Got word today that Lorne St. between 11th and 12th Ave will be closed for the entire summer starting on May 6 to allow the City, SaskPower and SaskEnergy to make important upgrades. The intersection at Lorne and 12th will be closed for the duration of the construction, and the intersection at Lorne and 11th will apparently be closed for three weeks or so in August or September.
Lorne at that point is a major conduit for east-bound buses that stop on 12th by City Hall or Central Library, then head north a block to access 11th Ave. and continue their east-bound journey. So I’m not sure what impact the road closure will have on transit service in the downtown. I have a call into Regina Transit and will update this post when I get a response.
12:15 p.m. Update: I just got off the phone with someone from Regina Transit. Here’s the skinny. West-bound buses on 11th which switch over to 12th at Smith St. won’t be affected. But the east-bound traffic on 12th will be. Effective May 6 all north-bound buses that typically turn right onto 12th off of Albert and stop on the south side of 12th at either City Hall or Central Library will instead proceed to 11th Ave and turn right there. Transit stops will be created on 11th between Albert and Lorne, which will result in the loss of some parking spots. As for south-bound buses on Albert that typically turn left onto 12th, they will now turn left at Sask Drive, then access 11th Ave via Smith, and proceed east from there.
The changes take effect May 6, and Regina Transit will be informing users in the next few days of what they’ll need to do to adapt. It shouldn’t be a problem. If there’s one thing transit users in Regina are good at, it’s adapting to changes in routes and schedules.
