Mainroads Contracting held a pre-winter meeting on Thursday November 27 to inform invited interested parties as to protocol for clearing of highways and roads this coming winter.

Twenty-three people attended including a Teck representative, MOT employees, Mainroads personnel, local government, Fire departments, towing company, and the Press. Everyone listened and asked questions of presenter Rob Singbel in charge of quality control for Mainroads as well as Geoff Gwynne operations manager, Joe O’Connor local manager and Al Sanders, area manager.

Comments included information such as, “Winter standards have not changed since 1980 although slight tweaking happens”. Better chemicals will be used, equipment is better and bigger, there are more remote weather stations and gravel pits are everywhere”.

There are seven yards with 43 plows in the region that maintain roads to Ministry standards using sand and salt and this year introducing a pre-wet anti-ice salt that has a quick reaction and works well. At -6c salt doesn’t work at de-icing but it is hoped this new product will be successful.

It was mentioned that there are complaints regarding sand trucks and their spray. The response was that it is impossible to turn off the spinner blast once in motion and that if the spinner is turned off for every oncoming vehicle then how can work be completed. It is hoped that an operator will turn the spinner down when possible and that on- coming drivers would pull over and slow down on approach.

A little info on gravel, most is 12.5 in size, this area gets size 9.5 which is a blend of coarse and fine sand so that it is better here than in some other areas.

It was mentioned that winter tires are mandatory from October 1 to March 31. Tires need to have the snowflake or mountain symbol on them and must have good depth tread and chains are required for heavier commercial vehicles.

Road classification was also discussed. Highway three is A and a couple of years ago Highway 43 was also designated A. This designation is based on traffic numbers and means it gets service priority.

I inquired as to the rumors that Mainroads was going to a four on four off shift schedule, that only one person would be on duty at one time and that the road from Sparwood to the Alberta border wasn’t to be maintained.

Manager Sanders responded that none of the above was true. Sparwood office will remain open and workers will maintain Highway three from Sparwood to Elkford and road to the Alberta border will be serviced out of Fernie. “Keeping the roads clear is our main concern” Sanders said. There is a 24/7 schedule with up to 7 workers on shift which is an increase of two. The shifts are staggered so they overlap from shift to shift so as to have the roads plowed before mine shift changes. “There will be 6 trucks in the Valley at all times, standards have been the same since 1980, they will not change, we will continue to maintains the same standards this change is for better service, we need to make adjustments so as to do a better job with what we have and make it better for everyone”.

Last winter I was very concerned with the lack of maintenance to the Highways serving our Valley especially from Elkford to Fernie.

With the huge influx of mine workers commuting on these roads including to Cranbrook, Kimberly and Creston and the Pass I heard often of the icy and bad conditions resulting in vehicle accidents. Although some were minor ending in a side ditch after working a twelve hour shift whether night or day isn’t safe, so I took this situation to the Ministry, Mainroads and to other levels of government to see what could be done.

Changes were made that resulted in better conditions of roads and for that I am very grateful as I am sure the commuters are.

I am pleased to hear Mr. Sanders reassure everyone of the protocol implemented to make sure road conditions are as safe as possible. If needing information please call 1 800 665 4929 or 250 417 4624. Those are direct numbers to Mainroads office in Cranbrook. They also encourage everyone to access the drivebc.ca site for information as this will provide information on a variety of situations and waiting times during road closures. They also encourage everyone to let Mainroads know when accidents happen as they aren’t always informed by the police of this immediately.

I came away from the meeting believing that although this coming winter will bring about its own set of weather problems, Mainroads is poised to do the best it can to keep the roads as safe as possible.

Please remember that each driver also has a responsibility to drive to winter conditions. That more care and attention is required when driving on icy and snowy roads than normal.