“In our view, the best solution is to close the crossing, and that is what we’re asking council to do.”

With those words, Mike Lovecchio from CP Rail kicked off a contentious segment of Weyburn’s City Council meeting Monday night. The Queen Street Crossing was a major point of conversation, with council voicing their opposition to the request from CP Rail, and also against the recommendation made in a report by KGS, an engineering firm hired by the city to look at the crossing.

The Queen Street crossing has seen seven accidents since 1988, with six of those occurring in the past ten years. The crossing, in terms of risk, is considered the 65th worst in the country out of more the 21,000 crossings, according to Transport Canada. They have given a deadline to the City of Weyburn to have the crossing into compliance with federal regulations by the end of November 2021.

The report put together by KGS for council indicates the cost could be upwards of $1.3 million dollars for the crossing itself, not factoring in other upgrades which could be needed. In total, council heard it could be upwards of $2.5 million dollars, all of which the city would be responsible for covering themselves.

Councillor Dick Michel doesn’t want to see the crossing closed. He feels if the crossing is closed, it will divert traffic to the intersection of Highways 13 and 39, which he called the most dangerous intersection in Saskatchewan.

“We haven’t tried everything. Safety is number one in my mind as well, but we have to try something before we just automatically close it,” Michel said as he explained his views on the matter Monday night.

The concerns about the traffic moving to the 18 & 39 intersections were one of the main reasons voiced by the councilors, as well as the impact it would have for local businesses that use Queen Street to access Highway 39.

With a number of others who would have some say in the matter needing to be consulted, it was proposed council revisit the situation in two months. This allows for comment back from the provincial Ministry of Highways, as well as a look at what the costs would be to bring the crossing into compliance. Some of those recommendations include the addition of crossing arms along the railway, as well as the installation of street lights on the highway.

Councillor Bailey, who was the one who suggested moving the decision ahead two months, reiterated public safety is the key concern, doesn’t want to make any rash decisions. Once the other parties have been consulted, including the public and local businesses, it will be revisited by Weyburn City Council, and a decision is expected at that time.