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Last Friday I stopped in at the Saskatchewan Government Insurance Head office in Saskatoon. I was doing the written portion of my motorcycle licence. You are required to do four tests in total eye test, sign test, handbook test and the motorcycle test once you pass these and pay your $10.00 you are ready to legally ride the streets. I did all that paid my $10.00 and am ready to go that’s all good. What I found alarming was the fact that all the road rules are now changing. As I was standing at the wicket the lady on the other side was giving me t he low down on new licensing rules for Saskatchewan drivers. It seems there will be new testing regimes for driving on gravel roads. Highway 21 the “Goat Trail” has been selected as Saskatchewan’s west central test road. New drivers will be required to navigate the Trail during each of the four seasons before receiving their graduated licence. Testing will be done during the summer when the volume of dust is at its peak, during the spring when the surface is soft and hard to navigate, during the fall when the gravel is like marbles and an inexperienced driver could quite easily over compensate and roll over, lastly the winter when a snow and iced covered road can result in many on and off road experiences. The SGI lady went on to say that each of the four tests would be subject to a testing levy which would be earmarked by the province to assist with the eventual reconstruction of the road. I wondered if she stopped to do the math we still only have around a million people in Saskatchewan, at $ 40.00 per test times 4 tests times how many handfuls of tests per year would it take. At that point I stopped her and told her I was fully aware of the government’s strategy to rebuild Saskatchewan roads. I informed her I would be long dead before anyone would see unprecedented improvement on the Goat Trail never mind ride a motorcycle on it. A week and a half ago we met with the minister of highways and he told us he was fixing all the roads in Saskatchewan,. He mentioned Tim McMillan had brought the Goat Trail to his attention several times, so he was aware of the adversity the trail was causing. He was taken back a little when I explained we had done the calculations with his formula and came up with a minimum of 50 years before any work would be slated for the Goat Trail. Perhaps now is the time for the squeaky wheel to squeak and let’s see if it gets some grease. As the water level is rising in Ministikwan Lake perhaps the government will rise to the call for improvements to the Goat Trail.
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