The numbers are in and they're quite convincing.
Two members of the Time to Twin committee, the group that is pressing the provincial government to move more quickly on a project to twin Highway 39 and Highway 6 south of Regina, spent a total of 42 hours counting cars and trucks over three days in October.
Lauralie Ireland and Marge Young spent 14 hours on each day of Oct. 19 and Oct. 21 literally counting and recording the types of vehicles passing through a specific zone two kilometres west of Hitchcock on Highway 39 in southeast Saskatchewan and on Oct. 29 on Highway 47 four kilometres north of Estevan.
On all three days, the vehicle count in each of the 14-hour time spans exceeded 3,000 units.
Young said that if that figure were extrapolated to a complete 24-hour daily cycle, she felt the final volume would be in excess of 5,000 vehicles which the provincial Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure cite as the threshold volume that would have to be recorded to enable them to justify a highway twinning project.
"We wanted to show our roads are crowded, but more than that, they are dangerous because of the number and size of the vehicles that our families are having to share our roads with daily," said Young in an e-mail sent out shortly after the three-day tabulations were in.
The total number of vehicles of all descriptions that made their way past Hitchcock on Tues. Oct. 19 numbered 3,064. The count on Thurs. Oct. 21 was 3,189 while the Friday, Oct. 29 volume on Highway 47 was 3,031.
The vehicles were counted between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on each of those three days.
The heavier units, the semi-trailer units and buses numbered as few as 246 (Oct. 29 on No. 47) and as many as 561 on Oct. 21. There were another 76 to 102 tanker trucks noted, over and above the semis and buses.
The trucks above the half- and three-quarter ton sizes, such as the two- and three- ton units, numbered between 124 and 152 in each 14 hour period.
"When you look at our numbers, you'll be amazed at all the large vehicles we have on our area roads. We don't have the kind of traffic found near most cities, we have the large and heavy vehicles," said Young.
The two women noted that three-quarters of the traffic on Highway 47 is comprised of units that are heavier than a car, SUV or van.
Young said that she and Ireland could guarantee their numbers were 99.5 per cent accurate.
"If we were there for 24 hours, we would have the 5,000 vehicles per day the government says it needs to twin our road," said Young.
The heavy traffic on both of these highways indicates that people are taking Highway 47 north of Estevan to avoid travelling on Highway 39. It's now to the point where 47 is just as busy as 39, she said.
The half-ton to one-ton trucks numbered 1,538 on the day that Highway 47 was scrutinized, while the cars and vans numbered 899.
"Just look at the figures for Highway 47. It's time to twin that one too," said Young, adding that nobody can leave Estevan now heading north, west or east without encountering a huge volume of large vehicles that creates even more dangerous scenarios.
Young went on to once again reiterate the fact that southeast Saskatchewan has generated huge amounts of money for the provincial coffers, probably more than from any other region, so it was time to start demanding some payback.
The duo recorded the vehicles in one of six different categories: semis and buses; tanker trucks; two- and three- ton trucks; one-half to one-ton trucks; cars, vans and SUVs and recreation vehicles towing trailers or U-hauls.
Detailed results of the traffic count survey can be found on the Time to Twin website:
https://sites.google.com/site/timetotwin/intro or by logging on to their e-mail address at: [email protected]
