Sask. pottery store owner says new highway lane would devastate her business
Marea Olafson says proposed passing lane would prevent customers visiting her store
A Saskatchewan store owner says a proposed highway expansion could wreck her business.
Marea Olafson runs Freba Pottery, a pottery shop outside her home near Wynyard, Sask., about 200 kilometres east of Saskatoon. The store is accessed directly from Highway 16.
In May 2024 the engineering firm Stantec, through a collaboration with the Ministry of Highways, proposed a westbound passing lane that would run directly in front of Olafson's home and business.
Olafson has been involved in an ongoing effort to have that proposal altered since then.
Olafson has been running Freba Pottery since 2013. It operates through an honour system, where the store is left empty and unlocked, and customers can take a product and pay for it on their own with cash or e-transfer. She said she's never had any serious problems with it.
She said she isn't against a passing lane, but is asking it be moved a few hundred metres to the east so that it won't impact access roads to her business.
Due to highway regulations, if the passing lane were to be installed in front of the property, then the driveways used to access Freba Pottery would have to be rerouted.
Olafson said that change would dissuade customers from turning off the highway and visiting her store.
"If it goes ahead my business most likely will peter out. Just access will be difficult," she said. "I might have to go back to taking pottery to a market and the honour system will be harder to operate because it's harder to get into. And eventually it might just fizzle out."
She said she would also lose rental income from the field around her house, as the new driveway would cut through it.
Olafson said the original plan from Stantec would have resulted in her driveway being completely rerouted and trees on her property being removed. That proposal was tweaked after her municipality, Big Quill 308, sent a letter to Stantec and the Ministry of Highways citing the property's status as a municipal heritage property, but Olafson said the new plan will still affect her business negatively.
Major highway changes involve several years of planning, designing and consultation. According to Olafson, while Stantec's proposal for the lane directly in front of her property has been sent for approval, construction won't begin until 2026.
When asked for comment, Stantec said it will defer to the Ministry of Highways. The ministry said it has heard the concerns about the placement of the passing lane.
"It's our typical practice to speak with potentially affected landowners during the design stage of a highway construction project," the ministry said in a statement. "We continue to work on the design for this project and will ensure the location will not impact the local business owner access."
Olafson has set up a petition to be mailed to the Legislative Assembly on Jan. 6, asking for the passing lane to be moved down the highway.
She's also created a page on her store's website explaining the dispute, and encouraging visitors to print out and sign the petition, which must be mailed or delivered by hand to the Legislative Assembly.
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