By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
The RM of Corman Park is giving its general endorsement to a joint effort between several national, provincial, municipal and First Nation players to upgrade Tamke Road, which is owned by Corman Park and lies on its southern edge, so that the RM of Dundurn has a much-needed east-west access.
RM councillors voted unanimously at their April 29 meeting to provide a letter of support indicating the municipality’s support for upgrading Tamke Road between Highways 11 and 219 to a “primary weight highway standard,” which will involve putting down asphalt and building a creek crossing.
Besides Corman Park, the key players involved in this joint effort include the Department of National Defence, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways, the Whitecap Dakota Nation (WDN) and the RM of Dundurn.
Chief administrative officer Kerry Hilts explained in a report that the RM of Dundurn is dissected by a military installation called Canadian Forces Detachment Dundurn.
While Highways 11 and 219 provide north-south corridors through the RM of Dundurn, there is no permanent road going east and west. The Department of National Defence (DND) made various arrangements to provide an access up until 2012, when it had to be closed for national security reasons.
Having no east-west access creates various issues relating to public safety, economic development, regional services and so on. To provide this access, however, the DND has suggested upgrading Tamke Road, which was identified as an option by the engineering firm SNC-Lavalin (now known as AtkinsRéalis).
Hilts said that in 2024, the RM of Dundurn’s reeve wrote to DND officials indicating their support for this project and sought to move the matter forward. Whitecap has also been involved and Chief Darcy Bear has in fact met with former Minister of Highways Lori Carr to discuss the province handling maintenance of this newly-constructed paved road.
There is one wrinkle to this situation, however: until recently, the RM of Corman Park was not even aware of the discussions around upgrading Tamke Road despite being the owner.
“There are definite benefits to (Corman Park), but on the flip side of it, we were left out of this process, and it is the RM’s road,” said Hilt.
Eventually, the end goal would be to have the DND, Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways, both RMs, WDN and the City of Saskatoon sign a joint co-operation memorandum of understanding allowing this upgrade project to move forward.
Hilts encouraged council to provide a letter of support to these negotiations, but stressed that there needs to be some discussions with Dundurn about leaving Corman Park out of the loop.
“They kind of drove this process, and we did not know this was happening until we met with Chief Bear a couple weeks ago at Whitecap,” Hilts said.
Reeve Joe Hargrave indicated there are potential benefits to upgrading Tamke Road, such as taking some heavy traffic off of the nearby Baker and Grasswood Roads.
“It’s a good thing for us, I believe, just to alleviate some traffic. But it would have been… appropriate for us to be consulted,” Hargrave said.
Division 8 councillor Wendy Trask asked what kind of funding Corman Park would have to commit to the project, pointing out they didn’t have money allocated in this year’s budget for this project.
Hilts said he didn’t know if any funds were expected yet from the RM, and this would be part of the conversations going forward.
Division 5 councillor Arthur Pruim indicated he supported providing a letter but they should make very clear the RM has not budgeted any funds for a capital project like this, and that any operational costs need to be known up front.
A vehicle speeds along Tamke Road/Township Road 350, which is being eyed for a possible upgrade to allow an east-west access through the RM of Dundurn.