The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister of Transportation and Works:

Canada Roads Safety Week

I rise before this Honourable House to recognize Canada Road Safety Week which runs from May 18 — 24. With the Victoria Day long weekend upon us, people across the province will take to our highways to go to their cabins, favourite campgrounds, or to explore our many towns and communities. With this increase in traffic we all must do our part to keep our highways safe.

A key focus of our government's roads program is to maintain a transportation system that puts the safety of motorists at the forefront, and as our infrastructure vision moves forward we continue to enhance our programs and services to best serve the people of this province.

The Department of Transportation and Works continues to invest significantly to address road safety. Initiatives over the past few years include the construction of four new Weigh-In-Motion sites that help detect overweight vehicles, the purchase of an Automatic Road Analyzer vehicle that identifies areas requiring rut repair and maintenance, and the installation of 20 Road Weather Information Systems that provide real-time data to our winter maintenance crews enhancing the timely application of deicing materials. These initiatives also coincide with 17 highway cameras currently in operation across the province, and I am pleased to say that three more of these cameras will be brought into service tomorrow at our new highway depot sites in Labrador.

Other key investments include new mechanical brush cutters for each region of the province, part of an ongoing campaign that has cleared roughly 1,200 kilometres of brush to date, $2.5 million for line painting, and $650,000 for the acquisition of two new paint trucks.

These initiatives complement our ongoing summer and winter maintenance programs which cover such things as snow and ice control, pothole and shoulder repairs, equipment maintenance and purchases. Our maintenance programs have a combined value of approximately $111 million this year, over and above our total road and bridge investments of $235.6 million in 2010-11.

My department is making great strides to keep our highways safe but motorists must also do their part.

I encourage all Honourable Members and motorists — not just during Canada Road Safety Week but every time they sit behind the wheel — to please take a moment to step back and examine their driving habits and, where necessary, make adjustments to help create a culture of highway safety that will protect all travelers on our roads.

2010 05 20                                                  1:45 p.m.