Battleford Mayor Chris Odishaw addressed complaints concerning the Highway 4 twinning project after the town council meeting Monday night.
Greeting reporters after Monday's council meeting, he explained "this highway has let some people down in terms of the lighting, the stop lighting, the speed signs and the zones. There are some changes that we have to implement early in the New Year, but I think generally, we have created a road that is going to be safer and better long-term."
Odishaw proceeded to address each issue in turn. Responding to the question about the bottleneck when coming onto the highway from the east, Odishaw assured drivers they had consulted engineers and EW searching for a solution to be implemented early in the spring. No construction to fix the problem can be done during the winter.
When questioned about the poor lighting on the highway, Odishaw agreed that it was dark and that the lines had not been adequately painted. Poor lighting has always been a concern on this stretch of highway, but the incomplete painting of lanes has exacerbated the problem, he said.
He promised, however, SaskPower would install lights before Christmas, and that there would eventually be 100 lights along the corridor. The delay in lighting happened because there was a shortage of lamps at SaskPower, he said.
By spring, the corridor, including the intersections, should be fully lit.
Odishaw explained he questioned the Ministry of Highways' recommendation to leave the speed limit at 60 km/h during the winter. But he "was not willing to go against that grain and have somebody get into an accident and have that on my head."
While Odishaw agreed to leave the speed limit at 60 km/h, he asked the Ministry of Highways to remove the construction zone sign, so speeding ticket fines would be lower.
"This project is a little frustrating, but in the big picture it's gone very smoothly, we're very happy with where it's sitting, and early in the spring, it'll be completed. All I ask is that people keep their final comments until the road is finished."
