Ottawa is contributing $21 million for 97 Saskatchewan road construction projects this year.
Federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief announced the second year of funding for projects under the Canada Agri-Infrastructure Program in Regina last week.
Two-thirds of the money will be used for 92 municipal road projects, while the remaining $7 million will be used for five provincial highway projects.
Vanclief said $20 million was invested last year and another $43.4 million will be allocated to the province over the next three years. But he admitted it’s not enough.
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“This money is put forward as a contribution and assistance to maintain and improve the road system in Saskatchewan as a result of the shifting in transportation, and as a result of the shifting and the diversification that may take place in the agricultural production here in Saskatchewan,” he told reporters. “There’s never enough money to fix roads.”
The funding is coming from the $300 million Western Grain Transportation Adjustment Fund and is distributed according to the miles per province of grain-dependent railway branch lines.
Vanclief said fixing the roads doesn’t preclude the establishment of short-line railways.
“We want to save the roads, that’s the bottom line,” he said. “Do we save the roads by maintaining and improving the ones we’ve got or do we save the roads in some way shape or form by keeping some of the tonnage off the roads by short-line railways?”
Gerry Wetterstrand, southern Saskatchewan director for the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, said the criteria for selecting the 97 roads included proximity to a major grain handling facility, processing facility or value-added activity and the incremental increase in tonnage expected because of changing transportation patterns.
Regional support is also key.
“If a number of municipalities were to get together and say, ‘Yes, this particular stretch of road is important for all of us,’ we would give that a higher rating than one that was supported by only one RM,” Wetterstrand said.
The five provincial highway projects include:
- 10 kilometres on Highway 19 between the Trans-Canada and Hodgeville.
- 18.5 km on Highway 45 between Lucky Lake and Birsay.
- 3.5 km on Highway 48 west of the junction of Highway 8.
- 13.5 km on Highway 8 north of the junction of Highway 48.
- 16 km on Highway 21 from Unity to Grid 787.
The municipal projects are located throughout the province in 61 rural municipalities, 25 towns, five cities and one village.
