Road Maintenance

If I were to ask you what a flag person's job was, what would you reply? Assure orderly movement of traffic through a highway obstruction of some sort? Help everyone involved to be safe as they work on the highway? Why then do some drivers treat flagpersons so badly?

I find it interesting that following 2 serious crashes, Neil Menard, the mayor of Merritt, has been taking shots at the maintenance crews that are responsible for the Coquihalla.

Christine Bayfield was driving her van southbound on the Inland Island Highway in rainy and wet road conditions. She overtook a logging truck to avoid being sprayed by the water it picked up off the pavement. As she passed, she lost control, began to rotate and left the pavement, rolling over in the median.

From the video description: If you are travelling BC highways during the winter months please be prepared and be aware - drive to conditions and take your time to get where you’re going. Our maintenance contractors are out there clearing our highways and provincial roads to make it safer for those driving on them and so we are asking anyone who is on the road with a snow plow to please steer clear and let them clear the road. It is never safe to pass a snow plow on the right or weave between plows when they are clearing the road.

I noticed on a Saturday there does not appear to be any work being done in the construction zone but all the single file and speed limit signs are still up. Does anyone understand how annoying it is to drive single file at 80K, then 60K then 50K for 5 kilometres only to find no construction or the construction is off the highway on the other side?

I like to talk about road safety with people I meet because it often ends up producing a good topic for these articles. Yesterday I stopped to speak with the road maintenance contractor operating the mower clearing the shoulder of the roads in my neighbourhood. He was quick to offer three observations, heed the signs, keep your distance and wait behind when there is oncoming traffic.

Have you ever wondered why road maintenance contractors spread a mixture of gravel and crushed stone on B.C.'s highways in winter rather than using just sand? At first glance, it would appear that sand would be the better choice as it does not damage windshields the way gravel and crushed stones will. However, it's not that simple, and this TranBC web page explains why.

Hey, that machine is driving on the wrong side of the road! Can that utility truck park like that while they fix the overhead wires? These are just two of similar questions that the public often ask. The answer is yes, as long as it is done safely.

The case of Billabong Road & Bridge Maintenance v Brook is a B.C. Supreme Court appeal of a conviction that saw both parties found 50% at fault after a single vehicle collision. The provincial court judge found the road maintenance company partly at fault for the collision because it had not sanded the slippery roadway.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announces a new tool in the battle to remove snow quickly and economically from BC's highways. The tool is a standard plough truck towing a plough trailer. The machine can be operated by the lone driver, clear 2 1/2 lanes at a single pass and spread traction materials at the same time.