Portions of two roads considered among the worst in Saskatchewan will be upgraded as part of the 1,400-kilometre construction schedule announced in the province last week.
Ten km of Highway 368, the access to St. Brieux and home of Bourgault Industries, will be graded and paved this year. The road has been raised often in the Saskatchewan Legislature as an example of how badly many highways have deteriorated.
Twenty-one km of Highway 32, between Lancer and Shackleton, will receive the same treatment and 10 km through Cabri will be paved.
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Highway 32 became famous when community leaders posed nearly naked in photos taken in potholes and poor spots on the road. The photographs were used in a 2007 calendar that raised $40,000 for community projects in Leader, Sask. The highway runs southwest from Leader to Swift Current.
A total of 92.5 km of thin membrane surface highway such as Highways 368 and 32 will be upgraded this year, and 284 km of other highways will be resurfaced. This includes a project on the Trans-Canada Highway near Maple Creek that will use crumb rubber from recycled tires and asphalt for a stronger surface.
Highways minister Wayne Elhard said he expects travellers will often be delayed by construction projects as they drive around the province this summer. The ministry has a record $513 million to spend on construction and maintenance.
“It is essential that we have the necessary infrastructure in place to support our growing economy and fixing Saskatchewan’s highways is a big part of that job,” Elhard said in a news release.
On Highway 11, 80 km of newly twinned road will be paved.
There will be 36 projects to replace and upgrade bridges and culverts; 17 bridges will be replaced with new bridges and 14 bridges will be replaced with culverts. A new bridge will be built on Highway 310 at Fishing Lake where flooding took its toll on the old structure.
And, 975 km of highway will receive seal coat maintenance and microsurfacing.
Money has been set aside to begin upgrading Pinkie Road outside Regina to accommodate a new intermodal terminal and at a new interchange at Regina’s Lewvan Drive and the Trans-Canada.
The government also announced its 2009-10 plans, which include further twinning of Highway 11 and more bridge work. Highway 32 will be rebuilt from Shackleton to Prelate over three years and work will also continue on Highway 368.
