Infrastructure very good investment

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/08/2012 (5061 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the old saying goes, you’ve got to spend money to make money.

It’s sound advice that the province should heed as it drags its heels in repairing washed-out and damaged roads and bridges in southwestern Manitoba.

Unprecedented river and overland flooding in spring of 2011 took out many roads and bridges in southwestern Manitoba and far too few of these vital community arteries have been properly repaired. The Sun has recently reported that there are about 40 bridges that require major repairs or outright replacement.

Unfortunately, as Herb Mahood, the Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation director of regional operations, told Brandon City Council last April, those repairs could take years to complete.

“One at a time,” he said. “Major bridges are our priority, but there are many, many others that are out and there could be well over 40 in my region alone that are in various stages of disrepair. Consultants and bridge folks are all busy, working full out to get these bridges up as soon as possible.”

The state of the roads and bridges in Westman has many communities very concerned. Farmers in the area have problems accessing fields, residents are forced to take detours, and the bad roads also hinder the growing oil industry, which provides much needed revenue for area municipalities.

For example, the Coulter Bridge along PR 251 south of Souris, which was a casualty of last year’s spring flooding, is still out of service. There has been a detour in place while MIT works on a permanent replacement.

While that bridge has been fast-tracked thanks to the growth of the oil sector in the region, tendering will only happen in November, with the completion of construction slated for 12 months later.

And not all road problems in the Westman region are only the result of the 2011 flood. Just like Coulter and Souris, the farm village of Waskada southwest of Brandon is also in the midst of an oil boom. But the heavy traffic that has come with it is taking a toll on municipal roads. The roads simply can’t handle the heavy trucks, and the provincial government needs to step up and provide more support for road upgrades.

This is especially poignant, given the increasing revenues the province has come to enjoy year over year. Provincial statistics for the 2011 fiscal year show that sales of Crown oil leases and exploration reservations generated $13.3 million in revenue to the province that year, an increase of 9.73 per cent from 2010.

Provincial revenues from the oil industry in 2011 — including royalties, production taxes, lease sale bonuses, rentals and fees — generated $42.4 million, a 55 per cent increase from 2010.

Oil companies also paid at least $11 million in taxes to southwest Manitoba municipalities.

Though 2011 was the busiest drilling year on record, with 578 horizontal and vertical wells drilled, 2012 is on pace to far exceed that. According to the province’s weekly well reports, by Aug. 2, 2011, there were 217 wells drilled. Compare that to July 30 of this year, when oil rigs completed 320 wells.

The province stands to make millions of dollars more in oil revenues this year — surely some of that could be spent on rural asphalt.

And yet the province continues to dither on road building and instead blindly tilts at unsteady Manitoba Hydro deals with the United States and expensive dam construction. Demand for electricity in the U.S. has fallen off, as shale gas discoveries keep the price of natural gas low.

Manitoba’s oil industry remains small compared to Saskatchewan and Alberta, but demand for our oil is rising. Infrastructure repairs and upgrades in southwestern Manitoba are a solid investment, not only for local communities, but for the province as well, as oil companies continue to drill and explore for new wells — such an investment will pay for itself in spades.

Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger has made some of the right political noises. He told the Brandon Sun on Wednesday that the province is willing to work with industry to address infrastructure issues.

“There is a road improvement fund that industry can put some resources into,” Selinger said. “That may not be sufficient to meet all of the challenges and there obviously has to be some public investment as well.”

That’s a hopeful sign, but the province needs to make this part of Manitoba a greater priority than it has to date. While NDP votes may not be there for the NDP in this part of the province, government revenues certainly are.

Fix our roads, Mr. Selinger, and all Manitobans will benefit.