If he needed a reminder about why Estevan needs a truck route around the city, Mayor Gary St. Onge got one Monday.
St. Onge was by McDonald's Monday when a semi drove by the restaurant, leaving all kinds of dirt and dust in its wake.
After years of lobbying, cajoling and waiting, St. Onge and many other residents were thrilled to learn Sept. 14 that the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure has finally settled upon a route for the much talked about truck bypass.
"I am glad to see they have decided to go ahead," said St. Onge. "We have been waiting for a lot of projects, but this one, I will be really glad when it's done."
St. Onge expects that the truck route will have a positive impact on Estevan on a couple of levels. With trucks going around the city, Estevan should be much cleaner as a result. The quality of roads throughout the city should also vastly improve without hundreds of heavy trucks pounding them daily.
"With the more activity you have, and the more oil activity, you end up with a lot of dirty trucks and a lot of dirt on your streets," he said. "Our construction dollar will go a lot further and it will be less often that we have to resurface. Even over by Estevan Motors, we put $50,000 in last year and it is all rutted up already."
News that a truck route had been finalized drew a mixed reaction from the RM of Estevan. Reeve Kelly Lafrentz said although they will be happy to see the bypass proceed, they were of the opinion that an interchange should be included as part of the original design.
A number of people have voiced concerns that there are significant safety concerns with how the west intersection of the truck route is designed. The current intersection, which is located roughly 1.5 miles west of the Pioneer Grain Terminal, will force trucks coming off the intersection onto Highway 39 to come to a dead stop, turn and then get back up to speed on the highway. Trucks turning onto the bypass will be forced to make a left turn through oncoming traffic.
Despite those concerns the ministry said that the cost of an interchange, which could run up to $30 million according to some estimates, was prohibitive. They also noted their research showed the volume of vehicles did not warrant an interchange at this time.
"From the RM's perspective, we absolutely thought there should be an interchange at this point in time," said Lafrentz. "In 15 or 20 years it will be double the price tag but with the spring we've had and the government having to put another $60 million into their highway budget, they weren't expecting that and I would expect that they will have a bunch more repairs even into next year. Understandably, they are a little short of money."
St. Onge added that although the bypass design doesn't call for an interchange, he was happy to see the ministry will purchase enough land to facilitate an interchange if one becomes needed.
"They will have the engineering in place for it and the land, so if they see right away there is a problem they can start working on it."
According to officials from the ministry, the next year will be spent on such things as land acquisition and the detailed design process. They hope to begin construction in the fall of 2012.
