Street lights are being installed in what has often been called Ring Road’s darkest corner.

The stretch of Ring Road between Albert Street and Wascana Parkway will at long last see lights coming to the corner, after years of safety hazard complaints.

City spokesperson Faisal Kalim said even though it was maintained by the city, that stretch of Ring Road was still considered part of Highway #1 until the Regina Bypass was completed.

“After the south bypass was built, (the ministry of highways) formally turned it over to the city, and certainly through community engagement and an assessment of the road itself, we made the decision to install the expressway lighting on this stretch of roadway.”

“Phase two was always planned for 2020,” explained Kalim. “What we did with this project was we actually tendered it as one so we wouldn’t have to go through a separate procurement process for phase two.

“With that, it took a little bit longer, and we started later in the year, but phase one and phase two will happen much closer together because we already have the contractor, we already have (the project) ready to go.”

Kalim said the goal for this project is to increase safety.

“We always want to do whatever we can to reduce the risk for any motorist driving down the road,” Kalim said. “I wouldn’t be comfortable saying that, just like any other roadway in the city, that this will be perfectly risk-free, but certainly this increases the safety and that is our goal.”