Think Twice Before Pouring Gas Tax Fund Gift Directly into Potholes

A major boost to municipalities within the Liberal Budget 2019 is a one-time $2.2 billion transfer from the Gas Tax Fund to Canadian municipalities, which doubles the amount from 2018-19. The Gas Tax Fund is meant for supporting local priorities in areas such as productivity and economic growth, clean environment, and strong cities and communities*. In the wake of a heavy-hitting winter in Sault Ste. Marie, the Gas Tax Fund transfer is positioned to be used for repairing the vast amount of potholes that have taken over the city. Although potholes are a major hazard and need to be addressed, when a contribution of this magnitude comes along the first thought that comes to mind should not be repairing our roads. The city of Sault Ste. Marie already dedicates a significant amount of its municipal budget towards expanding and maintaining road infrastructure. The unfortunate reality to having wider and more roads is that potholes become a bigger problem — there are more of them and repairs cost taxpayers more, and it takes longer to repair all of them. As with too many road lane kilometres, repair and maintenance of potholes becomes an ongoing costly activity and because potholes will always be a problem as long as roads exist, the city becomes trapped in a perpetual cycle of spending on road repairs.

According to a recent report by Environmental Law and Policy Centre, the Great Lakes basin has experienced greater changes of warming in annual mean temperature than the rest of the contiguous United States. As stated in the report, “a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, increasing the frequency and intensity of heavy rain and snow events”. For roads, this spells a future of more and more potholes and increasing costs to plowing expansive road networks and roads.

This is a big reason why Crane recommended urgently taking action towards road diets, a more equitable allocation of transportation funding, and similar actions. This is already consistent with the existing Cycling Master Plan, Transportation Master Plan, Transit Route Optimization Study, and Active Transportation Implementation Strategy, and a recent motion passed at city council (8.3) to direct staff on implementing the recommendations of the previous plans. Another example of such an action is the proposed Farmer Lake Mountain Bike Trail Network for the north end of the city. With less of an emphasis on roads, there will be fewer potholes every year, fewer repairs and resurfacing required, and ultimately improved mobility and access at a lower cost to taxpayers. There is no doubt that so much money could be saved this way on a year to year basis. The saved money could then be allocated towards a more equitable distribution towards transportation infrastructure and improved access. We call this a virtuous cycle – good for the local economy, good for taxpayers, good for the city, and good for our well-being. This way, when the government decides to gift a sum of money to support local priorities, Sault Ste. Marie should not be thinking of repairing roads but rather investing in opportunities to create sustainable environments and healthy communities.

*As outlined by Infrastructure Canada, communities can select how to spend the funds across 18 categories: public transit, wastewater infrastructure, drinking water, solid waste management, community energy systems, local roads and bridges, capacity building, highways, local and regional airports, short-line rail, short-sea shipping, disaster mitigation, broadband and connectivity, brownfield redevelopment, culture, tourism, sport, and recreation. Crane believes this years gas tax fund gift should be dispersed in a sustainable manner.