New Policy Announced for 9-Month Primary Highways

In July 2017, the Government of Saskatchewan announced changes to implementation of 9-month primary highways. The 9-month primary highways resulted from a key expansion that helped to achieve truck-haul cost savings to support economic activities and to connect communities to economic opportunity. The 9-month primary highways were originally designed and constructed to carry only lower secondary weight loads. Therefore, weights are reverted back to the design loads (secondary weight) during spring to reduce damage from spring-thaw related deterioration. Saskatchewan is a large province with considerable difference in climate in the north and the south. The new policy change takes into account the climatic differences in the north and the south of the province while also maintaining the original intent of providing primary weight access for economic activities. In the north of the province, the annual weight increase on the 9-month primary highways will be same as before, from July 1 to March 31 of the following year. In the south of the province, the annual weight increase on the 9-month primary highways will occur earlier, from June 15 to March 15 of the following year. This change will help to sustain road conditions in the south where spring thaw occurs earlier. The neighbouring Canadian provinces of Alberta and Manitoba also incorporate seasonal restrictions that are similar to Saskatchewan’s practice of imposing spring bans on secondary highways.  However, the 9-month primary highway in Saskatchewan is a category that is unique to Saskatchewan and therefore requires a more specialized implementation of the three-month weight-reversion periods. Further information on the roads affected by these changes is available on the Highways HotlineView the 2017 Weight Classifcation Map For more information, contact: Andrew LiuHighwaysReginaPhone: 306-787-4784Email: andrew.liu@gov.sk.ca