Extra funding announced last week by the Saskatchewan government will pave the way for more roadwork next summer, says the province’s highways minister.
Maynard Sonntag has added $12 million to his department’s budget, two-thirds of which will pay for surveying, design work, and hauling and crushing gravel.
“This doubles the historic (spending) levels for winter crushing,” Sonntag said.
The plan is to crush and haul on frozen roadbeds, which results in less road damage. It also keeps the road building industry working during the winter.
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“That really lays the groundwork for an expanded summer schedule,” Sonntag said.
Two million dollars will be spent on fall highway maintenance, including sealing and patching. Most of the money will be spent on thin membrane surface roads.
He said the government is responding to public concerns raised last summer.
In some communities, people patched potholes on their local highways rather than wait for the department to do the work.
Sonntag said the government was able to spend more money on roadwork “as a result of an economy that is growing faster than was expected.”
He said more details will be provided in next month’s mid-term financial statement.
But the opposition called the funding too little too late and said it won’t significantly improve the condition of the province’s roads.
“There is nothing in this announcement that indicates any money for new pavement or rebuilding crumbling road beds,” said Saskatchewan Party highways critic Wayne Elhard.
Sonntag said the government might have been able to spend more money, but $12 million covers what the industry has the capacity to do over the winter. Meanwhile, Sonntag was in Edmonton last week for a federal-provincial transportation meeting.
He said federal transport minister David Collenette was “using language indicating that there could well be additional funding for the national highways system.”
However, Sonntag noted the impending federal election could have something to do with that.
