(Cam Lee/northeastNOW Staff)

By Cam Lee

Smooth Sailing

Saskatchewan Drive paving project finally bears fruit

Oct 7, 2019 | 8:00 AM

The wait was worth it for Melfort mayor Rick Lang.

The city of Melfort first signed an agreement for the Saskatchewan Drive resurfacing project, through the Urban Highway Connector Program, back in 2008.

The project is now in the final stage of line painting, with the paving of connections to side streets wrapping up last week.

The service roads on Highway six south were paved in 2018.

Lang said it took a lot of patience and ear-bending for the project to come to fruition.

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“Before I became mayor there was some lobbying done and I know that since I became mayor in the last seven years there’s been some heavy lobbying done in Regina at the SUMA annual convention with various highway ministers,” said Lang.

“To his credit two years ago, minister Marit, who was highways minister at that time, said that he was going to get both of those things done – the service roads one year and Saskatchewan Drive the next, or potentially both of them at the same time – obviously it took two years to get it done, but it did get done.”

Lang said having the province (eventually) follow through on the promise instilled confidence in the government.

Saskatchewan Drive was a bumpy, pitted mess for a number of years, and Lang said it was a focus for many residents during previous civic election campaigns.

The project could have been completed years ago had the city been willing to fund the entire project, but instead they chose to wait.

“Doing it this way with the provincial participation, it’s actually costing the city one-quarter of what it would cost to do it on its own,” said Lang.

Not only are local residents able to enjoy the new, smoother surface, people passing through will notice a difference. Lang said they’ve had comments about the rough road from visitors in the past.

More infrastructure work needed

While this project is wrapping up, Lang said there is a lot of infrastructure work still to be done in Melfort.

“We have to give some serious consideration to some water line replacement,” said Lang, noting that there were 54 water line breaks last year, something he calls atrocious and unacceptable.

The city is on pace to be around the same number in 2019, with aging lines and soil composition to blame.

Lang said making a meaningful dent in replacing those water lines would cost the city about $17,000,000, something they wouldn’t fund themselves.

There are federal and provincial grants they will continue to apply to until they are accepted.

If and when they are approved, the federal, provincial, and municipal governments would all kick in one-third of the cost of the project.

“So that will be our focus as far as road infrastructure, or infrastructure in general goes from here on in,” said Lang. “We’ll be focusing on replacing those aging water lines that are leaking, to try to quell or stem our water loss to a manageable amount, because right now it’s been unacceptable to say the least.”

Lang said the city has been lobbying the provincial government and local MP Randy Hoback hoping that this issue will be seen as a top priority.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974