Investment needed to prevent rural road deterioration: report [Video]

Thousands of kilometres of rural roads and highways in Alberta are nearing the end of their useful lives, and new research says the province is quickly running out of time to make the repairs needed to preserve them.

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The report from the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) identified a road infrastructure deficit of $11.99 billion, the amount needed to bring the existing portfolio of over 130,000 km of roads managed by its members up to a target state.

RMA says that if money is invested now, the province will see a return on investment in under three years because of drastically reduced maintenance costs.

If the repairs aren’t undertaken, road conditions are projected to deteriorate quickly, and the cost to return them to optimal condition will almost triple before the end of the decade.

“The …