Springside playing the waiting game for road repairs

When it comes to being on a list of top 10s, this is probably one you would hope to avoid.

A section of Highway 47 near Springside grabbed the No. 2 spot in CAA Saskatchewan’s worst roads in the province for 2022. Springside is about 25 kilometres northwest of Yorkton.

The road in question stretches between the rural municipalities of Orkney and Good Lake, which has prompted some drivers to find alternate routes just to avoid the road, according to Springside Mayor Debbie Banks.

“It’s really hard to take trailers and campers and things down that highway because it’s so rough. People actually detour and go around, but it’s a lot of added miles then,” Banks said Tuesday.

In 2018, the same section of road was also on the list — it also was No. 2 that year — and the Springside mayor added the road gets used a lot because it’s used as a connector to Highway 16.

Banks hopes repairs for the road will be done soon, but has yet to get any firm details.

“(Ministry of Highways officials) said it was still on the list to be done and we were hoping that it would be done this year, but we haven’t heard any more,” she said.

Being that Banks hasn’t received any current updates on road repairs, she plans to reach out to the Ministry of Highways to get a timeline of when the work will be completed.

“Do we have an idea of what or if it’s going to be fixed? And if it is, when? And if it’s not, why? Because it is really bad,” Banks said.

The online campaign for CAA Saskatchewan’s worst roads is geared towards driving more action to government and business leaders to repair the roads and maintain safety.