Community Meeting in Cabri
By Aasa Marshall
Prairie Post
August 18, 2006
Highway 32 needs to be fixed, and a group in the southwest is working to bring government attention and money to the issue of rebuilding the ailing thoroughfare.
About 20 municipal councilors, reeves, and mayors, and members of regional economic development agencies came together in Cabri August 9 to discuss options for partnering with the government to move forward on highway repairs.
Martin Kuntz and Ian Swann of the Department of Highways and Transportation spoke to the group about partnering options, and said there are three general ways that it can be done: low volume access roads can be rebuilt as gravel roads, parallel truck routes can be created, or urban and rural municipalities can contribute to help rebuild the highway, which would help move it up the government's ladder of priority.
Swann, a municipal area engineer for the department, said the group needs to come up with a partnering strategy that gives the government more reasons to say "yes" to funding the repair of the highway than they have to say "no". He asked the assembled group to devise a smaller committee that will help him move forward with the creation of a report about Highway 32 that he can give to higher-up government officials. To help with the report, he said, the group will need to put together numbers relating to oil and gas activity in the area and its future impact on the road, as well as potential repair costs, timelines, and the effects on stakeholders in the region.
In a post-meeting interview, Swann estimated a cost between $12 million and $15 million to rebuild the worst 64 kms of the highway. As it stands, the money to rebuild the 32 would come from the preservation and operations budget, but Swann said he would like to see it moved to the government's capital budget.
The group plans to meet again in September after harvest to discuss the next steps, which include signing a Memorandum of Understanding to show the Province that they are serious about working to get their highway rebuilt.
Southern Region Area Manager Martin Kuntz said 27 kms of the highway between Lancer and Prelate will be reverted to gravel in the next few weeks. The change will be made to what has been identified as the worst stretch of highway, making it easier to maintain until the government moves forward with extensive repairs. Although there is concern about the reversion to gravel, Kuntz said it could help the road in the long run.
"We found that when we milled a TMS [thin membrane surface] road, and when we've taken all those materials that are on top and mixed them with a sub-grade, it actually helps harden and stabilize the sub-grade, and that in the future will of course help with building strength into the new road when you go to build over top," said Kuntz.
The department has hired three extra staff for the Leader area, and obtained a second grader, so the highway will be maintained properly once the gravel reversion is complete.
Leader's mayor Gary Meier expressed concern that the department is moving ahead with the plan to revert to gravel.
"I hope that they do the maintenance on it like they say they're going to do, because the way it was two years ago when it was reverted back, was virtually impassable at certain times of the year. It was downright dangerous," said Meier. "I'm hoping they do keep up the maintenance as they've promised."
Swann offered a number of possible solutions the group could consider, but said he wanted to remain open to any and all ideas. Another municipality in the province once raised its mill rate by one mill for five years, and in a specific agreement, contributed the extra money to the government to help them pay the cost to rebuild Highway 48. Though that may not be the solution the group wants to utilize, he said, the important thing is that RMs, communities and groups in the southwest work together to find a plan that is viable in the region.
"There's a number of ways of doing it, I guess I don't want to put restrictions on what they might want to do," said Swann. "To me everything's on the table."
Morgan Powell, Chair of the Southwest Transportation Council, said that the council does not readily agree that the new group should have to come up with a strategy to partner with government, it will support the RMs and other members in their efforts. The Council was formed in 1995 to gain knowledge of regional transportation issues and develop a transportation plan for the Southwest, and pass that information on to the Province.
Powell, however, said he feels the government has stopped listening to their suggestions.
"Somewhere along the way something has slipped and we don't seem to have gotten the message to the government that we need more money," he said.
Swift Current mayor Sandy Larson attended the meeting to show support from the City, and called the meeting "a good start". Also in attendance were reeves and councilors from communities and RMs along the highway, as well as members of Southwest REDA and Action Southwest.
Reprinted with permission of the Prairie Post.
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