The road to a better tomorrow begins now in the City of Meadow Lake. Following the in-camera portion of city council’s regular meeting held April 27, a motion was carried approving the revised 2026 road rehabilitation and utility patching project scope with any remaining balance approved for reallocation at council’s discretion. The motion also calls for the city’s 2026 operating road maintenance budget be directed toward pothole repairs and crack sealing on the city’s internal roadways. Meanwhile, a proposal for the rehabilitation of Highway 55 will be brought forward as part of 2027 budget discussions. 

“The 2026 road rehabilitation and utility patching program was initially presented to council during the in-camera portion of the March 23, 2026 meeting,” explained Hasan Akhtar, the city’s director of public works, in his official recommendation to council. “The scope recommended at that time included utility patching at five locations, full excavation and mill/fill of the 600 block of 2nd Street West and finishing top lifts on Gibson Drive and on Carl Drive at a total estimated cost of $496,512.80. Council did not approve the recommended scope and directed administration to bring a revised scope to a future meeting, reflecting updated priorities.” Administration revised the project scope, removing Gibson Drive and Carl Drive and expanding the utility patch count from five locations to eight based on updated field conditions. “The Highway 55 rehabilitation is proposed to be deferred to the 2027 construction season, as the aquatic centre’s roof repair has been identified as a higher immediate priority,” Akhtar’s recommendation continued. “Council has also directed administration to identify possible savings within the 2026 budget that may allow funds to be redirected toward unexpected repairs of the aquatic centre’s roof. In preparing this revised request for decision, administration has structured the project to propose a capital scope of $280,981.41 including PST for the two capital components, with the remaining $197,898.59 of the approved $478,880 capital allocation available for council’s consideration for reallocation.” 

The eight utility patch locations include 105 2nd Ave. West, 512 2nd St. West, 802-748 7th Ave. West near the Jonas Samson Middle School bus lane exit, 3rd Street East near 8th Avenue East, 5th Avenue West and 4th Street West near Gateway Middle School, 6th Street West between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue West, 607 1st St. East near 6th Avenue East, and 32 Bridger Dr. “The 600 block of 2nd Street West requires full excavation and mill/fill treatment to address subsurface disruption and restore the street to a uniform standard,” Akhtar added. “This component was included in the original request for decision and remains a high priority item. The full-block approach continues to offer significantly better unit cost than a patch-only alternative.” As noted, discussions at the April 27 meeting pertaining to the road rehabilitation project were conducted in-camera, meaning the meeting was closed to the public. When contacted afterward, however, mayor Merlin Seymour reiterated many of Akhtar’s earlier points. 

“We approved a reduced scope of work for the utility patches and rehab from the original request because of various factors including the pool roof repair and looking into doing more pothole patching with a hot asphalt mix by our own public works staff,” Seymour said. “We are trying to look after some of the spot patching in-house to help reduce the costs while trying to address the problem areas more efficiently and at less cost.”