Desperate times are forcing the City of Estevan to take some desperate measures with its crumbling roads.
The City announced over the weekend that due to poor conditions along Highway 47 through Estevan and also on some areas of King Street, they have been reduced to a single lane and the speed limit has been lowered to 30 kilometres. The changes are in effect for Highway 47 from Seventh Street to George Street. The section of King Street from the 13th Avenue intersection to Hillcrest Drive has been reduced to 30 km/h.
In an interview Monday, Mayor Roy Ludwig said the City made the decision to go with only one lane on the advice of its engineering department. The rationale behind the decision is that the majority of the larger potholes are along the sides of the road.
"We were hoping to avoid the worst of them by driving down the middle, which works to some extent but there are still potholes there," Ludwig said.
The first term mayor added that the City has been creating a plan of attack to repair the roads. As soon as weather allows, Ludwig said the City will repave Highway 47 from the train tracks north and Sixth Street from Souris Avenue to 13th Avenue. They will also repave King Street from 13th Avenue to Hillcrest Drive. While that is good news for local drivers whose patience has worn thin, Ludwig cautioned that the work cannot begin until there is warmer weather and the streets dry up.
"We are not looking at a terribly long time but once it dries up we can get serious," Ludwig said. "I can't stress enough that we totally understand (why the public is upset) and for the most part they have been very patient and understanding."
Repairing the various sections of road will not come cheap as Ludwig said their initial estimates peg the cost at roughly $1.4 million.To help pay for the repairs, Ludwig announced at the March 25 meeting of council that the City has sent a letter to the province asking it to pay 60 per cent of the costs.
"We are looking at the same cost-sharing as we would have had on the (urban connector program) with Highway 47 north and south. But now we don't see the connector program coming until 2014 at the soonest or maybe later," Ludwig said following the meeting. "The fact that it is in such disrepair, especially the north side of 47, we have to look at least at a shave and pave to make the road drivable."
"This is the letter we have fired off to the Ministry of Highways and they have been very helpful in the past. We are hoping that it will be no different this time and they will come forward and do a cost-sharing on the shave and pave so we can get that road drivable again."
As of Monday Ludwig said they had not received a reply but the province informed him they have received the request and have also heard from Estevan MLA Doreen Eagles who is lobbying on the City's behalf. Ludwig said if the province turns down their request, the City will be forced to find the money somewhere else.
"Even if the province is not going to come to the table, which we are very hopeful that they will, we will find the money and do it ourselves," he said.
The mayor added that if they do not receive money from the province and the road gets much worse, that the City might be forced to restrict 47 north and Sixth Street to local traffic only and not allow heavy traffic in the area. Ludwig said the City has the right to restrict access within its boundaries noting that such a move would be "very attainable." Ludwig added that their intent is not to create a controversy, but they needed to express how dire the situation is.
"I think we were quite clear on that."
