WHEREAS municipally owned resource roads are vital for the transportation of goods and services related to the continuation of Alberta’s strong economy; and

WHEREAS Alberta continues to experience growth requiring constant improvement and new construction of municipally owned resource roads; and

WHEREAS the Resource Road Program may allocate money out of the existing program for large bridge repair and/or replacement;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties urge the Government of Alberta to reinstate the funding to the Resource Road Program to the $51 Million as previously allocated

The Resource Road Program (RRP) currently has a budget of $16 million over the next three fiscal years and will apply to local roads and bridges, including intersection improvements with provincial highways.  Municipalities are entitled to one project approval every two years, to a maximum of $3,000,000. One bridge or intersection improvement could use this entire funding without addressing important resource road improvements.  The resource stipulation of this program is woefully inadequate for the expensive repairs and building of resource roads in Alberta.

Resolution 2-09F (Awaiting Vote): THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties urge the Government of Alberta to amend their policy for the Resource Road Program funding for paving to 300 vehicles per day for municipal resource roads in rural and remote Alberta.

Transportation:
Historically, funding for the Resource Road Program has been in the order of $16 million annually.  A one-year funding increase in 2007 08 resulted in total funding of $50 million for the municipal Resource Road Program, to address specific resource related road funding pressures. 
Alberta Transportation is pleased to advise that the Government of Alberta’s current 2010-13 business plan has increased funding levels from $16 million annually to an average of over $32 million annually for the next three years.

While the funding provided in recent years is not equivalent to the one-time increase to $50 million in 2007-08, the Government of Alberta has made recent efforts to increase the base level funding of this program. This shows a commitment to improvement and construction of municipally owned resource roads. While the AAMDC is pleased with an increase at this point, we will continue to bring this issue forward as economic realities improve.