From the “It’s about Time” file: King Street in Estevan now has four lanes of traffic from west of 13th Avenue to east of Kensington Avenue.
Yes, the widening and resurfacing project on King Street from Bannatyne Avenue to Pine Avenue is complete. The days of eastbound traffic being reduced to one lane for a short period of time are now over.
And, of course, that stretch of road has now been resurfaced, leaving us with a wonderfully smooth stretch of road.
The detour through a residential neighbourhood in northeast Estevan has been lifted as well.
One of the great questions in Estevan over the years has been why King Street was reduced to a single lane of traffic in front of the Estevan Shoppers Mall. Legend has it there was a Turbo gas station in the area at one time, and so traffic flow was adjusted accordingly.
But that doesn’t explain why it took until 2017 for eastbound traffic to be expanded to two lanes.
Obviously the city has lots of infrastructure needs, and many expenses to worry about, but that short stretch of King Street has been the bane of local motorists for years.
It was also a source of frustration for those not familiar with the city. You could see how tourists, visitors and people who are new to the community would be stunned that the outside lane of eastbound traffic ended at Bannatyne Avenue. And then, just a short time later, there was an outside lane for eastbound vehicles once again.
Perhaps at one time the traffic numbers on King Street were low enough to justify having eastbound traffic merge into just one lane. But not now. King Street is one of the busiest roads in the city, and it needs to be four lanes from 13th Avenue to Kensington Avenue.
The widening project should improve traffic flow on King Street from 13th Avenue to Bannatyne Avenue. Motorists would often avoid the outside lane because they knew that they would eventually have to divert to the inside lane anyways. Motorists will be more willing to use both lanes now.
There’s more work to come on King Street this year, too. We’re looking forward to this summer, when King Street will be resurfaced from Souris Avenue North to Arthur Avenue, and, if money permits, Arthur Avenue to Bannatyne Avenue. Many portions of King Street have been in shabby condition for some time, and are in need of fresh asphalt.
We’re encouraging council to complete the work from Arthur Avenue to Bannatyne Avenue, so that King Street doesn’t resemble a patchwork quilt, with three stretches of relatively fresh asphalt separated by three stretches with beat-up pavement.
But at least the widening of King Street is complete, and driving in Estevan is a little bit easier.
