Local communities benefit from safety project funding

Pedestrians in nearly 60 communities across the province will have a safer time crossing the street, thanks to a recent cash injection from the provincial government. Around $1.3 million has been granted through the Traffic Safety Fund, which is something municipalities can apply for twice each year to assist with local projects.

“I’m pleased that the Traffic Safety Fund is able to support an additional 62 projects across Saskatchewan to help keep people safe,” Minister Responsible for SGI Dustin Duncan said. 

“I’d like to thank the leaders in all communities that submitted applications for their commitment to traffic safety.” 

Since its launch in 2019, the program has invested more than $10 million toward 733 community projects related to traffic safety.

“This has been an extremely successful program, allowing communities throughout Saskatchewan to access non-tax revenue to fund many traffic safety projects,” Duncan said. 

Redvers was one of the communities that received funding, some $5,500 toward their Highway 8 Street Light Project.

“We applied for it in the last grant cycle and it’s for the intersection along Railway Avenue and Highway 8,” explained Jena Cowan, Assistant CAO for the Town of Redvers. 

“There is no streetlight there and it’s a pretty important intersection because it leads to our fire hall and the STARS helipad. So we’re really happy that we were approved for that, and we’ll place it this summer.”

The funding will cover the entire project with a start date anticipated some time in May.

“The whole intersection will be illuminated whereas right now, it’s pitch black,” Cowan said. “You don’t know you’re at an intersection until you’re in it.”

Over in Stoughton, a new speed limit awareness sign will be going up along the busy Highway 33.

“We had a sign there, but unfortunately it does not work anymore,” said Danielle Hoffman, Administrator for the Town of Stoughton. 

“We’ll order it this week and then once we get it in, we think that the public works guys can just hook it up.”

The project received $4,427 in funding and will include a solar panel to energize the sign.

“More communities should really jump on these kind of grants because they are definitely beneficial and small communities don’t always have the funds for that kind of stuff and it is a good grant,” Hoffman said.

Cowessess First Nation will see a new walkway taking shape, anticipated to be finished by Sept. 3.

“It’s a pedestrian safety walkway. It goes from our school to our mall, which is our confectionery,” explained Bill Desnomie, IRS Project Co-ordinator at Cowessess First Nation. 

“We have kids using that on a regular basis, pretty much every day. It’s going to be a pavement style walkway.”

The $92,087 grant covers the entire paving project, but Desnomie would like to see some enhancements like benches along the walkway as well. 

Anything above the paving portion for the project would then need to be covered by Cowessess.

“We’ll start breaking ground in the springtime, and it will be done by the summertime or early summer,” Desnomie said. 

“There’s a lot of walking in between the gravesite. We’re trying to, in a nice way, make another path, instead of going through the grave site.”

The Town of Esterhazy also received $9,734 for an Accessibility Safety Intersection Project, which will include a solar-powered traffic signal at the pedestrian crosswalk.

“We went with a solar system, so that we don’t have to deal with electrical and those sorts of things,” said Mayor Grant Forster.

Located at the end of Main Street and crossing Highway 22, the added signage will increase the safety of the busy crosswalk.

“Because they’re having to cross the highway, it’s a little bit of a safety concern,” said Forster. 

“As a secondary benefit, there’s a lot of kids that live on that side of town and perhaps they may end up using that crosswalk now to get across the highway so that they can get to school.”

Funding for the project will cover light installation and setting up the crosswalk.

Other surrounding communities that received funding include the Town of Oxbow for a Solar Pedestrian Crossing on Highway 18 ($10,432); the RM of Storthoaks for speed awareness signs on Range Road 1313 and Ave Mgr Jeane Gaire ($7,256); and the Hamlet of Cannington Lake for Project Road Safety ($3,706).

The Traffic Safety Fund Grants use proceeds from photo speed enforcement, and applications made by municipalities are reviewed by representatives from the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, the Prince Albert Grand Council, the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Highways and SGI.

Municipalities can put in their applications for the next round of funding before the March 31 deadline, with monies awarded in June.

This story was originally published in The World-Spectator. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.