Provincial crews are working on the current goal of seal coating the highways around the province, including in the southeast.

The province pledged $776 million towards seal coating across the province, hoping to get everything it can out of existing surfaces, without having to repave.

To that end, they've been working on projects in the southeast including Highway 39, Highway 6, and west of Lampman.

Ministry of Highways Director of Communications David Horth explains just how much it helps the existing roadways.

"Seal coating is a treatment that really extends the life of the road, is kind of the number one benefit of seal coating. It provides a waterproof and nonskid surface, reduces deterioration and cracking it prolongs pavement life by about 10 years. So it's a pretty cost-effective way of managing our pavements and trying to make sure we maximize our resources."

While seal coating doesn't need constant work like regular repaving, sections of road still tend to be blocked off for some time.

“What happens with a seal coat is some hot liquid asphalt is laid down on the road surface," said Horth, "Crushed gravel is put over it and it's packed down. It has to cure for about 24 hours, so it remains a construction zone for a period of time and then afterward we go back and we brush the gravel away and what that does is that creates a new and improved non-slip surface.”  

Horth reminds people that during the construction phase, they should slow down to at least 60 km/h, for the safety of the workers.

The whole work is part of a long-term plan to improve around 10,000 kilometers of highway in Saskatchewan.

"Part of our overall budget this year we're looking at, we'll be improving in excess of 1000 kilometers of highways," said Horth, "which keeps us on track with our pledge to do 10,000 kilometers over 10 years and we are on track.”