The new checkpoint between Flin Flon and Creighton will be moved to the Hanson Lake Road (Highway 106) following complaints from residents.
The checkpoint, set up on the Creighton freeway by Phantom Lake Road between Flin Flon and Creighton, was set up May 5 and immediately caused concerns from residents about its location.
Creighton Mayor Bruce Fidler said community leaders were in touch with provincial ministers over the location of the checkpoint, arguing for it to be moved to the Hanson Lake Road. Around 8 p.m. May 6, word came down that the checkpoint would be moved.
"We had a conversation with the minister [provincial municipal relations minister Lori Carr] this afternoon. We figured it would be better off out on the highway to control incoming traffic from outside the region, rather than impeding back and forth flow across from Creighton and Flin Flon. We want to keep that door open and control what comes into the area," Fidler said.
"We thought it would be more efficient out on the highway and I think they took our opinion to heart."
"Due to the provincial government of Saskatchewan issuing restricted travel to the northern part of the province, a check stop has been set up at the Phantom Lake turn-off. Tomorrow, May 7, it will be moving to a location on the Hanson Lake Road (Highway 106)," read a statement issued on the evening of May 6 by the Town of Creighton.
The exact new location of the checkpoint along Highway 106 is unknown.
"That doesn't mean we can relax on anything. All the rules that we have to follow are still there," said Fidler.
While the checkpoint was open at the Phantom Lake location, motorists were alternately let through without stopping, stopped and given printouts of public health orders or, if coming into town from Manitoba without reasons covered in the public health order, stopped, turned around and sent home. By the late afternoon May 6, Manitoba residents coming into Creighton for non-essential reasons were told to turn around and head back across the border.
As of around 8 p.m. May 6, traffic cones set up at the checkpoint site were taken down and workers manning the checkpoint from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) were leaving the area.
The checkpoint was built as part of a public health order issued by the Saskatchewan government May 1, heavily restricting travel within northern Saskatchewan - specifically, the Northern Saskatchewan Administrative District (NSAD). Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Deschambault Lake, Sandy Bay and all nearby Saskatchewan communities are included in the NSAD.
