Saskatchewan considers more highway cameras

This prolonged winter and the dangerous driving conditions that come along with it have many considering how to make Saskatchewan highways safer.

“In the morning, I get up at 5 am and I check the Highway Hotline,” said Kelsey Steininger.

Still, the aesthetics instructor at Avant Garde beauty college has gotten stuck more than once in her commute to her home in Qu’Appelle in stormy and dangerous conditions.

“You couldn’t see at all. You couldn’t see the vehicle in front or behind you,” she said of one evening this winter when it took her more than two hours to make the 57 kilometre trip from Regina. “So everyone who was travelling had their hazards on, but you couldn’t see them.”

Steininger also checks social media to keep her updated on the road conditions. She’s not the only one. Videos like this posted on Facebook by Global Regina have had more than 40 thousand views.

The province currently has four highway cameras: one on Highway 3 near Meadow Lake, one on Highway 2 between Prince Albert and La Ronge and two on Highway 11 between Regina and Saskatoon.  They were set up for maintenance purposes, but last year, they were made available to the public on the Highway Hotline website. However, Alberta has over eighty of these cameras and in B.C., there are more than 200.

Ryan Crouse, a photographer and amateur storm hunter, also known as the “Yorkton Storm Chaser”, said there is a lack of information, particularly in his region. To fill that gap, he has launched a website and live web stream when there’s stormy weather.

Crouse has emailed the province encouraging them to invest in more cameras in Saskatchewan. “I even have some ideas,” he said laughingly.

“Highway 16, you can use one between Saskatoon and Yorkton, Highway 10 between Regina and Melville, Highway 1 Swift Current to Moose Jaw, 39 would be Weyburn to Estevan, and Highway 3 from Tisdale to Hudson Bay – and five cameras would give the province a way better perspective than the current four with two leading to Saskatoon,” he said.

The province says it is looking into more highway cameras, but with caution.

“A pavement can look perfectly fine, say on a sunny day, but it can be completely covered in black ice,” said Rosann Semchuk at the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure.

Still, Steininger says actually looking at the roads would have changed her decision that particular day.

“I would have stayed in the city for sure!”

Price is another consideration. Each camera costs up to $30,000 to mount and connect to a power source.