The pothole patrol is on the job on Saskatchewan highways.
Dozens of people have called the Liberal opposition’s pothole patrol hotline since it was set up in late February.
The callers include an ambulance driver from southwestern Saskatchewan who said he was transporting two patients with fractured spines. He described the trip on the Trans-Canada Highway between Swift Current and Regina as “absolutely unbearable.”
“At times, the stretchers in the ambulance were airborne,” he said, adding the road was the worst near the communities of Morse and Herbert.
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One caller described Highway 35 between Qu’Appelle and Weyburn as having continuous potholes, some the size of craters. Another said there were 210 potholes in a five-mile stretch of road near Parry, south of Regina.
Not everything flat
“Welcome to Saskatchewan, where everything is flat except the highways,” said another.
Liberal MLA Glen McPherson said about 60 people called 1-888-621-BUMP to report highways in various stages of disrepair.
“When the people are talking about the highways being a danger to themselves or to their children, kids that are on schoolbuses, I think it’s time that the government acted,” McPherson said.
Start spending money
“This government takes in about $300 million a year more than what it spends on highways from fuel taxes and motor vehicle licence fees,” he said. “In five years they’ve had a surplus of $1.23 billion and what we’re asking … is to start spending that money on our highway system.”
Premier Roy Romanow has hinted that highways funding will be increased in the next budget.
The Saskatchewan Government Employees’ Union says that increase should be around $40 million.
The union released a report last week calling for at least 50 percent of the revenue from fuel taxes and licence fees to be spent on highway maintenance.
At a recent conference, highways department deputy minister Brian King acknowledged the problems.
“An awful lot of our roads are not in very good condition,” he said.
King blamed rail-line abandonment and more heavy truck traffic for road conditions.
The SGEU blames job cuts, budget cuts, and the privatization of many maintenance duties.
