Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in my opening comments, I referred to the amount of money that we asked for, for operations and maintenance. We believe that this funding will allow us to address any operations and maintenance needs that are identified on the existing highways and that includes increased traffic for oil and gas development or mining development. The demands they put on the highway results in us having to do further maintenance.
Relative to Highway No. 3, we may in fact have to do more maintenance on this highway, due to the truck traffic, while we are going through the process of reconstructing. So over the years, we may have to increase our maintenance cost on this particular stretch of highway, but we would not have the capability of addressing any needs that are identified on the highway to allow for safe passage on those highways.
My department has advised me over the last couple of days that there is nowhere on Highway No. 3 where two trucks cannot pass safely. The measurements we have taken are the minimum measurements. Two or three sections on that highway are eight metres. That is the minimum standard for the travel portion of the highway. This does not count shoulders.
Now, if we get areas that are below the standard, we would take steps to bring it back up while we are waiting for the reconstruction program to catch up. We definitely can say that we do not have an area on Highway No. 3 where two trucks cannot safely pass.
As far as our ability to address the needs on any of the highway systems, it is basically the same thing, Mr. Chairman. All of our highways are being impacted by more and more traffic on these highways and weather conditions that take their toll. We cannot always catch up right away to respond to weather conditions that have created potholes, but that is to be expected.
In particular, if the highways are calcium, they are soft and are more subject to rain. They are also slippery. It is at those times that the driving conditions are no longer safe, if you go at speeds that you cannot control the vehicles. Therefore, we always fall back on the saying that your speed should be limited by your ability to control the vehicle, subject to the condition of the highway that you are driving on. It is not based on what is posted. It is based on your ability to control the vehicle in the conditions that you are experiencing.
So we keep telling the public that you have to adjust your speed. In the case of last winter, where we found it may be a need to reduce the speed of the trucks, this was in response to the amount of truck traffic, plus people complaining that they were, in fact, having problems navigating the highways with the speed of the trucks. So we put speed limits in place for trucks. These are measures that we will take in order to keep highways passable and safe.
At this point in time, we have not had to shut any highways down, but that is not to say that we will not do it if we feel they are not safe and passable. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.