Released on November 14, 2013
Shippers and consumers in Saskatchewan will benefit as longer semis are permitted to travel on the recently twinned segment of Highway 11 from north of Rosthern to Prince Albert.
“When we completed the twinning of Highway 11 it improved traffic safety, but it also reinforced the route as a key economic corridor,” Prince Albert-Carlton MLA Darryl Hickie said on behalf of Highways and Infrastructure Minister Don McMorris. “Longer trucks can now haul more bulk goods such as groceries and other retail items on the newly twinned section of Highway 11, which will provide cost savings for shippers and foster competition, which benefits consumers in the form of lower prices.”
The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure provides permits that allow for turnpike double long-combination vehicles (LCVs) on twinned highways. These LCVs consist of a truck towing two full-length semi-trailers. The trucks can only travel on four-lane highways in Canadian provinces that allow them, which include Highway 16 from Saskatoon to Lloydminster, Highway 1 from the Manitoba border to the Alberta border and now Highway 11 from Regina to Prince Albert.
“With more than 60 companies permitted to operate long-combination vehicles in the province, turnpike doubles have been operating safely on Saskatchewan’s twinned highways for many years,” Saskatchewan Trucking Association Executive Director Al Rosseker said. “We are pleased that the government added the newly twinned stretch of Highway 11 so these long trucks can travel the full distance between the province’s three largest cities.”
Turnpike doubles increase cost-efficiency and reduce carbon emissions by reducing the amount of fuel needed. Each LCV uses about one-third less fuel than two tractor-trailers that would carry the same amount of freight.
The government has invested a record $3.7 billion in transportation infrastructure since 2008.
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For more information, contact:
Joel Cherry
Highways and Infrastructure
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4805