SARM seeking more rural road and bridge funding during provincial election campaign

Ahead of this month’s provincial election, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) is calling for increased funding for rural roads and bridges.

The organization says the infrastructure is the lifeline of thousands of municipal residents and helps drive the rural economy by supporting oil and gas, agriculture, mining, and other natural resource sectors.

In a news release, SARM said the roads and bridges in rural Saskatchewan will continue to deteriorate without further aid, and that will have social and economic impacts.

Canada’s largest road network is here in Saskatchewan, and SARM said RM’s are responsible for 164,000 kilometres of roads that require regular upkeep and maintenance.

They are also responsible for nearly 1300 bridge structures, and SARM says 60 per cent of rural bridges are at or beyond their expected service lifespan and are in need of replacement. The cost of building a bridge per square foot has increased 25 per cent between 2020 and 2022.

Acting SARM president Bill Huber said the Rural Integrated Roads for Growth (RIRG) program provides funding for RM’s to support rural road and bridge construction, and culvert installation.

“The RIRG program is funded by the Ministry of Highways, administered by SARM, and right now every RM has a laundry list of roads and bridges that are in serious need of repair or rebuild,” Huber said.

SARM’s news release said road construction costs have also increased, resulting in a large number of project withdrawals.

Despite the increased costs of construction and maintenance, funding for the RIRG program has decreased from $25M in 2009-2014 to $15M from 2015-2023. The program was increased to $17.4M this year, but SARM feels the program continues to lag behind the need.

Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association President Shantel Lipp said the government’s infrastructure spending must keep up with inflation.

“The civil construction industry needs and has been asking for a long-term serious commitment to build and maintain our provincial road network,” said Lipp. “The industry continues to see increased expenses in escalating costs for fuel, materials, and labour, while the base spending on infrastructure capital remains relatively unchanged. Inflationary costs reflected in bid pricing that isn’t adequately addressed through realistic infrastructure funding leads to less projects tendered, which creates further financial uncertainty for the industry, it becomes a vicious circle.”

SARM said infrastructure, health care, policing and crime, and agriculture are key issues they would like to see addressed in the provincial election campaign.