It's one of those ever present topics that is always a great conversation maker for rural drivers...rough roads.

With that said, a cost sharing partnership between the RM of Reciprocity and provincial Ministry of Highways will see the improvement to sections of Highways 361 and 318.

6 kilometers of asphalt will be laid on 318. On 361, 10 kilometers will be improved to super-grade standard grid road. 70 percent of the price burden will be carried by the province, while the remaining 30 percent will be shouldered by the RM.

According to Reeve Alan Arthur, the project has been in the works for many years, so the money is in place and ready for the sorely needed facelift.

"With 361, from Highway 8 to Alida-the ten kilometers-that road has been habitually impassible in really wet years. There's been occasions when traffic has been stuck in the middle of the road. It has deteriorated to the point that few people voluntarily travel on it," he explained, noting that it is a link for heavy industrial traffic between Highways 8 and 9, not to mention the local traffic.

"On the 318 section it's a jurisdictional transfer, so that 6 kilometers will roll into our municipal infrastructure. On the 361, we have a 5 year  agreement with the Department of Highways where we're in control of maintenance and snow removal for that period," he added.

With the agreement signed on Tuesday, they are anxious to get going on tenders and such, with the hope to begin work in the construction season of 2018.