"We took to heart the message about lost potash revenues. We heard them when they told us that projects were being put on hold, so we held back and haven't said anything for the past six months or so," said Marge Young, chairwoman of the Time To Twin committee that is advocating the twinning of Highways 39 and 6 (south) from southeast Saskatchewan to Regina.
"In the meantime, we've lost more people, more young people, on our highways around here. Highway 47 has become busier because of the pressure on Highway 39," said Young.
"We also thought it was inappropriate for us to be shouting about highway needs while others were mourning family losses."
But now that potash revenues are up 135 per cent and Crown land sales indicate continued enthusiasm for the oil play in this region, Young said it was time to get back on the lobbying track.
With nearly $300 million realized in government revenue from the sale of Crown land alone, and over $2 billion in oil exploration expenditures confirmed by the southeast oil patch companies, plus a 6.3 per cent in expected growth, there is the need to turn the government's attention to the infrastructure needs in this corner, she said.
"They could pave over 200 kilometres of twinned highway which would be the equivalent of one year's income from Crown land sales alone," said Young. That's not including additional fees and taxes.
"For a few years Highway 47 was able to sustain a reasonable volume of traffic, but now it's crumbling again because of excessive activity," Young said. "If we could get Highway 39 twinned, that would extend the pavement life on 47," she said.
Young said the local committee, which has shared information and ideas with a similar group in Weyburn, will be doing some traffic counts in the near future to support their claims that during peak periods of the working day, travelling on the two-lane Highway 39 is hazardous at best and downright scary at times.
"It's time to deliver the message that Highways and Infrastructure need to get busy down here. The land should be assembled by now, the engineering work completed."
If that were done, then when the decision is ultimately made to twin Highways 39 and 6 south, the construction work can begin immediately and not be tied up in red tape and detailing.
Young said she could only assume that the long-awaited truck bypass route will be a twinned surface. She said if that was the case, then the lighter units (cars and smaller trucks) could remain on the current Highway 39 on a two-lane configuration on the outskirts of the city.
"It's not just Highways 39, 6 and 47 either. The other highways in southeast Saskatchewan are getting hammered to death," she said.
"So the government has to look at all of it, and they also have to take a good look at what we contribute . We've been taken for granted too long," she said.
Young said it would be too easy to blame the trucking companies or the oil and coal industries for the ills that have befallen local highways and grid roads, but that would be avoiding the obvious. They're the ones making the money. They aren't the investment community, shuffling the money around, they're the ones creating the wealth in the first place by drilling, obtaining product and moving it into the market and that requires heavy equipment and labour.
"We're going to be delivering a message to the government that if they can quickly find millions of dollars for a transportation hub in Regina, or potentially a domed stadium, and two new interchanges, they have to find some dollars for us too. We have twice as many trucks already moving on our highways around here than what they're expecting to handle out of the new Regina hub," Young said.
The committee chairwoman said the local group is not without empathy. She said they understood the unique circumstances of this past summer when heavy rains and floods washed out highways and created the need for the implementation of a provincial disaster plan, but, she pointed out, "our dollars went toward disaster relief too, just like everyone else."
Young said Estevan MLA Doreen Eagles offered to set up a meeting between the Time to Twin committee and Highways and Infrastructure Minister Jim Reiter a few months ago, but she said at that time, "what was the point? We had already been told they had run out of money, but we know now they have it, so we'll probably take her up on the offer now."
Young said she doesn't begrudge provincial funds going into a proposed new stadium in Regina, and acknowledged that government funds found their way to Estevan for the new Spectra Place arena and event complex.
"We're season ticket holders for the Riders, but jeepers, we want to be able to get to the games," she said with a laugh. "And it would be nice to get there with a little less stress. I've spent my life around here and I've never felt so uneasy driving on Highway 39 as I do now, especially with other family members in my car."
Asked if she's received any more public input now that the committee is regenerated, Young said that most of those who have been following the efforts, have simply told her "it's about time we got going. So I guess it's my job to start rattling their chains again."
Young said the best case scenario she can visualize at this point, would be a government announcement of the start of a twinning project by 2012.
Whether that is accomplished or not would depend on how loudly the chains get rattled.
"Our agenda is to get a solid commitment from the government to start the process. The time for thinking about it is long over. I also want to make it clear that we are speaking simply as mothers, grandmothers and interested citizens. We are not political pawns for another party. We have no interest in that game, our agenda is clear."
