The case has been made for the construction of a four-lane highway link between North Portal and Regina. Or has it?
Recent fatalities along this stretch of Highway of Tears will bring the Time to Twin action committee back into focus. They must not-so-gently, keep the government's toes nudged close to the hot coals.
Traffic volumes for qualifying may be slightly below what was deemed necessary for this highway, but anyone who has spent more than a half-hour on this hellish throughway will attest to the fact that volume be damned, it's high enough, definitely high enough to qualify for serious homework and construction, not lip service. It's the size, scope and intensity of the traffic that gets our attention.
We see a few police vehicles on this hell highway now, which eases the situation. But there is no denying the fact that more lives are going to be lost. Twinning Bienfait corner to Estevan is a small step in the right direction, but we can't let the Highway Ministry off the hook with that token activity.
Rumour has it that after 52 years of study and naval gazing, and now three years of construction, Estevan and area will be welcoming a truck bypass either this year, next year or the next year. Stay tuned. Excitement mounts.
Sticking with the highway theme, I recently studied a financial tome on highway construction that suggests in terms of return on capital, twinning a highway is an effective way to go.
The first consideration is one of efficiency in moving products to market. The swifter movement of goods down the road via truck, the major form of product conveyance in Saskatchewan, makes obvious economic sense.
Not only will truckers and service providers save up to 20 minutes or a half-hour on a two to three hour trip, they are promised a safer, more economical journey because they won't be braking and accelerating as often. Long haul drivers, who can ease their stress and fatigue levels, are better drivers.
Four lane highways attract more traffic and that includes bus traffic, tourist bus traffic to be more specific. Estevan then becomes a natural point of economic entry for American-based visitors. Have a meal, change money, use a washroom, take a walk and visit with the local population and move along, or stay overnight and enjoy what the city has to offer.
Making the trip into Regina easier, means that word gets around. The Global Transportation Hub in Regina receives more attention. Four lanes from Portal to Saskatoon becomes an even more solid selling point.
With four lanes, businesses make decisions to move more goods. Energy City becomes more energetic because it has first-class transportation corridors. Companies in northern Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma decide to use the corridor, saving hours of time with lessened stress. Access to the provincial natural resources are enhanced with a twinned road, as are its vacation sites.
We still rely on railroads to do most long distance, heavy hauling, but when those rail loads have to be broken down for distribution, it's the four-lane highways that get the nod of approval.
Place those economic factors into the fact that building a twinned highway in this section of the province, has to be the easiest thing to do in terms of geography and engineering, and we have another case to make, don't we?
Four lanes is simply too damned good for business to have been ignored for so long.
