Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Issue 12
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Passing lanes, not twinning, now planned for Highways 39 and 6 from Estevan to Regina By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
The provincial government has decided it will proceed with passing lanes on Highways 39 and 6 from Estevan to Regina. David Marit, the provincial minister of Highways and Infrastructure, said in an interview with the Mercury last week that the government is moving forward with passing lanes as a short-term solution. “We’re seeing a huge increase in traffic, and twinning is very expensive,” Marit said. “If you had done it in five years, it would be a miracle. We can virtually have the passing lanes done (in that time), once we get some of the planning done, and where we think we can go.” M a r i t’s r ev elat io n comes nearly four years after Premier Brad Wall announced the provincial government would move forward with twinning Highways 39 and 6 from Estevan to Regina. The government held several meetings and open house sessions to discuss the project, and revealed designs for the twinned highways at open houses in 2015. But the provincial budgets in 2016 and 2017 stated the government was looking at a combination of twinning and passing lanes for
the two highways, raising concerns among local residents who wanted to see the highways twinned. “I think we can alleviate a lot of our pressure with the passing lanes,” said Marit. The concept of passing lanes has drawn skepticism and even anger from local residents in the past, most notably from the local Time to Twin committee, which wants to see double lanes all the way from North Portal to Regina. Time to Twin committee co-chair Marge Young wasn’t able to comment when contacted by the Mercury, but said she would make a statement in the future. Marit believes there would be 15 sets of passing lanes between Estevan and Regina. The passing lanes would be around two kilometres in length, although they might be closer to 2 1/2 kilometres long in some areas. “We’re proving they work well,” said Marit. “We know from Fort Qu’Appelle to Regina (on Highway 10) what they have done. We know from Saskatoon to Rosetown (on Highway 7) what they have done.” Marit believes the length of the passing lanes gives people enough time to get past the heavy trucks. And the passing lanes mean motorists shouldn’t be as
The provincial government has decided it will construct passing lanes as opposed to twinning for Highway 39. aggressive to pass heavy trucks and slow-moving traffic on normal stretches of the highways. He stressed the government has to seriously look at the traffic in five different corridors in the province, and the one from Regina to Estevan is one of the two that needs to be addressed the most. Passing lanes won’t be located in random locations either, he said. The government needs to look at the road allowance structure
and utility line locations, and they need to discuss the concept with affected urban and rural municipalities on where they believe the passing lanes should be located. “In some cases, we may have to ask the RMs to close a road because it’s the best place for it (a passing lane),” said Marit. Those discussions will begin this fall. The timelines for the passing lanes will hinge on the budget, he said. “Depending on the
budget and dollars and what we get allocated next spring, I’m hoping that within the next couple of years, we can see some passing lanes along that corridor,” said Marit. The government needs to determine where construction of passing lanes will begin. It would take a lot of construction and money to complete the passing lanes in a year. Information gained during the planning meetings that the ministry had
when they were looking at twinning can be used for the twinning project, he said. Marit anticipates the meetings they will have now will focus on the municipalities. Marit also noted the bypasses that were planned for Midale, Halbrite, Weyburn and Yellow Grass as part of the twinning project are now on hold. “I had a very good discussion with the city of Weyburn and the chamber a few months ago,” said
NO⇢A2
Fire bans remain in effect in three local RMs By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
For the third consecutive year, fire bans have been implemented in areas served by the Estevan Fire Rescue Service. The fire department announced on July 18 that fire bans were in place for the rural municipalities of Estevan, Cambria and Benson. Those bans remained the same as of the afternoon of July 24. “We’ve had some extended periods with some dry conditions here,” fire Chief Dale Feser said in an interview with the Mercury. “The fire weather index or the fire hazard reading has been in the extreme for several days. There hasn’t been a lot of precipitation or moisture that has come in to quench the vegetation
out there. “Even though the rate of spread is still on the low side, we’re doing this as a precautionary measure.” The Saskatchewan fire hazard map lists all rural municipalities in the southeast corner of the province as extreme, as of July 24. The rate of spread, meanwhile, is between four and 10 metres/min for most rural municipalities in the southeast. While the Estevan area did receive some precipitation on July 20, 21 and 24, it was “spasmodic and random at best,” he said. “We’re going to need a considerable amount of precipitation here over a large area of the province for probably the better share of a day or two in order to change the situation,” he said.
Feser noted that from July 11 to 18, the fire department was called to four wildland fires. Two of those fires were on July 13, and both were caused by a spark generated by farm machinery. Neither fire resulted in injuries. “With those two fires, fire crews were hampered by extremely high winds that date, and a lack of accessibility where the fire was actually burning,” said Feser. The fire ban in the rural municipality of Estevan is Level 1. Open burning is banned due to dry, highrisk fire hazard conditions. The fire department recommends agriculture and industrial operations with water tanks at their disposal have them filled and accessible at all times. Exemptions to a Level
1 fire ban are supervised incinerators for farm, acreage and hamlet use; burning barrels with screens under constant supervision; solid fuel barbecues or recreational campfires; liquid fuel barbecues, such as propane and natural gas; camp stoves; and fireworks. Feser said the fire ban in the RM of Estevan could be upgraded to a Level 2 or 3. He is optimistic the fireworks display planned for Beach Bash on July 29 at the Woodlawn Regional Park’s Boundary Dam Beach Site will be able to proceed, but the permit will be revoked if necessary. “We are trying to work with them as far as making sure the vegetation is cut low around the launch area, and if they can do
some very substantial prewetting of the vegetation around the launch area, that will be something we will look at,” said Feser. “It will likely be a game-day decision.” If they don’t receive any precipitation, then the fire ban for the RM of Estevan could be upgraded. For the RMs of Benson and Cambria, there is a total fire ban, which applies to open fires, controlled burns, garbage fires, barrels and pits, and fireworks. The fire ban in those municipalities is good for the fire department, he said, due to the longer response times. Feser noted the municipalities decided the level of fire ban. The fire ban does not apply to the city of Estevan, but extreme caution
is advised when operating fire pits. “The City of Estevan doesn’t allow a lot of gas burning that is done out in the rural areas,” said Feser. “We don’t see controlled burns, and we don’t allow controlled burns within the city limits. The only thing that is allowed inside the limits is a fire pit, which people apply for the permits.” There could be a risk of a fire pit ban being enforced within city limits, he said, if the dry conditions persist throughout the week. The fire chief also urged people to be aware of the dry conditions if they are smoking. He asked that they not toss lit cigarettes from their vehicles, as it is dry enough for a cigarette to cause a wildland fire.
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