Council votes on change to road renewal plan

The road ahead could be a little less bumpy after Regina city council passed a motion at its Monday meeting to dedicate more money to fixing the worst streets.

Councillor Barbara Young put forward a motion suggesting a new plan be created to rebuild, maintain and monitor residential streets to an acceptable standard.

She said the city’s most recent report on road renewal offered solutions that would see it take 36 years to fix the worst-rated roads. On Monday councillors voted unanimously to pass an amendment to that report.

“The amendment asks for a new plan, and suggests that the one per cent mill rate fund be dedicated to poor roads until we have brought them up to an acceptable standard,” she said last week in an interview with 980 CJME.

The money from that tax is currently split between roads rated good, fair and poor. City administrators have now been asked to find new ways to determine how that money is spent.

“Councillor Young’s motion talks about putting more money away from preventative maintenance into the bad streets,” Mayor Michael Fougere explained on the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Tuesday.

“What the number is going to look like and the dollar value will come back in a report from the city administration. But we’re going to emphasize looking at some of the most poor streets more aggressively.”

Young suggested money should come out of the regular budget to fix Regina’s 136 kilometres of road rated in “poor” condition.

Funding for road maintenance currently from the same dedicated one per cent of the mill rate.

Before bringing the motion to council, Young said a lack of regular maintenance is behind the poor condition of many residential roads.

City administrators are expected to draw up a new road renewal report in time for the next budget.