Hazardous road conditions and reduced speed limits have travellers choosing alternative routes to Highway 47 south.
Several area residents have decided to forgo travelling along Highway 47 to the American border, instead using Highway 9 or Grid Road 616 (Brownhill) and 605.
“We’re leaving on a winter holiday and that’s the route I would normally take, but 47 is in such a mess I certainly wouldn’t even think about driving on it,” said Broadview Mayor Sid Criddle.
Highway 47 south is notorious for its poor road conditions, marked by chunks of pavement, deep ruts, potholes and signs warning of “road hazards ahead”.
Highway 47 south was named the Worst Highway in Canada in a 2003 “Highway to Hell” contest sponsored by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
While few investments or improvements have been made to the highway since, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation went on to debate the highway’s qualification in a release stating “Highway 47 (south) stretches the limits on the definition of the word ‘highway’. Drivers will note the rapid transitions from mangled, pot-hold pavement to deep gravel. Because of it’s (sic) treacherous conditions and the fact that visitors from the United States or other provinces may be the hapless victims of this treacherous road, 47 gets the nod as Canada’s worst highway.”
The portion of Highway 47 south that stretches between Estevan and Stoughton, SK, was also recently voted as one of Canada’s most dangerous roads according to a Canada MSN Autos Talkback poll.
Highway 47 south stretches from North Dakota Highway 40 north to the Trans-Canada Highway. The single-lane highway is unpaved for 38 kilometres, from the Moose Mountain Creek crossing until Highway 48 intersection.
According to long time resident Ethel Box, once government established it as a provincial highway, the lanes gradually became narrower and the road’s condition progressively worsened.
Mayor Criddle says the poor condition of Highway 47 south not only affects area residents, but also hinders truckers and tourists who rely on the route to navigate between the United States border and Trans-Canada Highway.
MLA Don Toth agrees the highway stretch must become a higher priority for government.
“Highway 47 has always been a priority for me,” he said from his office on Jan. 11. “Unfortunately, in the larger picture there’s such a shortfall, even with increased dollars, in comparison to the number of roads that desperately need attention. There just isn’t enough money to get all the projects done that I’d like to see or that other MLAs would like to see.”
In a written statement, the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure said it will continue maintaining provincial Highway 47 for motorists from Stoughton to the Trans-Canada Highway, but upgrading portions of the 80 kilometre north-south segment is currently not on the Ministry’s Five-Year Capital Plan.
“We have 26,000 kilometres of provincial highways and need to prioritize our investments from a province-wide perspective based on a variety of social and economic factors, while getting the best value for all Saskatchewan taxpayers,” Highways and Infrastructure Minister Jim Reiter said in the statement. “Unfortunately, this also means some highway upgrades throughout Saskatchewan happen before others, as we balance a variety of needs with available public funding.”
The upgrading of roads- such as Highway 47 south- is prioritized under the Ministry’s Rural Highway Strategy (RHS). The highest-ranking RHS highway routes are then announced in the five year plan. Although this portion of Highway 47 hasn’t ranked high enough, the Ministry says the rolling nature of this Plan allows for new priorities to be ranked annually when new and updated information about the highway becomes available, which can then affect its ranking.
“I’m going to do whatever I can to see if we can get 47 moved forward,” said Toth. “I believe that 47 is a highway we really need to seriously look at.”
sunnews@sasktel.net
