REGINA, Sask. — About 39,000 tires will be recycled and more than $5 million will be invested by the Saskatchewan government this construction season in three environmentally-friendly transportation projects where the rubber literally hits the road.

Rubber asphalt, which is produced in part from scrap tires, will be used instead of conventional pavement on more than 30 kilometres of provincial highways this year in projects on Hwy. 1 near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, along with Hwy. 11 near Davidson and Chamberlain.

About 1,300 tires are recycled for each lane kilometre of rubber asphalt.

“Not only does rubber asphalt last longer and reduce the traffic noise characteristic of conventional pavement, it also provides a market for recycled rubber products,” Highways and Transportation Minister Buckley Belanger said. “By diverting about 39,000 tires from landfills and supporting innovation, the provincial government is fulfilling a Green Strategy Commitment to support a green and prosperous economy.”

Rubber asphalt will be used to repave 20 km of the eastbound driving lane of Hwy. 1 starting at the Alberta-Saskatchewan border and heading east, while the passing lane will use conventional pavement.

Ten kilometres in the westbound driving lane will also be resurfaced with conventional pavement. The cost of the entire project is $3.6 million. Onsite construction is expected to begin near the end of August and is expected to be completed by late September.

These projects are examples of the many innovative uses for the more than one million scrap tires generated in Saskatchewan each year. Tires are collected, processed and recycled through a non-profit, non-government program run by the Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation.

“The biggest success of the Saskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation has been the diversion of over eight million tires from landfill across this province, but there is a secondary benefit when we see the tire recycled into worthwhile projects like this,” said Theresa McQuoid, executive director with Saskatchewan Scrap Tire. “There are literally hundreds of uses for recycled tires and we are pleased to see more and more innovative uses like rubber asphalt emerging.”

These projects are part of the province’s new Transportation for Economic Advantage strategy, which will see $5 billion invested over 10 years to improve the transportation system.