麻豆视频

Lost among the numbers, the promises and the talk of a deficit was a statement that should make Estevan area residents cringe.

The government committed more than $1.3 million for continued planning for Highway 6 and 39 twinning and passing lanes between Regina and Estevan.

No further details have been announced, but there should be a collective groan as we are once again presented with the prospect of having ineffectual passing lanes constructed in our region.

It was nearly three years ago that Premier Brad Wall came to Estevan and announced the provincial government鈥檚 plan to twin Highways 39 and 6 between Estevan and Regina, in response to the growing number of fatalities on the highways, and the rapidly rising amount of heavy truck traffic.

For those who regularly navigate the 200-kilometre stretch of highway, and for those who lobbied the government to twin the highways, Wall鈥檚 revelation in 2013 was a cause for celebration.

The government has even held open houses and other planning sessions to discuss their plans to twin the highways, and reconfigure Highway 39 around Weyburn, Midale, Yellow Grass and Halbrite.

It appeared that everything was moving ahead, although at a lower pace than expected, due to the slumping provincial economy.

After the provincial budget was handed down this week, it鈥檚 hard to say what will happen next.

Passing lanes are not a safe option. They鈥檙e sporadic, they鈥檙e just two or three kilometres in length and they have negative consequences on traffic flow. On routes like Highways 39 and 6, which have high traffic volumes and lots of heavy trucks, passing lanes might be a liability.

A decision to have passing lanes on Highways 39 and 6 is also short-sighted. The number of heavy trucks and regular vehicles might be down slightly now, but the activity in the southeast corner will rebound.

We don鈥檛 want to see a situation in which the economy rebounds, the traffic volumes soar, and some meagre passing lanes are all that we have to help motorists contend with the traffic.

Passing lanes might be an acceptable solution for Highway 39 between the Roche Percee Access Road and North Portal, where the vehicle traffic is much lower, but it鈥檚 not acceptable between Estevan and Regina.

Move forward with the twinning plans, get the job started, and make traffic in the southeast a lot safer.聽

The good news is the government will proceed with the twinning of Highway 39 from Estevan to an area south of Bienfait. It鈥檚 one of the busiest stretches of highways in the province that isn鈥檛 twinned. Double lanes have been needed for a long time, and so this eight-kilometre segment will be a lot safer one day.

Entering the budget, we didn鈥檛 have much for expectations. But we didn鈥檛 expect to lose something that was already promised to us, and something that we needed.