Spending taxpayer money on signs and aircrafts, rather than actually improving Alberta's roads seems slightly misguided. Nevertheless, the provincial government's Ministry of Transportation has forged ahead with plans to increase aircraft patrols on Alberta's highways, in search of the speeding drivers.
The plan, which includes erecting “hundreds of signs” and having “an added presence in the air”, according to a representative of the ministry, will no doubt cost considerable taxpayer dollars.
Costs compared to traditional highway patrol will be significantly more, considering certified pilots must fly the aircrafts employed in the scheme and helicopter/jet/airplane fuel is typically more expensive than a can of regular from the local convenience store.
That's not to mention the increased expenses of having an aircraft recording the speeds of drivers and having to then relay that information to a waiting ground patrol to make the stops, as opposed to just patrolling the highways with a single enforcement vehicle – although the ministry did not yet provide specific costs related to the initiative, when asked by the Nouvelle last week.
Certainly, a single patrol car would not be as effective at catching speeders as a team of aircrafts and patrol cars surveilling stretches of Alberta road. But how many tickets would the aircraft team have to dole out before its bottom line was met – its expenses covered?
Close to home, signs have already been put up and lines have been painted, denoting a new “aircraft patrolled” zone, between Bonnyville and Cold Lake, along Highway 28.
On the surface, many might welcome a scheme to decrease speeding along that particular stretch. However, upon closer examination, the problems on that road originate from a combination of outdated infrastructure, over-aggressive drivers and vehicles of varying shapes and sizes, resulting in the excess speeds the government is trying to stamp out.
Perhaps building a few more highway pullouts and passing lanes would remedy some of the congestion during rush hours, which usually consist of multiple slow-moving wide-loads that require higher speeds and longer stretches to pass safely.
Maybe a few re-engineered turning lanes near certain hamlets along the way could help as well.
Those superficial solutions would certainly have costs attached to them, but the benefits would speak for themselves, rather than elicit questions and concerns.
We should not excuse dangerous and aggressive drivers, and patrolling along Alberta's highways needs to continue.
But if it's a choice between an expensive aircraft-patrolling scheme and long-term infrastructure improvements, let's take the long view on this one and fix Alberta's highways now, for the future.
