Firing a handful of projectiles at a Manitoba map would produce something similar to the map of this year’s road projects approved by the Prairie Grain Roads Program.
But federal, provincial and municipal officials say there is a grand plan behind the scattering of projects, even if it doesn’t look that way.
“It’s not a shotgun approach,” said Manitoba transportation minister Steve Ashton.
“It’s strategic.”
The program is providing $350 million over five years to help rebuild essential grain transportation corridors in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia’s Peace River region. Manitoba’s share is about $65 million.
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The federal government is picking up half the tab, with the other two levels of government paying one quarter each.
While the program was approved more than a year ago, these are the first Manitoba projects to be announced. None will actually be undertaken until next spring or summer.
The program was designed by all three levels of government, is driven by local municipalities who request money for specific projects, and refereed by a committee of bureaucrats who approve or deny the requests. That’s why the final list of roads to be rebuilt has not yet been determined.
About 20 percent of the program funding will be spent each year for five years. At the end of the five years, Manitoba should have a much improved network of essential grain roads, said Anthony Kettler of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, who is helping administer the program.
“As the program unfolds, we will ensure that we are targeting the most strategic roads in the network and (ensure) that we are getting the best bang for our buck.”
Twenty-four road rebuilding projects were approved this year, costing $10.9 million and providing 200 kilometres of rebuilt road. The biggest projects will be rebuilding a road between Poplarfield and Arborg, and rebuilding 25 km of road in the Rural Municipality of Bifrost.
Not all proposed projects have been approved, Kettler said. Nine were turned down because they didn’t meet the program’s criteria.
While the money was intended to help shore up Western Canada’s ravaged grain road system, Ashton said it will actually serve a dual purpose now that the world economy appears to be stumbling into a recession.
“Given some of the economic uncertainties we’re dealing with and the slowdown in the economy we’re seeing generally, the timing couldn’t be better.”
