Time to Twin Highway 39 committee members Marge Young and Lauralie Ireland believe they have proof that there is enough traffic to warrant making Highway 39 a double-lane highway.
Ireland and Young studied traffic volumes and vehicle types on Highway 39, two kilometres west of Hitchcock, on October 19 and 21. They also studied the number and the types of vehicles on Highway 47, four kilometres north of Estevan, on October 29.
Ireland observed traffic from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. Young tracked the traffic from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.
?You'd have 10 or 12 vehicles coming at you from one way,? said Ireland. ?And then you're trying to mark how many cars, how many trucks, how many quarter-ton trucks and how many half-tonnes.?
?I found after seven hours I was really exhausted,? added Young. ?And that's because you're busy the whole time. You very seldom have more than 20 seconds, maybe 30 seconds (between vehicles), and that didn't happen very often.?
There were 3,064 vehicles on Highway 39 in the 14 hours on October 19. Included in that total were 1,202 half-ton trucks, three-quarter-ton trucks and one-ton trucks; 1,087 cars, vans and SUVs; and 494 semis and buses.
October 21 brought 3,189 vehicles, including 1,154 cars, vans and SUVs; 1,137 half-ton trucks, three-quarter ton trucks and one-ton trucks; and 561 buses and semis.
They believe that the numbers show there is enough traffic on the highway to justify a twinning project. Pro-rated over 24 hours, the number of vehicles would be 5,253 on October 19, and 5,466 on October 21.
They were surprised with the amount of traffic on Highway 47. There were 3,031 vehicles recorded on October 29, including 1,538 half-ton trucks, three-quarter ton trucks and one-ton trucks; 899 cars, vans and SUVs; and 246 semis and buses.
?I knew it was bad, but I didn't realize it was this bad,? said Young. ?I think 47 is worse, actually, because you have so many half-tons and so many big vehicles. And when you get past the (Highway) 361 (junction) - the Lampman corner - you don't have shoulders (on the road). The numbers are just a hair lighter than on 39.?
Traffic on all three highways peaked, not surprisingly, between 5 and 6 p.m. All three highways reported more than 300 vehicles during that hour.
Young and Ireland say their objective remains the same: twin Highway 39 from North Portal to the junction with Highway 6, and twin Highway 6 from the junction with 39 to Regina. The total distance is about 240 kilometres.
?I think that if we could get 39 twinned, some of the people who do use 47 to try to avoid 39 would go back to using 39,? said Young. ?But a lot of the traffic that goes north on 47 can't use 39, because they're going up to the oilfield and the Bakken area.?
It was a good idea to list the number of vehicles each hour, and to breakdown the vehicles into different categories, Young said.
?Sometimes when you're in the city or around the city, there are lots of vehicles, but they're mainly cars, with a few trucks,? said Young. ?We have so many trucks and so many heavy vehicles (on 39 and 47) that I think, for me, it showed me why I feel pressure out on the roads, why I feel it's dangerous.?
Once the Global Transportation Hub in Regina is finished, an additional 200 plus semis a week will be using Highway 39, Young said.
Ireland noted that there is a twinned highway in each direction leaving Regina, except to the south, and that's one of the reasons she believes Highway 6 needs to be twinned.
The booming oilfield sector is great, Ireland said, but it does come with a price with traffic on Highways 39 and 47.
?We're just trying to put the point across that it's dangerous, and the traffic in total is dangerous,? said Ireland.
The data has been sent to Premier Brad Wall, Highways Minister Jim Reiter, Estevan MLA Doreen Eagles, Weyburn MLA Dustin Duncan, Souris-Moose Mountain MP Ed Komarnicki and the mayors of Estevan and Weyburn.
Feedback has been excellent, Young said, and they have heard many stories from motorists who have had harrowing moments on Highway 39, or problems caused by semis. Young and Ireland are parents and grandparents, and they say they don't want to see any more families impacted by accidents on highways.
