Regional transportation study will be done for Swift Current…

The City of Swift Current will be a funding partner for a regional transportation study to identify priorities for future improvements to major regional road infrastructure.

Council members approved two motions in support of the study at a regular council meeting via video conference, Dec. 14.

The first motion determined that the City will contribute a maximum of $50,000 in surplus funds from the 2020 capital budget towards the regional transportation study project. The second motion authorizes the City to enter into an agreement with the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure (MHI) and the Rural Municipality (R.M.) of Swift Current #137 to complete the study.

City General Manager of Infrastructure and Operations Mitch Minken told the meeting the MHI approached the City and R.M. of Swift Current about the study. The Ministry has recently completed planning studies in the Weyburn and Yorkton areas that resulted in long-term regional transportation plans.

“Over the past couple of years, the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure has been engaging municipalities in joint regional transportation planning studies,” he explained. The regional plans often focus on the boundary area around urban centres, since that is where the provincial, city and rural municipal road networks interact. They are typically high-level studies that include the highways, key city arterial roads, and key municipal roads.”

The Ministry is planning for the next few studies and it identified a Swift Current regional study as one of the priorities.

“The regional transportation plan will be led by the Ministry,” he noted. “A few key items that the City has expressed to the MHI to include in the study are review of the Trans-Canada Highway off-ramps to the service roads, feasibility for an additional overpass, and pedestrian access along the service roads.”

The Ministry will fund 50 per cent of the cost of the study, and the remaining 50 per cent must be provided by the participating municipalities. If the City and the R.M. of Swift Current decide not to proceed with the study, the Ministry will make this planning offer to the next municipalities on their priority list.

“These studies provide a good base plan for the future and are key in regional co-operation,” Minken said. “The MHI has stated that these documents have become their ‘go-to’ documents for future improvements in the areas that serve the provincial, urban municipality and rural municipality.”

The financial contribution of rural municipalities to previous MHI planning studies was typically around 10 per cent.

“City Administration has discussed this potential agreement with R.M. of Swift Current #137, and they are willing to commit 10 per cent to move this planning effort forward,” he said. “The estimate MHI provided for this planning study is in the range of $100,000 to $120,000.”

The City’s 40 per cent funding contribution towards the study will therefore be between $40,000 to $50,000. According to Minken the City’s intention is to use surplus funds from the capital budget for the Chaplin Street bridge rehabilitation project. Some paving work must still be done to complete the project, but the City already determined the final cost will be below budget.

“We have allocated the money and have the quotes in place for the paving,” he said. “So this money will be excess after the paving has been completed.”

Councillors expressed their support for the City’s participation in the regional transportation study, because the information will be useful for future road infrastructure projects.

“I think it paves the way to hopefully getting some future projects revenue shared within our community as well, and these are all projects of course that matters to not only residents of the city of Swift Current but throughout our entire community, which of course involves those folks in the R.M. right around us as well,” Councillor Ryan Plewis said. “So I'm happy to see both municipalities participating in this report. I think it's good. It makes total sense that we should have some cost sharing there. So I thank our friends in the R.M. for being a part of this and I'm also happy to see that we're able to make this project work with funds that were already budgeted in 2020 so that we don't need to go back to budget again and try to find these funds.”

Mayor Al Bridal felt it will be important for the study to include the consideration of a speed reduction from 100 km/h to 80 km/h along the section of the Trans-Canada Highway going through Swift Current. Minken indicated this can certainly be an item to add to the study.

“The parameters on the study and the items within the study are negotiable at this point through the development of the final agreement,” he said. “So anything that would be of interest to council would certainly be able to be included.”

Councillor Pat Friesen supported the inclusion of a review of Trans-Canada Highway off-ramps, pedestrian access along service roads and another overpass in the study. She also wondered if this study will result in any action beyond mere recommendations.

“I don't think I could give you a firm answer on that,” Minken said. “However, from the information that we've received from the Ministry, they are reviewing the urban highway connector program, which applies to us here. These studies will define projects within that program and without having these plans, it may delay some of those projects from being completed.”