After years of hearing no, it seems as though it's a matter of when, not if Highways 39 and 6 will be twinned.
Or is it?
The answer to that question seems to rest on whether one is a skeptic or an optimist.
Premier Brad Wall was in Estevan Thursday for a meeting with city council and other city staff members. He also gave North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp a tour of the carbon capture unit at Boundary Dam.
But it was his comments to the media following his meeting with council that are garnering the most attention. It was expected Wall would speak about his meeting with the City and what the province might be able to do to help with the growing pains Estevan is dealing with.
He did speak on that subject, but the premier prefaced those comments with a surprising announcement regarding twinning. The premier said recent traffic projections from SGI have prompted the government to make twinning an important priority.
Although he was admittedly short on facts and timelines, Wall's comments represented the biggest reason to believe that twinning may actually happen.
For years, one highways minister after another said the traffic numbers don't justify twinning. Wall, on the other hand, said the projections have given the government reason to rethink their stance. He added that the type of traffic also has to be accounted for.
The reaction to his comments fell in one of two categories - optimism or skepticism. Both sides have reason to feel the way they do. We've mentioned the reasons to be optimistic.
The reasons to be pessimistic are also many. After all, there has been no shortage of government announcements that were little more than bluster. A skeptic would also note there was no money as part of the announcement.
For now, we'll take the side of the optimists if, for no other reason, than these were the strongest comments any member of the government has made in favour of twinning. These were the type of comments that would be very difficult to take back or not follow through on.
No, the premier didn't absolutely commit the government to twinning. But his comments signalled the government appears to be listening to the concerns raised by the thousands of people who travel Highways 39 and 6 from Estevan to Regina.
If Wall and the government needed any further motivation, just three days after he was in Estevan, a woman was killed in yet another head-on collision. This accident occurred Sunday morning just north of Corinne. The name of the victim has not been released but she becomes the latest to perish on that highway. She becomes the latest person whose life might have been spared if that highway was twinned.
We, and many others, will be watching to see what happens next. As Sunday's accident drives home, this is truly a life and death decision.
Due to the numerous tributes along Highways 39 and 6, some have taken to calling it Heaven's Flowered Highway.
It is, sadly, a fitting moniker. But after years of tragedy and heartbreak, there is a glimmer of light at the end of that flowered highway.
