The provincial government's decision to cut funding for the resource road and the local road bridge programs in 2013 and again in 2014 has created serious concerns across rural Alberta.
In an effort to get the government to start putting money back into the programs, the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) has again passed a resolution calling for reinstatement of the funding.
During its recent annual convention in Edmonton, AAMDC members, including Red Deer and Mountain View counties, overwhelmingly backed the resolution put forward by the County of Lethbridge.
The resolution calls for the 2015 provincial budget to immediately provide funding for the programs, and states that if new funding is not forthcoming, it will certainly compound an already serious situation.
“This (zero funding of the programs) directly shifts the entire financial burden of bridge maintenance and replacement to municipalities. Support through government funding and reduced bureaucratic process while maintaining needed standards is critical,” the resolution reads.
“This has had a significant impact on rural infrastructure/transportation networks. Previously the resource road program was funded at $31 million; the local road bridge program was funded at $26 million.”
It is the second straight year that the association has called on the PC government to reinstate funding for the programs.
“It's unconscionable that the province continues to zero fund that (bridge) program,” said Mountain View County reeve Bruce Beattie. “We are looking at our budget and we see the deficit that is building relative to these bridge structures.”
Red Deer County mayor Jim Wood says provincial funding for bridges and roads is absolutely vital in his municipality.
“We've never expected the province to pay for all of our bridges, but at this point in time they are expecting us to pay for them all,” said Wood. “We sure don't want to not be able to replace those bridges when the time comes.”
Former premier Alison Redford chose to ignore the repeated warnings from the AAMDC and others that zero funding the resource and bridge programs would be detrimental to rural communities.
Although he is facing new financial pressures created by the recent drop in oil prices, Premier Prentice needs to show that he is serious about turning a new post-Redford page. And he can do that by coming up with the needed cash for rural roads and bridges.
Although rural Alberta doesn't have the population numbers, and therefore the votes, of the big urban centres, the voices of rural communities need to be heard in this case – for the sake of public safety and for the viability of the province's overall economy.
