Infrastructure in
Rural Saskatchewan
A number of initiatives seek to improve travel throughout
Saskatchewan’s vast municipal network
By Terry E. Hoeving, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities
Rural Saskatchewan has the largest municipal network
in Canada. Our 162,000 kilometres of municipal road
infrastructure comes with its advantages and disad-vantages.
The Municipal Roads for the Economy Program (MREP)
was developed to assist rural municipalities (RMs) by way of fund-ing
to address some of the disadvantages.
The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM)
manages MREP funding. MREP funding is available to RMs through
an application and ranking process to assist with the costs associ-ated
to maintenance and upgrades for existing Clearing the Path
(CTP) corridors, Heavy Haul High Volume roads and repairing and/
or replacing bridges/culverts.
MREP also provides incremental funding to 6,660.90 kilometres of
CTP Primary Weight Corridors. CTP Primary Weight Corridors con-tribute
to enabling industry to effectively move their goods through
the province and, in some cases, keep heavy traffic off of the provin-cial
system, such as the thin membrane surface roads that are at the
end of their service life. The CTP map is updated regularly and avail-able
on SARM’s website at: https://sarm.ca/resources/maps.
With the assistance of the MREP, RMs can move forward in a
timely manner with large construction projects and innovative
maintenance practices in response to the rapid development of
the province.
RMs must publicly tender all construction projects as per the
New West Partnership Trade Agreement.
MREP financial assistance is based on the estimate submitted
by a qualified engineer. The public tender process must be fair and
transparent to all bidders.
Rural Municipal Road Map
An extensive review and update was recently conducted on the for-mer
Grid Road Map, now known as the Rural Municipal Road Map
(RMRM). The review and update was conducted in consultation
with the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure to validate the
communities and routes on the municipal road system. Copies of
the RMRM are available to purchase through SARM.
Got Gravel
SARM initiated the Got Gravel project in August 2015 to study the
current state of aggregate resources in Saskatchewan and develop
strategies for RMs’ sustainable gravel resource management. The
elements of this report consist of a historical review of aggregate
management and use, determining the current state of gravel in
Saskatchewan, identifying legislation and policy that may limit an
PASHU TA STUDIO / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
SASKATCHEWAN ASSOCIATION OF RURAL MUNICIPALITIES
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