Construction work planned for Southwest roads and infrastructure

A series of highway construction projects in the Southwest are among the highways and transportation projects which are part of the Building A Strong Saskatchewan plan.

Back on May 13, the province unveiled an additional $300 million was being invested in highways and transportation projects. These projects include upgrades to 325 kilometres of thin membrane surface highways, 24 to 26 new sets of highway passing lanes, plus rehabilitation of 100 RM roads when combined with existing Municipal Roads Program.

The province is also providing funding to improve community airports.

This funding is in addition to the $358 million in highways projects and highways investments which were part of the provincial spending estimates tabled in the legislature in March.

The $300 million Highways and Infrastructure plan includes a series of Southwest projects, including: Highway #43 from Gravelbourg to Highway #19 - Thin Membrane Surface Highway repair; Bridge Rehab in Swift Current; Bridge Replacement on Transcanada Highway between Gull Lake and Maple Creek; Bridge Carryover on Highway #4 south north of Val Marie; Bridge Replacement on Highway #18 east of Val Marie; Bridge Replacement on Highway #18 south of Lafleche; Bridge Carryover on Highway #19 south of Kincaid; Medium Preservation Project - Highway #4 north of Swift Current; Medium Preservation Project - Highway #21 from Maple Creek to the Transcanada Highway; Light Preservation Project - Transcanada Highway from Highway #32 turnoff towards Webb; Light Preservation Project - Highway #32 from turnoff from Transcanada Highway to Success; Light Preservation Project - Highway #4 south of Swift Current to Blumenhof turnoff.

The additional airport funding will also have an impact in the region.

Swift Current will benefit from $275,000 in funding in order to support a major rehabilitation of asphalt surfaces plus paint markings at the Swift Current Airport. Maple Creek will receive $43,965 for runway sealing, while the Leader Airport was allocated $36,172 for crack repair and slurry seal work.

Saskatchewan wide, 15 community airport projects will receive $1.5 million in provincial funding after the province opted to double their investment in the Community Airport Partnership program during 2020-2021.