The City of Swift Current has announced its plans to give local roads and sidewalks a facelift this year.

The 2024 Paving and Concrete contract was awarded to Swift Current's own United Paving Ltd. The agreed-upon amount in the winning bid is a total of $1.45 million. 

Greg Parsons, general manager of infrastructure for the City of Swift Current, revealed that the final price took some work bargaining towards during the initial process. 

"One submission from United Paving Ltd. of Swift Current was received and was over budget," said Parsons. "The City entered negotiations with United Paving Ltd. to reach an agreement within the allocated budget."

After some discussion, it was decided that in order to meet the financial constraints, a single sidewalk project had to be cut from the plans. 

For a decade now, the average amount of road rehabilitation completed in Swift Current year to year is roughly 1.75 kilometres and 1 kilometre of sidewalk replacement. 

The 2024 plans differ from previous years, as they are being broken up into various smaller projects. One of the key components will be a new micro-surfacing project, aimed at preventative upkeep. These micro-treatments along with thin asphalt overlays will cover 2.3 kilometres of Swift Current roads. An additional 900 metres of asphalt rehabilitation will also be put into effect. The contract does include 600 metres of sidewalk replacements. 

"The asset management strategy will maximize the life of a street and minimize long-term costs related to full road reconstruction," said Parsons.