Officers with the Pembina Valley RCMP, along with Headingley Traffic Services, have stepped up enforcement on Highways 3 and 14 lately. Those roads have seen commercial and regular traffic increase since becoming part of a detour after Highway 75 was closed off south of Morris due to dike closures.
"We are noticing a pretty substantial increase...through Highway 3 south of Carman to the Boundary Trails area and then across," said RCMP Corporal Shea Argue. "We've had our officers out on the road as much as possible running traffic enforcement, stopping vehicles and running radar."
It's all in an effort to keep the roads as safe as possible, he noted.
"With the increase in traffic, it just bogs the roads down and then people are sometimes antsy to get by slower-moving semis, slower-moving vehicles, and it obviously creates more opportunity for collisions and things like that," said Argue. "So, we're out trying to make ourselves as visible as possible to make sure people know that we're there, and also run radar as much as possible to make sure people are obeying the rules of the road."
For the most part, Argue says officers haven't run into too many issues.
"We've had some calls when there's been dense traffic and vehicles may be passing unsafely and things like that. In instances where we've been able to locate those vehicles, we've taken appropriate action, whether that be issuing a fine or those types of things."
If anything, Argue feels their increased enforcement has resulted in fewer complaints in these areas.
A few schools in the area have also contacted the PV RCMP office expressing concern over the increased traffic near their locations and, as a result, Argue says officers have stepped up enforcement there as well.
He continues to remind motorists to obey the rules of the road.
"Don't be in a hurry to get somewhere. We have a lot of traffic collisions here, and all traffic collisions are one hundred percent avoidable. It usually just comes down to driver error," said Argue. "Just give yourself lots of extra time to get to your destination, and drive safely anticipating that there's probably going to be more congestion on the roads in the area."