Sask. Party pledges additional $70M to fixing province's highways

In what will be the largest spending announcement from the Saskatchewan Party this campaign, an extra $70 million over three years is being pledged to address highway repair and maintenance in the province.

Leader Brad Wall invited reporters to Silton on Thursday, specifically Highway 322 which should be covered in asphalt, but in many parts is broken up or down to the gravel.

Taking reporters to some of the worst patches of road, area incumbent Glen Hart described how bad highways to some of the provincial parks and tourist spots have been. A semi even got stuck last spring.

“A lot of the highways around Regina, especially to some of the recreational area of this province, they can make a very strong case [of repair] with respect to tourism,” he said on the deck of D’s Diner. “People couldn’t access the area because of the roads, business, and not just agriculture, small businesses depend on good roads.”

Having spent time talking to Wall, diner owner Karen Wilker admitted last season was a summer she would prefer to forget.

“Our delivery trucks couldn’t come down the road. So we had to meet them on the highway. That meant more staff and money to cover that.”

A snapshot of highway 322. #skvotes pic.twitter.com/fJ5iE97JOS

— Sarah Mills (@smillsSK) March 10, 2016

Highway 322 is meant to be covered in asphalt. In parts it is, others not. A semi got stuck last summer. #skvotes pic.twitter.com/U7UI1XOsQF

— Sarah Mills (@smillsSK) March 10, 2016

Called the Highways 2020 Plan, a re-elected Saskatchewan Party would spend $30 million this year and $20 million the following two years to address some of the needs. That’s a 20 per cent increase on the last budget.