The quirky little traffic flow issue in northeast Estevan is no more.
The widening project on King Street from Bannatyne Avenue to Pine Avenue is complete. There are now two lanes of traffic moving in each direction, and the road was resurfaced, too, which is good news for motorists.
Yes, there is a slight issue with the curves just west Bannatyne Avenue. They could be a problem in the winter. But given the choice between the small kink that now exists on King Street, or the annoying reduction of eastbound traffic to one lane, we’ll tempt fate with the curves.
And now that this perennial sore spot for local motorists has been resolved, it’s time for motorists to find something new to complain about.
There are other beat up areas of King Street, but one (or hopefully two) will be resurfaced this year. King Street is in rough shape through the Pleasantdale Valley, but it’s going to be resurfaced eventually.
Souris Avenue North and 13th Avenue have been taken care of in recent years. So has Kensington Avenue north of the Estevan Comprehensive School. Scratch those two perennial problem areas off the list.
Souris Avenue South remains beat up south of Fourth Street. Council will have to act on that one eventually, because they won’t receive an injection of support from the provincial government like they did for Souris Avenue North.
Perkins Street is also an issue. They have taken steps to remedy this perennial sore spot by milling down the ruts, but a full-blown resurfacing of Perkins Street will be needed eventually. (Note: please add sidewalks east of Fourth Avenue South when the road is resurfaced).
Fifth Street has been another troublesome road for some time. While it is considered a secondary road, it would be nice to have asphalt on the portion of Fifth Street that cuts through downtown Estevan.
And there’s one more project on the horizon: Fourth Street. It’s hard to believe that this arterial road was resurfaced in 2006 and 2007. Parts of Fourth Street are already starting to show wear and tear, and while it has a few years left before a full resurfacing is needed, it will have to be on the radar.
The roads in the city’s industrial areas, particularly Sixth Street east of Souris Avenue South, as well as Devonian Street, Escana Street Mississippian Drive, remain a sore spot, but it is a more difficult process to resurface an industrial road, and once they are resurfaced, it also takes more time and money to maintain them.
And there are the residential roads, but there are only so many of them you can do in a year. Crumbling residential streets aren’t a problem unique to Estevan; finding enough money to resurface a few each year is a challenge facing many municipalities.
Resurfacing the last few arterial and downtown roads would go a long ways to improving perceptions about the city’s roads.
The asphalt patches that the city has undertaken in the last two years for roads affected by water main breaks are a big step in the right direction. The days of having leftover gravel from a water main break for two years are thankfully over.
