Ring Road (Regina, Saskatchewan)

Ring Road Trans-Canada Highway Bypass
Route information
Length	22.3 km (13.9 mi)
Component highways	Hwy 1 (TCH), Hwy 6, Hwy 11
Major junctions
Northwest end	Pasqua Street / 9th Avenue N
	Albert Street N MacDonald Street Victoria Avenue Arcola Avenue Albert Street S Lewvan Drive
Southwest end	Regina City Limits
Highway system
Provincial highways in Saskatchewan ← Hwy 999 Hwy 2 → ← Hwy 5 Hwy 7 → ← Hwy 10 Hwy 12 →

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 Highway 6 and Highway 11 to the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) 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 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 Lewvan Drive and Pasqua Street North, 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 Bypass; a separate new road that will connect Highways 1 and Highway 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 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 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 west as 9th Avenue N
0.0	0.0	Pasqua Street to Hwy 1 west / Hwy 11 north – Regina International Airport	Interchange proposed Ring Road travels east
0.6	0.37	Argyle Street	Half diamond interchange; westbound exit, eastbound entrance
1.6	0.99	Albert Street N (Hwy 6 north / Hwy 11 north) – City Centre, Melfort, Saskatoon	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 (Hwy 1 east) – City Centre, Winnipeg	Diamond interchange Hwy 1 (TCH) / Hwy 6 designation begins; Hwy 11 ends
		Ring Road ends • Trans-Canada Highway Bypass begins
9.5	5.9	Arcola Avenue (Hwy 33 east) – Francis	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 – University of Regina, Saskatchewan Polytechnic	Diamond interchange
15.8	9.8	Albert Street S (Hwy 6 south) – City Centre, Weyburn	Cloverleaf interchange; Hwy 6 concurrency ends TCH Bypass turns west
17.7	11.0	Lewvan Drive – Regina International Airport	Partial-cloverleaf interchange
22.3	13.9	Regina Bypass (Pinkie Road)	Partial-cloverleaf interchange Cloverstack interchange under construction[5]
Continues as Hwy 1 west (Trans-Canada Highway) – Moose Jaw, Calgary
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Route transition       Unopened

References