Road Maintenance

If you ever have the chance to talk to a school crossing guard, flag person, highway maintenance worker or anyone else whose job requires them to work in the cone zone on our highways, ask them how safe they feel when they are on the job.

Potholes are a fact of life and something that we all try to avoid on B.C. roads. Sometimes it is not possible and the result is damage to your vehicle. Who is responsible for the cost of that damage?

I commute on Highway 19 daily. The road has been maintained by filling the cracks with tar rather than repaving it. In the wet weather what I'm seeing is the ruts (worn into the driven part) in the right lane are holding up to 20 mm of standing water sometimes for hundreds of meters at a time.

Question: Our strata road is about a mile long and we have our own pickup truck rigged up for snow plowing. The vehicle is not licensed as the intent is for use solely on our posted private road. However, I have come to learn that the operator, as a favour to neighbours outside our strata, has taken to plowing some of the public road, an area rarely addressed on a timely basis by the road maintenance contractor.

I exchanged Tweets last week with a commercial truck driver who was less than impressed with the winter maintenance of BC's highways. There is no doubt in my mind that when your livelihood depends on being able to keep your truck moving road maintenance is a subject near and dear to your heart. My question is, was this gentleman speaking from emotion or was he being realistic?

It's probably safe to say that most municipalities have a bylaw regulating the removal of snow and ice from sidewalks. This case involves the City of Vancouver's Street and Traffic Bylaw, Harold Gutovich and the sidewalk in front of his home at 1121 W. 16th Avenue.

Question: We have too many blind corners in our communities says a correspondent. They have seen many near misses because of fences, trees and hedges blocking the view of drivers who are attempting to turn onto a street.

A recent study by Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute (VTPI) concluded that the average city spent about 1 percent of its infrastructure budget on sidewalks, even though walking accounted for 11 percent of residents’ trips every day and pedestrian fatalities constituted 17 percent of all traffic deaths. Walking (including wheelchair, scooter and handcart use) is the universal travel mode. Improving walking conditions can provide many benefits

"The Ministry builds and maintains safe and resilient roadways and infrastructure, plans integrated transportation hubs and networks, provides affordable, efficient and accessible transportation options for all people in British Columbia, partners with Crown corporations and other entities to deliver transportation services, develops and implements transportation policies, and administers many related acts, regulations and federal-provincial funding programs."

Have you ever wondered if our B.C. provincial highways are being maintained to the proper standard? Just what are those standards? The B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union web site contains that information in a short video explanation. The video explains who is responsible and how to advise them that a problem exists so that it can be remedied.