Home »
Highways bottom line must be safety
Mayor’s update December 2013
By City of Fernie Mayor Mary Giuliano
For several years I’ve heard complaints regarding lack of winter highways maintenance.
Most recently I was told of constant icy roads from Elkford to Fernie and Cranbrook. Apparently, morning and evening vehicles went off road and driving became increasingly difficult as vehicles slid on icy surface.
Considering the amount of employee traffic on these roads as well as the travelling public I became concerned when I heard from several sources that on the day of the fatality in late afternoon the highway still wasn’t ploughed. I wrote an email to Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett stating my concerns. Minister Bennett responded almost immediately saying he had contacted the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, had heard that the contractor was having employee and management issues for a few years but, “Frankly, it is not good enough for the people of the Elk Valley and it is past time that Mainroads figured out how to provide adequate services to the Elk Valley.”
Minister Bennett went on to say that the ministry was aware of the challenging weather events with the snowfall, warming and dropping of temperature causing freezing that was difficult to manage.
I believe these challenges are real but if addressed promptly wouldn’t develop to the point it did. Jim Conley of Mainroads says changes are being made but the company is on a fixed price contract and finding employees is a real challenge. During that week they called on 11 people and none were available. He said there are challenges to recruitment because of the mines and that no one seems to want to work for only a five-month period.
Lanes are cleared as a first priority, centre snow and slush is cleared later. Sand, salt and gravel doesn’t stick to ice and up to 90 thousand tons are used in some years in our area. Snow clearing is done to ministry standards, on the weekend of the accident a full complement of workers was on duty.
Lack of maintenance seems to be a continuous deficiency and since being interviewed several times by CBC radio I have heard from people across the province stating that since the government of the day privatized this work over 20 years ago maintenance has never had the same high standard as was previously held. The 2013 report compiled by the B.C. Ministry of Justice Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles regarding vehicle fatalities in B.C. show statistics that the highest number of fatalities are in the Southern Interior that includes the Kootenay regions.
Mr. Conley states that more funding goes into the Elk Valley than in the Cranbrook area but the Elk Valley is known to get more snow so budgeting should be done accordingly. My suggestion to have signage placed along the highway alerting the public to icy roads, stating no passing zones and telling them to slow down in certain areas was not well received although the ministry manager did say that they would focus future funding towards more cement barricades in areas that I suggested.
Fernie manager of Mainroads Joe O’Conner does a good job considering the limitations. The consensus is that no changes will be forthcoming as only the ministry can make a difference. So I ask that that letters be written to the MOT requesting serious consideration to do what is necessary to keep people safer on winter roads. In my personal opinion when highways were managed by the ministry the bottom line was safety; however, once a business is in charge the bottom line changes dramatically and is to be expected.
I want to end this topic with CONGRATULATIONS to the couple that stopped to help the family in crisis, without their assistance the tragedy would have been so much greater, they truly are HEROES. To them and all the others that stopped to assist, May God Bless you all abundantly for what you did for this family.
Fifteen directors sit at the Regional District of East Kootenay board table eight, of which are mayors. On speaking with them I learned that all but Fernie sponsors a dinner for their employees at this time of the year to thank and acknowledge their hard work. Every employee regardless of where they are employed should receive some gesture of gratitude from the employer. With this in mind I took the idea to council and got approval to hold a dinner for all members. A committee of eight planned this in a few days.
CP Catering gave us a great deal on dinner, GPI provided taxi rides home, Urban Systems donated fantastic door prizes as did Isosceles, Finning, Fernie Chamber of Commerce and Best Western. Council members personally provided the wine for the event.
The next day over $500 in cash and a truckload of non-perishable food items was delivered to the Salvation Army Food Bank by Fire Chief Ted Reuter thanks to employees that attended. The evening was a great success that I hope gets replicated annually as I do believe that it is a morale booster to have all employees and council attend one event a year to show care and appreciation. I understand there are those who feel that taxpayer’s dollars shouldn’t be spent in this manner but truly people need to be shown they are valued and respected in order to have heart in the job they are doing.
On behalf of council, I want to extend Christmas Greetings, Happy Holidays and wish everyone a very Wonderful and Prosperous New Year.
– Lead photo by Carrie Schafer/e-KNOW and Through My Eyes Photography
