There is a need in the southeast area of the province, but unfortunately it seems the province feels it's more of a "want" than a need.
There is a need in the southeast area of the province, but unfortunately it seems the province feels it's more of a "want" than a need.
Over the last few years, the traffic load on Highway 39/6, which extends from Regina southeast through Weyburn and Estevan down to North Portal, has been increasing, most significantly in the last few years as oilfield activity in the southeast has grown at a high rate.
The province seems fine with the activity, as it translates into more revenue from the oil and gas land sales, and particularly from royalties as the Bakken zone continues to be a hotbed of growth and expansion.
This has been good all around for the province's economy, in the southeast in particular, with growth in the population, in businesses and services, with more jobs available and existing businesses able to grow and expand as well.
What all of this also means are growing pains, as the services provided by municipal and provincial government are strained, as is the infrastructure serving the southeast - and in particular, a major artery for this area is Highway 39/6.
With increased oilfield industry activity comes more volumes of truck traffic (and in traffic overall) to the point this highway is badly in need of twinning.
Now, it is acknowledged this is an expensive endeavour, and is therefore a long-term project for the province to undertake - but make no mistake, this is definitely a "need", not just a selfish "want" by the communities of the southeast.
Try to picture an escalator in a busy shopping mall (which isn't hard to do at this time of year): increase the volume of bodies going up the escalator. The escalator is a finite space which only allows a certain number of people to go up; you keep increasing the flow of people, and there are going to be problems.
The same is true of the highway; the level of safety is being threatened. For the sake of the travelling public, and of the communities of the southeast, there needs to be a start to twinning this highway.
