The demand for rural road construction and repair will likely continue to outstrip the available money, but that won’t stop Saskatchewan municipalities from asking for more.
The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities asked the federal finance committee last month to include a rural roads program in the upcoming budget.
The association is requesting the provincial government to keep infra-structure a priority.
SARM president David Marit said both governments are in tight fiscal situations but they can’t let infrastructure spending slide.
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Last year, the province increased the money available to $47 million from $20 million and handed over administration of the Municipal Roads for the Economy Program (MREP) to SARM.
MREP includes the former municipal resources roads, heavy haul and primary weight programs. It is cost-shared 70 percent by the province and 30 percent by municipalities.
Marit said more than 5,900 kilo-metres of roads were built, repaired and maintained in 2009 at a cost of $33 million.
“For 2010, applications have been received totalling over $150 million,” he told delegates at SARM’s recent mid-term convention.
“This tells us that there is a huge unsatisfied need for road work in rural Saskatchewan.”
SARM has shown the numbers to the province to illustrate the need. Marit said it’s up to the government to decide what it will allocate, but it can’t be less than current spending.
“We know they’re in a tight budget situation, but we’d hope that they’d keep our funding where it is.”
The 2010 proposal includes bridge work because SARM will assume responsibility for the bridge component of MREP. Marit said money available to fix bridges is well below what is needed.
A report done for SARM in 2008 said 400 of the 2,300 municipal bridges were built before 1955 and have a 60 year lifespan. The report said $100 million is needed immediately to address the worst concerns.
A separate report by AECOM Engineering, done for SARM and the provincial municipal affairs ministry, showed that construction costs rose 152 percent between 1998 and 2008.
Marit said fewer projects will be approved if SARM doesn’t receive the money it needs.
