After the South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) project was completed, you let us know that more improvements were necessary to help with merging along the route. We got it. So, from that input, an additional access point from Highway 17 eastbound onto Highway 99 northbound was created to better manage traffic flow through the area. BACKGROUND A part of the SFPR project included managing and separating general traffic using barriers on Highway 99 northbound to help better manage the...
We’ve gotten a number of questions lately about why we closed the Old Spences Bridge. There are a number of things we took into consideration before making the decision, but here’s the scoop: The Old Spences Bridge crosses the Thompson River and the CN railway between Highway 8 and the community of Spences Bridge. Built in 1931, the old bridge is a single lane affair and, at 83 years old, well past its design life of 50 years. In...
It’s official. The opening of the Mufford/64th Avenue Overpass marks the completion of all nine Roberts Bank Rail Corridor projects in the lower mainland of British Columbia. Happy dance! Like others completed as a part of this project, this overpass will improve safety by eliminating the need for road traffic to wait at a rail crossing. We also completed other enhancements in the area including the realignment of the Mufford Crescent/Glover Road intersection. We captured the construction of this...
There’s a lot of digging and bridging going on at Rogers Creek in Port Alberni. The ministry is replacing the culvert, which runs under the Port Alberni Highway, with a 44-metre-long single span steel girder bridge. The bridge will provide a wider opening for Rogers Creek to pass through. Why wasn’t the culvert good enough? It was relatively small in comparison to some of the logging debris that builds up. In fact, during a 2006 storm, emergency crews needed...
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Head’s up Coquitlam walkers (and drivers)! There’s a new pedestrian crosswalk on the Barnet Highway (just after the Lougheed/Barnet intersection) as a result of continuing work on the Evergreen Rapid Transit Line. Sidewalk closures and detours will be implemented next to active construction sites on Pinetree Way between the Coquitlam transit exchange and Town Centre Boulevard for the safety of pedestrians. These closures and detours will be in place until the spring of 2015. What does this mean to...
Before we can widen the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Bridge sidewalks, we have to make a little room. Last year, the ministry started looking at replacing the pedestrian railings on the bridge to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians since the narrow sidewalks are a major constriction for travelers. After a thorough technical review earlier this year, it was decided to widen both sidewalks from 1.2 to 2.5 metres, install a new three-metre high safety fence and convert the...
Keeping BC highways safe for the travelling public is our top priority and one that keeps us pretty busy. But sometimes we are asked to help out with community safety enhancements -smaller projects that fall outside of our day to day work. These are special projects that we look forward to being a part of because it is often the smaller, less obvious work that can sometimes have the biggest impact in a small community. These safety improvements can...
There’s been a lot of interest recently about our bridges and how they’re inspected. Here’s the scoop. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure manages an inventory of 2,700 bridges plus concession* bridges throughout the province. Sounds like a lot, but here’s a visual for you to put it in perspective. Take those bridges, put them end to end and they’d stretch over 150 kilometres. That’s like driving from Penticton to Merritt! So, how do we make sure so many...
Go ahead… hop on a bike (or just put your walking shoes on). South Vancouver Island’s Lochside Trail just got smoother with 1.7 kilometres of freshly paved pathway between Island View Road and Mount Newton X Road. “It’s like a super highway as far as I’m concerned,” said cyclist Chark Nipp with a laugh. The Lochside Trail runs 29 kilometres from the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary to the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal, parallel to Patricia Bay Highway...
