Win great prizes with the Estevan Mercury
Business
BING O
Second Draw is November 23! See inside for details!
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Issue 29
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Decision on the future of the Civic delayed to Dec. 4 By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
The Civic Auditorium is still closed, but Estevan city council has decided to delay a decision to shut down the arena permanently. Estevan city council tabled a decision on the future of the 60-year-old arena during its meeting on Monday night. Council will revisit the issue at its next meeting on Dec. 4. Council wants reports from SaskPower, SaskEnergy, the Estevan Fire Rescue Service and Municode, and Mayor Roy Ludwig said council won’t make its decision until those reports are submitted. The Civic has been closed since Nov. 7, the day after the city received a report from the WSP Group that expressed concerns with structural issues in the building, and outlined other needs facing the arena. Dozens of people showed up on Monday to show their support for
Chad Farr, left, listens while Warren Waldegger makes a presentation to Estevan city council on Monday night regarding the future of the Civic Auditorium. keeping the Civic open – the largest crowd to attend an open council meeting in years. Numerous people had to stand outside of council chambers because of the size of the crowd. Warren Waldegger, who is a professional engineer and a user of the Civic, gave a lengthy presentation
in response to WSP Group. While he commended council for initiating a review of the Civic, he said council has more than two options to consider, and he called the Civic closure a “kneejerk” and “premature” reaction. “The WSP report is full of descriptions, using
words such as ‘likely’, ‘may be’ and ‘probably,’” said Waldegger. “This report is not definitive and making a final determination at this stage is potentially irresponsible.” He called the report the first step and the start of the process, and he said it would add liability to the
city if ignored. However, Waldegger believes there are ways to manage the high-priority items listed in the report. “By doing so, our city will be exercising a duty of care far beyond its peers and our residents can confidently use the Civic facility, knowing the city is being
diligent with both public safety and our financial resources,” said Waldegger. He noted the Civic has a capacity of 2,200 people and the assessment was carried out with this capacity in mind. But events at the Civic now have just a few hundred people. A2 » LUDWIG
Twinned portion of Highway 39 is now open By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
After more than 18 months of work, and more than four years of planning, the double lanes for Highway 39 east of Estevan are open to the public. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure announced the lanes were open in a press release issued on Thursday morning. The $27 million project created double lanes from Estevan’s east city limits to an area southeast of the junction of Highways 39 and 18. The stretch of road has around 6,000 vehicles per day, according to numbers from the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure. The number was above 7,500 vehicles per day as recently as 2015. The twinning project also included the relocation of the junction of Highways 39 and 18 by a few hundred metres to the west. The
junction is now on a 90-degree angle, and is further away from a curve. A new two-lane overpass constructed south of the newly-twinned portion allows for access to nearby coal deposits for the area’s power plant. Intersection improvements also occured at the intersection of Highway 39 and Sawyer Road in Estevan. Doug Wakabayashi, the executive director of communications for the ministry, said the key work for the twinning project has been completed, including the asphalt, pavement markings and signage. There won’t be any lingering asphalt work for next year, he said. Any work that does have to be completed in 2018 would be minor, such fixing defects. “If there’s any cracking of pavement or potholes, that would show up in the spring,” said Wakabayashi. Wakabayashi said there
is typically some lingering cleanup work that remains after a construction project of this magnitude is completed, but he’s not sure of any specifics for remaining tasks. “There may be some shaping of the side slopes and landscaping,” said Wakabayashi. He said there is a sense of relief to have the project finished, since twinning projects are always significant. In the case of Highway 39 east of Estevan, it’s a heavily travelled highway that is part of the national highway system, and it leads to the province’s busiest border crossing with the U.S. at North Portal. The ministry was always confident that the twinning project would be completed this year, he said. “We had a really good summer this year for highway construction,” said Wakabayashi. “We were able to beat the cold weather. In the last week or so,
The new twinned porition of Highway 39 east of Estevan opened to traffic on Thursday. we’ve just been finalizing some things like pavement markings and signage. It’s the sort of thing we do in the winter all the time.” There were some unique challenges with the project, most notably the proximity of the highway to an active mining operation. The Westmoreland Coal Company was a good partner to work with, he
said, and concerns that were brought up were addressed. An overpass for the former coal haul road, located to the west of the junction of Highways 18 and 39, had to be demolished late in the twinning process. Wakabayashi said that part of the project went well. Construction of the new coal haul road proved to be
a good opportunity, he said. “We had a good ready supply of earth material for the sub-base of the road,” said Wakabayashi. When projects such as twinned lanes open to the public, project managers will monitor traffic flows for a period of time, to make sure it flows in the desired fashion. There haven’t been A2 » NO
BLACK FRIDAY CASH
ON MOST 2017 FOCUS, FUSION, EDGE & ESCAPE
Senchuk Ford Sales Ltd.
118 Souris Ave. N., Estevan 306-634-3696 www.senchukford.com