The date that construction will begin on the second (and biggest) phase of the Highway 39 and 6 twinning project is still wide open.
The fact that Phase 1 construction of the four-lane project, about eight kilometres between the Bienfait turn and Estevan, is beginning this year, shows a lot of promise.
With nearly $9 million from the provincial budget devoted to this particular twinning project, the signal is clear that this won’t be put on the back burner, nor should it.
Even with a downturn in the oilpatch, the intensity and volume of traffic on this throughway will not diminish.
The planning and design teams remain hard at work as do the continued efforts of the Time to Twin lobbying team that was instrumental in getting the project to this stage. Rest assured, they remain determined enough to ensure this project is seen through to a successful conclusion.
One question still remains though.
There has been no clear indication as to what the federal financial contribution will be for this specific project.
It was interesting to note that Prime Minister Harper recently paid a quick visit to the western side of Saskatchewan for a brief photo opportunity that included a $38 million contribution to the Highway 7 twinning project. The reasoning behind the federal contribution was cited as being a need to keep a strong commercial connection between Alberta and Saskatchewan.
If that is the criteria, then the residents of southeast Saskatchewan can surely anticipate at least twice as much federal support for this region’s twinning project since this area’s main purpose is to serve as an efficient conduit for trade with our largest trading partner, the United States, via the Midwestern and Plains trade corridor, which has only grown in scope and importance over the past decade.
Our ties to American ports, mills, factories and population has only become stronger in spite of our political differences and deadlocked issues such as the Keystone XL Pipeline eight-act comedy production and Country of Origin food labelling fiasco.
Our rail and air links have improved and increased, so it only makes sense for the feds to make solid contributions toward the movement of goods using the rubber tire circuits that tie-in effectively with the other two commodity conveyors.
The Central North American Trade Corridor is a vital link to the southern United States and Mexico. The Highway 39 and 6 section is just one link that, once completed, will allow people and goods to travel on a four-lane highway from the Saskatchewan North Portal port of entry, right through to Saskatoon and on to Edmonton.
The twinning project in southeast Saskatchewan is all about speed, efficiency and safety. That’s a tough combination to say no to, and that’s why we believe that when the time and political climate is ripe enough, we’ll eventually see federal dollars flowing into the project, just like we did for the groundbreaking carbon capture project at Boundary Dam several years ago.
The argument is obvious, the only thing that is lacking now is the timing.
