Town asks for meeting on highway

October 3, 2012, 4:06 am
Kevin Weedmark

The town of Moosomin is seeking a meeting with Saskatchewan Highways to discuss concerns over safety on the Trans-Canada Highway through town.

Statistics from SGI show that the section of Highway 1 from Moosomin to the Manitoba border has the highest collision rate along the Trans-Canada Highway in Saskatchewan, and Moosomin's accident rate is twice the provincial average.

There have been a rash of accidents recently, including three accidents with injuries in the space of six days.

At the regular town council meeting Wednesday, council agreed to contact Saskatchewan Highways and request a meeting over concerns on highway safety.

Saskatchewan Highways has previously turned the town down when it sent letters requesting longer acceleration and deceleration lanes, a reduced speed zone, and traffic lights on the Trans-Canada at the three intersections in town.

But Ted Stobbs, Saskatchewan Highways assistant deputy minister for operations, told the World-Spectator last week that the department will review the safety of the three intersections this year, and will take any concerns raised by town council seriously.

"It can't be the end of the world to slow these people down or put in lights," Mayor Don Bradley said at Wednesday's council meeting.

"You've got to slow down through Virden. You've got to slow down through Brandon. They've got lights at Brandon, they've got one at Virden, they've got one at Headingly. I don't know what you could do out there other than to have them slow down or stop."

Councillor Lyndon Jacobs, who has responded to accidents on the highway as a member of the Moosomin Volunteer Fire Department, suggested at the meeting that part of the problem may be limited visibility because of the curve of the highway around town.

"I think it's all the curves, you don't see what's ahead early enough," he said. "We were doing traffic at the one accident with the two semis (at the Saunders Road intersection) and we were way back at the Main Street intersection because of the accident. You couldn't see it from there because of the curve. People can't see what's ahead."

Jacobs also suggested that streetlights along the entire length of the highway through town would be an improvement.

"They could light the whole thing up," he said at the council meeting. "It would be expensive, but it would make a difference."

Bradley said all the town can do is work with Saskatchewan Highways to try to make the intersection safer.

"I guess we can continue to lobby the department of Highways," he said. "I don't know what more we could do to save some lives."

Saskatchewan Highways officials were out doing traffic counts in Moosomin last week.

A Highways spokesperson said the data collected last week would be used for the safety review.