Updates and background on the work we do to maintain and rehab BC bridges and highways during the spring, summer and fall.
They’re out there… Day and night, on highways (and certain side roads) across the province. Who are they and what are they doing? They’re our Road Area Managers and they pretty much do it all. BC is a BIG province, connected by a vast system of highways and side roads, and it’s our job to make sure those roads that belong to us are running smoothly and safely. To do that, we need to break down our province into...
This spring, we’ll start using this environmentally friendly water-based paint that allows for thicker (and thus longer-lasting) application, on key highways around BC. In addition to delivering durability, the formulation will be combined with newly designed-for-BC glass beads, which improve light reflection to boost the paint’s visibility.
We take the safety of the travelling public very seriously and so do our maintenance contractors. Have you ever wondered what exactly we expect from them and how they meet our expectations? We spoke with Joe Wrobel, president of JPW Road and Bridge Ltd, to get the scoop on the many ways they work to keep you moving safely through the Sicamous and Salmon Arm area. TranBC: Could you tell us – what does a day in the life...
We’ve heard from a few folks recently asking how they can travel the Coquihalla safely during the winter. Apart from our usual recommendations for proper tires, checking DriveBC, keeping a full tank of gas and driving to conditions, we thought we could help travellers make better decisions around their travel by identifying some of the winter conditions found on the Coquihalla and explaining how they might impact travel. So, we asked our Weather Services Specialist, Simon Walker (who worked...
As our economy has grown, so too has the need safely connect people and cargo in Northern BC with the Interior. Here is a sampling of three projects, one in the preliminary stages and two in progress, of BC on the Move in the Northern Region. Bunce Road to Blackwater Road, Highway 16 Extending the continuous four-laning of Highway 16 that begins before the Highway 16 and 97 intersection to within the Prince George city limits will reduce congestion and provide...
Mainroad, our maintenance contractor in the East Kootenay service area, works hard every day to keep local highways safe and traffic moving smoothly. Because the area is so geographically diverse, they can face any number of unique challenges where highway maintenance is concerned, especially during winter. In order to make sure they understand exactly what is expected of them in their day to day operations, we outline our maintenance requirements of them in great detail. We recently updated our...
The Kootenay Pass avalanche team wanted to shorten road closures due to avalanche control, because at the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure our biggest drive is to keep people and goods moving efficiently and safely along BC highways. When the new avalanche explosion hardware and software were installed in 2015, BC became the first Gazex system user in the world, to not only suggest this change, but to incorporate new software successfully into an existing system.
We’re working as hard as we can to repair roads in the South Peace region, after major flooding in mid-June 2016 damaged more than 300 sites. Restoring roads takes some or all of 12 steps.
We’re battling invasive plants along BC highways, and we’re enlisting Adopt a Highway volunteers to keep these unwelcome intruders from capturing more territory. Adopt a Highway volunteers are our allies in the attack; because they’re on the ground on assigned sections of BC highways. To arm them for managing invasive weeds, we’ve got a new video showing how to spot, report and remove invasive weeds. The pulling weeds part is optional, but for groups that want to jump in...
Since the privatization of highway maintenance in BC, we’ve governed the level of service required from our contractors through our Maintenance Contract Agreements. However, in the 27 years since highway maintenance was privatized, there have been substantial changes both in the industry and in public expectations. We’ve recently renewed the maintenance contract for the East Kootenay service area and the language in this new contract will be the starting point for all of our maintenance contracts around the province...
