local roads. That’s the distance between Regina and Calgary. Local roads provide direct access to homes, schools, parks and local businesses.
The City of Regina addresses the condition of the asphalt driving surface, sidewalks, curbs and gutters through capital renewal programs and maintenance programs.
Capital Road Renewals
The City of Regina’s target is for 85 per cent of the local roads to be in either fair or better condition based on the safety and usability of the road. This target includes the paved driving surface of the roads and the sidewalks, curbs and gutters. Based on a five-year average, the City is able to improve approximately 22 kilometres per year of local roads. The actual length of local roads improved varies from year to year depending on the amount of money approved in the budget, road treatments used, individual project location complexity and other factors.
Prioritization
The City strives to be efficient in how it selects road renewal projects to maximize its investment to better the entire road network in Regina. By integrating infrastructure renewal projects with road renewal, the City aims to minimize disruption to residents and businesses rather than returning multiple times to the same location for different projects
Road renewal locations are prioritized based on the impact to the entire network. The City considers the following priorities and key factors:
- Infrastructure age and condition
- Safety
- Traffic volumes
- Budget constraints
- Project integration (e.g. water, sewer, streetlights)
- Targeted improvements of bike lanes and accessibility requirements
Road Treatment Options
- Surface Treatment: Generally consists of removing a thin layer of deteriorated asphalt on the roadway and then reapplying a new layer. A local road can typically be completed in one week. This treatment is a relatively low-cost approach to renewing and maintaining Regina’s road network. However, it does not address ponding or drainage issues that may be present after a rainfall. It also does not include replacement or renewal of deteriorated concrete sidewalk, curb and gutter or infrastructure beneath the road surface.
- As a preventative measure, this approach is used on roads in good condition to extend the life and slow deterioration.
- As a responsive measure, this approach is used on roads in poor or very poor condition to restore them into a smoother, safer road.
- Rehabilitation: Improves the condition of sidewalks, curbs and gutters and repaves the asphalt surface on roads in fair condition or worse. Rehabilitations may improve some underground utilities, such as storm drains and sewer manholes. These projects are completed in an average of five to six weeks. They are three times the cost of a surface treatment, but address most issues for a road in poor or very poor condition.
- Rebuild: This treatment reconstructs concrete sidewalks, curbs and gutters, as well as the road structure and surface. Rebuilds are coordinated with the renewal or replacement of underground utilities such as water and sewer mains, sewer and drainage connections, storm drains and sewer manholes as required. These projects vary in length, but take 15 to 20 weeks on average. Rebuild treatments have the highest cost.
From 2015 to 2025, approximately $115 million has been invested into local roads, improving more than 231 km of Regina’s road network. Nearly 35 per cent of all roadshave seen improvements in the last 10 years.
The image below illustrates the cost of each road treatment option and the average cost (2024 to 2026) to complete a city block 190 metres long.
What can you accomplish with $78,000 using each treatment:
In addition to projects completed through the RRRP’s annual budget, the City of Regina allocated a separate budget for routine road maintenance operations.
Road maintenance includes:
- Pothole patching to replace a missing area of asphalt
- Asphalt distress repairs to address ruts and depressions
- Concrete repairs using sidewalk panel replacements, shaving, mud jacking or an interim asphalt overlay
- Sealing cracks as a preventative approach to prevent water infiltration to the road subsurface
Maintenance work to address repairs required are identified from resident service requests and City inspections. Locations are inspected and prioritized to address the highest need for repairs first. The City establishes policies and procedures to support staff in addressing these repairs in a timely and effective manner across the City of Regina’s large road and sidewalk networks.
The City uses a combination of City crews and external contractors to complete road work in a timely manner. Public procurements soliciting bids from external companies are issued to get the best price for taxpayers' investments. The City also has its own asphalt plant, which helps to complete road renewal projects in a timely and cost-effective manner.
