Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department was responding to concerns expressed by the public as to the ability to navigate this stretch of highway safely. There were also some suggestions from the public that the large trucks should be slowed down to assure safety.

There were also suggestions put forward by Members in this House. The department is responding to a concern expressed by the public as to safety in navigating this stretch of the road. Mr. Speaker, we concur with the general public that there are some sections of the highway that are badly potholed as a result of the heavy truck traffic.

This is quite noticeable, because the other half of the highway going south is not potholed. This obviously suggests that not only is it a problem for the heavy truck traffic, but it is going to be a problem for lighter trucks as well to navigate the potholes. At this time of the year, it is not easy for the department to repair those potholes because the surface of the highway is frozen.

We have to do whatever we can to reverse the situation. It may be a while before we can repair all of the potholes. This is a temporary measure that we are taking. At this time, we are only tying the timeline of this reduction of speed to the winter road activity. If winter road activity ceases, heavy truck traffic is no longer a problem. If the department is satisfied with the condition of the highway, and if we are permitted, we will lift the reduction of the speed limit.