There are certain days every week where it seems the dirt, dust and grime easily wins the battle for our attention in the Energy City.
We are aware of the fact that when our livelihood depends on digging and drilling, there is going to be a dirt, mud and dust factor to contend with daily. After all, if it weren't for the digging and drilling, very few of us would be here.
But that does not mean we need to embrace it. It means our leadership teams should be taking extra measures in an attempt to mitigate the mess.
With many of our main streets and avenues in a state of disrepair, partially covered with gravel and mud patches to mask the potholes, our thoughts go out to local residents who are dealing with respiratory ailments.
Years ago it was proven that emissions from nearby power plants ranked fifth on the local "bad air" scale, easily surpassed by the regional agricultural "drift" into the bowl-like configuration that surrounds this city. The daily passage of dirt and mud-bearing vehicles, especially those using our 45-year-old temporary truck route and the CPR, were the major contributors to our daily grind of dust and foul air.
Now we have dozens of additional gravel patches that cover the springtime water and sewer line repairs, and we again find ourselves in the midst of a locally created dust bowl in spite of recent rains. This problem is only magnified when the winds pick up and drivers speed up.
But we know this is all temporary pain.
In fact, we can easily recall the winter and spring of two years ago when local citizens focused their complaints on the dastardly condition of Highway 47 (13th Ave-Souris Ave) North. That has since been paved and the driving is now smooth on this significant piece of connector road.
The short span between the railway crossing near Sixth Street south to Fourth Street will soon be repaired and repaved and another three problematic intersections will be given new life.
It is an unfortunate fact though that there aren't enough funds in the municipal, provincial or federal piggy bank to cover the badly needed repairs to Sixth Street, Highway 47 south of the city, down to the American border, which is an embarrassment to the province, or a completion to the King Street repaving project.
Progress made on any front in terms of rehabilitation of our city's streets, however, is welcomed.
The question remains, do we have to continually accept the dusty and dirty streets as our price to pay for progress, or can something be done to solve this dilemma on a more permanent basis?
The opening of a heavy truck bypass around the city will certainly alleviate the problem to a certain degree, but we'll never be able to convince local drivers to keep their vehicles clean of debris at all times, nor will we be able to reduce the rail traffic, a major daily contributor to the grime factor. Local taxpayers can't halt the natural drift of agricultural work either.
So we are left with a promise of reduced heavy truck traffic through our city's centre and some repaved streets with fewer gravel patches and a little more community pride. Hopefully, that will help reduce the dust and return our streets, boulevards, walking paths and sidewalks, into traffic conveyors we seek out rather than something we try to avoid.
