Grain growers in Saskatchewan will be able to apply for permits allowing them to truck grain at “heavier-than-published” weights on provincial roads during the spring thaw period.
“While we will continue to protect our investment in highways during the spring thaw, we will allow for some exceptions to spring road bans to facilitate farmers’ urgent transportation needs,” Highways Minister Don McMorris said Wednesday in a release.
Shippers and farmers may now apply to highways and infrastructure ministry district offices for permits that will allow for heavier-than-published spring weights, the province said.
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Permits could be granted, the province said, for trucking on roads where ministry staff determine heavier loads won’t cause “undue” road damage, or during periods of “colder than seasonal” temperatures.
The province’s “flexible approach” on load limits this spring will apply only to “agricultural commodities” such as grain. Eligible haulers must hold a permit to access the heavier weights, the province emphasized.
The province’s move stems from this winter’s rail freight backlog, blamed on a record Prairie harvest last fall followed by harsh winter conditions, leaving Prairie elevators filled nearly to capacity, record line-ups of vessels at ports and contracts unfulfilled with both foreign and domestic buyers.
Saskatchewan’s move follows Manitoba’s announcement last week of a one-time amendment allowing grain trucks to haul primary-level weights (90 per cent of normal axle loading) on the province’s Level 2 highways this spring without permits. [Related story]
Saskatchewan’s highways department noted it will launch a pilot project this year upgrading two stretches of rural highway to “supergrids” — roads structured to handle year-round hauling of the heaviest allowable payloads.
Supergrids — wider grid roads built on an engineered base — can be built at half the cost of a primary-weight pavement road and have been used “successfully” in other jurisdictions such as Alberta, the province said.
The two pilot-project supergrids to be set up this year will include a 31-km stretch of Highway 361, from Highway 9 east to Alida (about 100 km northeast of Estevan) and 5.5 km of Highway 47, 20 km north of Stoughton (about 60 km east of Weyburn). — AGCanada.com Network
