A view from the new traffic camera on the north side of Moose Jaw

The Saskatchewan Highway Hotline has taken the next step to supply Saskatchewan resident with up to date information on how the highways are doing. Six new roadside cameras have been set up all around the province, one of those cameras is just north of Moose Jaw on Highway #1.

The local camera is near the turnoff to Prince Albert facing west towards the Highway #2 Overpass according to Steve Shaheen, Communications Consultant for the Ministry of Highways.

"We decided that with a lot of these cameras, we wanted to be efficient with the investment that we made. As you know, that overpass on Highway 2 and the TransCanada Highway has been a problem for some vehicles that are moving through there and we looked at that as a prime location for the camera and of course, it provides citizens in the area with a good snap shot of what the weather conditions would be like."

That overpass gets hit by semis on a regular basis and has suffered some significant damage in the past but when asked if a camera on the east side of the city would better serve residents when it comes to road conditions, Shaheen said there was a need for a camera overlooking the overpass.

You may remember, the last two winters have been extremely bad on the TransCanada between Moose Jaw and Regina with a number of serious accidents.  The highway has become a solid sheet of ice on several occasions with whiteout conditions.  There have been numerous bad travel days that resulted in social media rants from motorists saying the Highway Hotline did not have up to date information, in fact, there's an entire Facebook page dedicated to just that stretch of highway with drivers passing along up to the minute reports.

But Shaheen says the locations were picked based on feedback from motorists and a goal of stretching their investment dollars to get the best bang for their buck. He went on to say that it's too soon to speculate as to whether or not a traffic camera will ever be installed between Moose Jaw and Regina for commuters, one of the busiest commuter highways in the province.