The MLA for Prince George-North Cariboo says his office has received numerous complaints about the lack of proper road maintenance in the Quesnel area.
Sheldon Clare says “it’s downright dangerous right now.”
He says he can speak from personal experience as well.
“I’ve, as you know, been driving a lot of these roads myself and experienced these conditions first hand, I’ve had a couple of close calls on the road. I’ve been seeing plow trucks in the ditch even, and it’s crazy.”
Clare says the problems vary.
“Well it’s a mix. Some of it has to do with not getting there, some it has to do with how work seems to be getting allocated. I mean there is a priority list of roads that are dealt with first, and it seems just a bit haphazard with what’s been going on, and there are roads that have never been touched. I’ve been hearing from people who are wondering when they’re going to see some sanding and clearing of ice off of their particular roads.”
He says the most worrying examples are school bus routes.
“We’ve had all of these cancellations in both Districts 27 and 28, and it’s just not acceptable that children can’t get to school. And if they aren’t getting to school, the roads need to be safe, they need to be in a condition that’s safe to drive on, both for the buses and for parents and teachers and everyone else.”
Clare says he is trying to get some answers.
“We’ve put calls out to Minister Farnworth (Minister of Highways and Transit) and we’re waiting a call back from him about road issue. And we’re really pushing hard. We’ve got calls out to Dawson and I plan to go out to Emcon Services this (Thursday) and having a word with the management out there as to what’s going on, because we simply can’t be tolerating this any longer.”
The Cariboo region is broken down into two service areas, one serviced by Dawson Road Maintenance and the other by Emcon Services Road Maintenance.
We have reached out to both for a comment on this issue.
