In Saskatchewan much is said about the pothole. Jokes abound about missing grain trucks and about cattle herds acting as road filler.
Yet they’re no joke. Saskatchewan’s road system is the nation’s largest – 185,000 kilometres, half the distance to the moon. Public investment in the road and highway system is estimated at $7.3 billion.
Paved portions of the system make up 21,900 km, and of those, 10,200 km are thin pavement highways. And thin pavement is the focus of vigorous debate between municipalities and the provincial government, who can’t agree on how to maintain it.
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They do agree something must be done to preserve Saskatchewan’s crumbling pavement.
“These roads are causing a lot of grief right now. They break a lot because they are handling heavier traffic loads than they were designed for,” said George King, of the Saskatchewan highways and transportation preservation department.
The province places some blame for crumbling roads on the shrinking number of grain elevators, which requires farmers to haul farther, and on rail- line abandonment.
A 1997 provincial transportation report claimed increased loads on fewer highways has resulted in a 1,400 percent increase in road damage since 1970. More than 500 percent of that rise has occurred since 1990. Since 1970 the number of elevators in the province has fallen from 900 to just over 400 and provincial projections suggest that by 2007 only 100 points will remain.
Truck routes proposed
The highway preservation department suggests alternative truck routes, including lower cost municipal grid roads and better quality highways, will reduce damage to thin-membrane paved roads.
Traffic demands on municipal grid roads have also increased. Grid roads can better handle the impact of heavy trucks but there is still damage.
Sinclair Harrison, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, disagrees with designated truck routes.
“Traffic is like water. It flows in the path of least resistance.”
Harrison said his association does not want to create truck routes that will force farmers to haul grain farther than necessary.
“We don’t need more regulation in the system and farmers don’t need any new costs. The grain companies and railways have let (rural people) down” by failing to provide for roads while reorganizing the rail and grain delivery systems, he said.
“We can’t stand any more of these efficiencies in the system. We as taxpayers and farmers can’t afford them.”
Provincial highway department officials have suggested development of short-line railways and maintenance of more elevators will reduce long-term demand on roads.
“We will work with communities to help them examine the viability of a short line. It will not be the best solution for everyone. In some cases trucking is the only answer,” said Bill Cooke, of the highways department.
Changes in trucking technology may help, he added. Central tire inflation systems for heavy trucks increase the footprint of loaded trucks through reduced tire pressure. When used with multi-trailer trucks, it reduces the number of trips from farm to elevator.
Harrison agrees technology may be part of the solution. Global positioning systems mounted in commercial trucks could provide data on road use and supply information for user-pay road taxes.
But fears of taxes and costs beyond the current fuel tax keep suggestions like this off the table, Harrison said.
SARM would like to use the $500 million provincial fuel tax for upgrading municipal road systems – spending far more than the provincial highway preservation and maintenance budget of $108 million.
“The fuel pumps are our toll booths. The problem is the guy running the booths isn’t forwarding the money,” said Harrison.
SARM has suggested the province should reduce funding to social programs and use the money for road maintenance.
