The Government of Saskatchewan, with help from the federal government, and the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), announced they will be replacing 100 rural bridges over the next four years.
SARM President Ray Orb says he is excited for the project, adding that this is something they’ve been advocating for a long time.
“We’re getting some recognition here, that will certainly help our rural municipalities,” said Orb. “Especially the ones that have bridges that are carrying a lot of weight, a lot of trucks, whether it be grain or livestock products. It’s really great to hear that announcement.”
Orb says many of the bridges in rural Saskatchewan were built in the 60s and 70s and are in desperate need of repairs.
He adds that municipalities have done everything in their power to maintain these bridges, but it’s just no longer feasible.
I think the municipalities have been doing a good job to repair these bridges and keep them going, but some of them are, obviously, at the end of their life expectancy,” said Orb. “We’re looking forward to seeing some new funding going out there to improve transportation in rural Saskatchewan.”
While he is happy to see the government fix 100 bridges, Orb says there are close to 1,500 rural bridges in the province.
He says that he hopes that more funding comes down the line.
“I don’t think we’d ever give up in requesting more funding,” said Orb. “But I think this is a great signal to the rural municipalities that we can do a lot more.”
Projects will be cost-shared up to $500,000, with about 17 per cent of this amount coming from the federal government, while 33 per cent will come from the provincial government with the remaining share coming from the RMs