Now that the second phase of the Highway 47 north repaving project is complete, Estevan's senior administration, engineers, public works, urban planning and land development teams will be able to turn their attention to other items that are screaming for attention.
It took more than two years to get the highway fix completed. It required three years to pave the leisure centre parking lot, but now it's done, and although it takes on a bit of a maze-like appearance for the uninitiated driver, it's a vast improvement over what had passed as a parking lot for 25 years.
So progress, when spotted, must be acknowledged and celebrated.
Slowly and surely, Estevan's streets and underground infrastructures are being tended to. The pace is certainly not as crisp as we would like, but signs of improvement are heartening.
Our humble suggestion is that our city's servants would make a whole lot of new friends if some crews could now spend significant time tending to the 100 or so miniature gravel pits that exist among our broken pavement patches. The dust drift from vehicular traffic, mixed in with the railroad's daily dusty journeys through the heart of the city, makes for a big challenge on our respiratory systems in a time of year when we are being urged to spend as much time outside as possible.
Gravel piles where pavement is supposed to be, do not make for happy taxpayers, especially if they have been forced to endure the dust drift for two years or more, when they've been paying for pavement.
Regular deployment of street sweepers helps ease the cause and the systematic trimming of our public parks and floral arrangements on our boulevards, makes for a more pleasant sight. The fact that many of these boulevards have been reduced to gravel yards (coloured mind you), rather than grass knolls, is a discussion and debate for another day.
Crumbling sidewalks are being replaced and it appears as if new subdivisions are receiving the attention they deserve in terms of infrastructure needs. A few timely tree and shrub plantings and some strategic green spaces ready for development will go a long way toward making Estevan an even more exciting city in which to ply our trades, play our games, drive our vehicles, walk our dogs, raise our families and enjoy our retirements.
It is understood our city is under a great deal of financial stress, having had to shoulder a serious debt load accumulated through unprecedented growth in the past 10 years. But, it appears as if it is now coming out on the other side, with or without the assistance of senior governments who have been reluctant to acknowledge growth in centres other than the major metropolises.
If Estevan has had to pretty well go it alone these past few years, so be it. We're getting it done and we have reason to celebrate after we get rid of those mini gravel pits before the snow falls.
