Transportation in Saskatchewan
80% of traffic is carried on our principal system of highways which is 5,031 km in length (20% of the total network).Early European settlers and explorers in Canada introduced the wheel to North America's Aboriginal peoples, who relied on canoes, york boat, bateaux,[2] and kayaks, in addition to the snowshoe, toboggan, and sled in winter.
The advent of steam railways and steamships connected resources and markets of vast distances in the late 19th century.
The auto was abandoned in the depression years of the dirty thirties, and cars were towed by horse and became known as Bennett Buggies.
The years following World War II showed much growth as the social economic lifestyle of Saskatchewan changed considerably.
Métis fur traders and brigades would follow these trails freighting supplies for the Hudson's Bay Company.
[5] Due to the hard compaction of prairie sod, the remnants of this trail are still visible via satellite imaging to the trained historian eye.
They travelled through the United States to the Manitoba border, and from there were to follow the boundary survey trail to Fort Whoop-Up.
The southern area of the North-West territories was deemed in Palliser's report to be a vast desert and unfit for human habitation.
Towns such as Moosomin, Qu'Appelle, Regina, Moose Jaw, and Swift Current sprang up along the railway and became trade centres.
[5] The new economy saw grain and agricultural farming as a viable alternative, and Clifford Sifton implemented a massive immigration policy in support of settling the West.
[9] In 1907 the communities of Melville, The Rail Centre, Watrous, and Biggar[10] became divisional points for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.
[12] The 1920s saw the largest rise in trackage as the CPR and CNR fell into competition to provide rail service within ten kilometres.
The Winnipeg - Churchill train calls at Togo, Kamsack, Veregin, Mikado, Canora, Sturgis, Endeavour, Reserve, and Hudson Bay.
These railways are regulated by the provincial government, and include:[13] The Dominion Land Survey system for homesteading provided for townships which were six miles square (36 sq mi or 93 km2).
In the northern sector, ice roads which can only be navigated in the winter months comprise another approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) of travel.
Crack filling, snow and ice removal, pavement marking, signage, lighting, and infrastructure planning.
Road transport provides short and long haul movement for both commercial freight and passenger traffic.
Also, the Government of Canada will contribute $27 million to Regina to construct a Canadian Pacific Railway CPR intermodal facility and improve infrastructure transportation to the facility from both national highway networks, Sk Hwy 1, the TransCanada Highway and Sk Hwy 11, Louis Riel Trail.
Barges for freight transfer have used the Athabasca River servicing Uranium City, Fond du Lac, Stony Rapids, and Black Lake.
[23] As early as 1874 the SS Northcote travelled between Grand Rapids, Manitoba and went as far west as Edmonton, Alberta, through Carlton House on the North Saskatchewan River.
[20] The North West Navigation Co. had four steamships to aid in the fur trade industry, Princess, Marquette, Colville, and Glendevon.
In south-west Saskatchewan, near Gull Lake, North Battleford,[33] Scotsguard[34] and Outlook are abandoned highway traffic bridges.
The Department of National Defence, Civil Aviation Branch requested the City of Saskatoon to establish an airport.
Saskatoon Airport was part of the Department of National Defence during the years of World War II and an RCAF training school was established.
[37] Roland J. Groome Airfield is the official designation for the Regina International Airport (YQR) as of August 3, 2005.
[47] The Meewasin Valley Authority has constructed and maintained a series of walking trails along the South Saskatchewan River banks in Saskatoon.
