The City of Meadow Lake is finalizing an agreement with the Ministry of Highways on the new Urban Highway Connector Program. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Elliott Knopp

ML UHCP Agreement

City of Meadow Lake entering new UHCP agreement

Feb 26, 2021 | 12:12 PM

The City of Meadow Lake is working to finalize a renewed agreement with the Government of Saskatchewan to re-enter the Urban Highway Connector Program (UHCP).

The agreement establishes the shared responsibilities between the ministry and municipalities for portions of major highways that run through boundaries of urban municipalities. Under the agreement, municipalities take on the responsibility of all operating and maintenance costs associated with keeping the highways in good condition. In return, the Ministry provides the municipality with an annual subsidy for the repairs and an opportunity to assist in funding traffic planning projects.

The new agreement includes a reduction in how much money the city will receive from $47,020 to $32,513. This is because a majority of Highway 4 is being downgraded from Provincial Level of Interest 2 to Level of Interest 3. City documents state the explanation they received from the Ministry of Highways said the 50 km/hr speed limit makes the stretch of highway between Highway 4 (9th St W) and Highway 55 (1st Ave) the city’s responsibility.

Mayor Merlin Seymour stated the city will move forward with the agreement with the intention of addressing the funding at some point in the future.

“It’s definitely a dollar hit. In the big scheme of things, it’s not a whole bunch of money, but any additional funding the city can get is less that the taxpayers have to pay for,” Seymour said.

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“It leaves an opening for further discussion, but we have to start somewhere with the new agreement. Basically we agreed to proceed as is, and we will chat about it with our administration, engineers, etc. and finalize things hopefully sooner than later.”

He added the city has plans to repair a section of the corner of Highway 55 and Highway 4 as heavy trucks turning in that area have caused damage to the road.

“The city is planning on doing some preventative maintenance. We actually planned on doing it a couple of weeks ago, but it snowed and it was put on hold.”

Seymour mentioned the maintenance would be a cold asphalt patch to temporarily cover up the holes until a more thorough repair can be completed when warmer weather allows.

The new agreement will sit in place for 10 years, at which point would be subject for review before a new agreement is reached.

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Elliott.Knopp@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp