Estevan– The opening of the new truck bypass around Estevan will have a big impact for local oilfield trucking company Bert Baxter Transport. The company has relocated nearly all of its operations just off the northeast corner of the new bypass.
“They took a chunk of my land,” said Todd Shirley, one of the owners of Bert Baxter.
Four years ago they bought land northeast of Estevan. At that point, the final route for the bypass had not yet been established.
“I know they were talking about it,” he said. “I bought it to get out of the city taxes and get into the RM.”
“Everything we do is out there,” Shirley said. They still have their offices in Estevan at the corner of Kensington Avenue and Fourth Street, and a mechanic’s shop a few blocks away. Headquarters is used for truck storage, meetings and dispatch.
The new yard consolidates operations from what had been seven different locations within Estevan. “It’s all in one place. We can keep it organized and need,” Shirley said. “It’s way easier. I don’t need four forklifts running around. I have two.”
Five new buildings were planned at the new yard, but plans have changed and they chose to move a building from the old headquarters to the new site. Other buildings planned are now on hold.
The new yard is so close to the new bypass, Shirley said, “You can throw a rock at it.”
As a result, he said, “Eighty per cent of my truck traffic will be out of town. It should eliminate a lot of truck traffic in town.”
The exception will be their nightly freight runs, as well as traffic going west towards Torquay.
Shirley is concerned about the lack of signal lights at the three main intersections on the bypass. “Line up the ambulances now. People will get killed at the intersection.”
But he added bypasses are great if finished properly.
“Everyone’s going to try it to see if it’s faster,” he said.
However, if drivers find they end up being caught by a train, they won’t use it, and traffic will go back to the original highway.
