The plan should be completed by early 2022. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

new opportunities

Economic study focused on Highway 102 corridor underway

Oct 1, 2021 | 4:21 PM

A $96,000 Highway 102 Economic Corridor Study has been approved by La Ronge council.

The decision to award the study to community planning firm Crosby Hanna and Associates occurred at a regular council meeting earlier this week. It will focus on three main areas including a development plan for Highway 102, bringing in necessary experience to help communicate and promote opportunities within the corridor and identify infrastructure servicing requirements necessary to bring development adjacent to the highway.

“Even just from different conversations I’ve had with people who have visited our community, sometimes people drive right through not knowing what we have to offer,” La Ronge Mayor Colin Ratushniak said. “We’re looking at different ways we can expand that opportunity maybe through some development, so we can attract some of those key businesses, maybe some of those big box stores, so we can start putting ourselves on the map in northern Saskatchewan.”

The anticipated timelines for completion of the plan is early 2022, in time for council to consider it when drafting the 2022 municipal budget. An extensive amount of consultation is expected to occur by then with provincial, regional and local stakeholders including government and business representatives.

Town administration believes there are a number of advantages that are not being taken advantage of that could lead to further economic and community development for the town and region. On the busiest days, approximately 8,000 vehicles transverse Highway 102.

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“There is a lot of great moving parts to it right now because the Ministry of Highways is also going to be doing a whole rejuvenation [of] 6.5 kilometres between essentially where the Jonas Roberts memorial Community Centre is all the way to the airport. They are also looking at some improvements on some of the major bridges along the way, and also the highway north of the airport as well, which is good for that economic push for tourism.”

Town administration noted there is a large number of developers who have expressed a desire to work with council on the plan, as well as invest in the town based on the plan’s outcome.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @saskjourno