SASKATOON – Saskatchewan’s rural roads may soon start to look a little less like the back side of the moon and a little more like highways.
The federal government last week handed over $3.3 million to the province’s municipalities, representing the first instalment in what is expected to be an $84.6 million program to fix crumbling roads.
As elevators close and rail lines are abandoned, heavy trucks are hauling more grain. The result has been broken pavement and soaring repair bills.
Sinclair Harrison, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, said it’s obvious the province’s roads have deteriorated to an alarming degree in recent years.
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Major work needed
“You only have to drive a few miles in this province to realize that we need a massive injection of dollars to put our roads back in shape,” he said. “If it’s spent wisely, it will do a lot of good.”
He added the municipalities hope to do as much work as possible this construction season, although road work likely won’t get under way until the beginning of August.
In handing over the money, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale said the government doesn’t want it used to “patch up yesterday’s potholes.”
“It should be directed toward the new transportation infrastructure of the future, taking into account the changing patterns of grain movement which changes in the freight structure will trigger,” he said.
The payment represents Saska-tchewan’s share of a $300 million federal program to help the Prairies adjust to life without the Crow Benefit rail transportation subsidy for grain.
Under the program, $140 million was set aside to fund improvements to the “agricultural infrastructure”, divided among the provinces on the basis of total distance of grain-dependent branch lines. Saskat-chewan will get $84.6 million, Alberta $29 million and Manitoba $25.9 million.
Each province can decide how to spend its share of the money, and it looks like each province will probably spend it in slightly different ways.
- In Saskatchewan, $20 million of federal funds will be available for 1996-97, made up of a $10 million grant to all municipalities paid out in monthly instalments, $5 million to the provincial highways department and $5 million for specific projects approved by a management committee representing all three levels of government. Municipalities will top up that last program with another $2.5 million.
The decision on how to spend the remaining $64.5 million will be made by the management committee, although Gerry Wetterstrand, a federal official on that committee, said it seems to be pretty well decided.
“I guess if I was a betting man, right now I’d say virtually all of it will go towards roads, but it’s unknown at this point.”
No money received
- In Alberta, an agreement has been reached to spend $5 million of the province’s $29 million payment on road projects, although no money has changed hands.
The decision on how to spend the rest will be made by the joint management committee. There have been suggestions some of it be spent on research and development in crop diversification, but that doesn’t sit well with the province’s municipalities.
“Certainly our perspective at this point is that it should be going to roads first and foremost,” said Gary Sandberg, director of policy for the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties.
- In Manitoba, a committee of Liberal MPs held public hearings seeking advice on how to spend that province’s $25.9 million. The committee was to have submitted its report to Goodale at the end of June. No further details were available last week.
A coalition representing a broad range of farm groups had earlier agreed the money should go towards roads, but during the hearings the MPs heard suggestions ranging from programs to boost potato production and improvements at the port of Chur-chill, to research and natural gas development.
