Rural Municipalities including Stuartburn have had challenges keeping up with the road infrastructure due to the rain.
The Reeve of RM of Stuartburn, Michelle Gawronsky says that the drain in Vita and ditch cleaning during the winter has been beneficial but says the roads have taken a beating.
“We are looking at some ingenuity, ways of trying to be able to figure out the worst spots and how do we fix them rather than just putting band-aids on things, and of course, the cost of fixing is far greater than doing a band-aid, but the benefits to actually doing a proper fix are long term.”
She says it continues to be a challenge for every RM because some of the roads were built up to 75 years ago and typically are used by large equipment.
“It has been the challenge trying to maintain them with having farm equipment, semi-trucks, and stuff that go up and down these roads. The roads weren't built for that, so we are definitely taking a look at how we move this forward.”
Gawronsky appreciates residents understanding as they make a plan to better the road conditions.
“I will say 99% of the residents, the ratepayers in the RM of Stuartburn have been understanding and patient and they get it,” she explains. “Our goal is not to increase the mill rates extensively and people can't afford it in this day and age, people are hurting. So, we've been very respectful of that. But at the same time, try and be able to provide the services we need to do.”
She says that they were fortunate to receive funding from the province last year and will continue to make long-term goals.
“We've got a couple of projects that are on the go right now and we’re trying to see if we can figure out ways to improve the roads. It doesn't mean that we're gutting every road bringing it right down to bear nothing and starting from scratch.”
Stuartburn has already seen some improvements including culvert replacements and hopes to continue completing projects.
“We’ve been able to address a couple of the issues that have been on the list for years now. They were more of the smaller ones, but we’ve been able to put some energy and some dollars into fixing that, which we hope is beneficial and not just for an individual farmer, but for many farmers along the road.”
With files from Adi Loewen