The Southeast Transportation Planning Committee will focus on highway projects regarding the improvements on Highway 47/Souris Avenue South from Fourth Street to the junction with Highway 18, Highway 18 east of Torquay and also the CP Rail crossings east of Bienfait this year. The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure has these projects planned to start in August.
The stretch of Highway 47 is the main priority for the committee.
“We in Estevan are hoping that we can tag on to that particular project and come right up to the Fourth Street. We’ve been told that we have to look after any extra fills and we have got a couple of bad spots there and other than that it’ll just be a save and pave, which will be great,” said Southeast Transportation Planning Committee chair Dennis Moore.
That part of Highway 47 has heavy traffic on it and now is getting to where it can be dangerous.
The Bienfait railway crossing has been on the “to do” list for a long time as well as the part of Highway 18 between Torquay and Oungre. Both projects are scheduled for this summer.
Another project that is supposed to happen this year is the construction of passing lanes between Estevan and Weyburn. However, Moore said this plan is undergoing some changes.
“There was a bit of a difference between folks that live in the area and the Ministry. And what’s going to happen now, is we are going to move them further west than the original design. It is in the work now, because where it was originally designed there is just too much going on in that particular spot. You’ve got the elevator out there, you’ve got the weighing scale, you’ve just got too many things, so I think they agreed to move it further west,” Moore said.
He noted that the committee had a lot of feedback from people who use intersection west of Estevan.
"The people that use it, you know, the truckers, they pay attention. They are the ones that came back and said, ‘You know, I don’t think this is going to work,’” Moore said.
The Mercury will have more details on that project as they become available.
Besides highways, the Southeast Transportation Planning Committee is responsible for highway signs and some of the rural roads. And their job is to make sure that all roads in the area are safe, which is usually the number 1 focus especially after winter.
“Right now we are going through a very serious program with safety. And under that we need to have all our signs in place, we got to make sure that all our lighting is in place, we have to make sure that the right-of-ways are clear and the sidelines are clear, and in some cases some areas are further back than others, where everything has to be cleared around the intersections,” said Moore.
Any buildings or trees that reduce visibility for drivers and may pose extra risks should be removed.
Besides, the committee is now working to make sure that culverts are clean and the water goes where it’s supposed to go and not to the neighbours’ land.
They also pay a lot of attention to numerous bridges in the southeast, some of which may become dangerous due to their age and condition.
“There is a lot of bridges in the area that are many, many years old and have been inspected, but they are getting to the age where they really got to pay attention to the weights not to crash them. So in some areas, the weights have been cut back and we are keeping an eye on that,” said Moore.
The committee is also trying to make sure that they keep ditches free of willows.
“We have to do our cuts … to make sure that willows are down, in some cases we have to do from the shoulders of the road right to the fence line.”
The main concern in the near future is the safety of all intersections.
“We would like to ask the public to report to the Ministry of Highways or the Department of Highways if they notice anything that would make it difficult to see when you come up to an intersection. Also if there are any signs that have been laid down over the winter time, they need to be reported, so we could get them back up.”
Talking to the Mercury, Moore also mentioned some structural changes occuring in the region.
“The Department of Highways division in Carlyle will be shut down and moved to Weyburn,” he said. “That’s a little disappointing to the folks at that particular office. I think it involves three or four employees… That particular office has been going for many, many years… I’m sure they have got everything in line to look after how they are going to service that area.”
