Dear Editor,
There has been a lot of talk on coffee row about the major road projects which Yorkton City Council has approved. Roadway improvements on Dracup have been undertaken at a cost of $4.9 million, with underground infrastructure works for Dracup at an additional $6.4 million. Reconstruction of Highway 10 and Mayhew are underway at a cost of approximately $2 million as the City’s share, with the province contributing about $2.9 million.
No one denies that work needs to be done in these areas, but the cost and scope of the projects is questionable. A decision by council, discussed mostly behind closed council doors, to redo work on the Dracup project at a significant cost to the taxpayer leaves one scratching their head on who is paying attention to careful spending of our tax dollars.
The Highway 10 reconstruction is supposed to last 40 years, which is claimed to be less expensive in the long run. Two questions come to mind. First — will the cement work really last as long as we have been told? Second — should the current residents of Yorkton pay more now to allow future residents tax revenue to be mismanaged?
This work should have been reviewed as part of the bigger picture. Many of Yorkton’s roads are nearly undriveable. If these mega projects had been done in due course instead of rushed, basically in one huge package, we could have fixed more residential streets instead of allowing them to crumble further. These projects are all now needed through council’s lack of vision and eagerness to spend in non-core areas.
It’s time City Council considered ALL of its residents, rather than overspending on these gold-plated projects.
Raymond Bucsis, Yorkton
