It must be a daunting prospect to look at the multi-billion dollar Government of Saskatchewan budget and determine where all those dollars are going to spent – but long-overdue improvements on Highway #5 must be one of them.
Of course, every service the government provides is scrambling for ever-shrinking tax dollars as the economic downturn continues. Low oil and potash prices have culminated in a double-whammy on the provincial government’s ability to earn and spend. The impacts will reach both the public and private economy.
No doubt, there are going to be cuts in the coming budget, set to be delivered March 22. The only questions will be how deep and where. Like any household, when things are tough, every part of your pocketbook has to be examined for overspending, poor spending habits and value.
For residents of East Central Saskatchewan from Watson to Saskatoon, making Highway #5 safe is of good value. Doing that must be a high priority for the province.
It’s too busy, too dangerous, too narrow. There’s far too many accidents and startlingly high number of fatalities that just cannot be ignored any longer. It is a pivotal highway for commerce and pleasure travel that sees more than 2,000 vehicles a day traveling along it, whether heading east or west.
The story in today’s newspaper cited numbers that are from SGI and while alarming, they are not updated. No new numbers will be available from them for about 10 months. But some easy searching through media and police reports spikes the number of accidents and fatalities by about 50 per cent.
That is enough.
A couple of years ago, residents were told the construction of passing lanes was on the way. We are still waiting and the clock and kilometers continues to tick by. There’s 14,000 vehicles per week – whether it be large commercial tractor trailers, cars or other forms of transport – that are all vying for space in a narrow, outdated highway platform.
The Province of Saskatchewan has to recognize just how dangerous that road is to those people that travel on it and make it safe for all.
