Quesnel School Board wants province to address severely damaged roads in the District

Quesnel’s Board of Education will be sending a letter to the province asking it to address all of the roads that are severely damaged in the District.

Board Chair Tony Goulet says they received a report from their Transportation Department that included a long list of roads that were impacting their rural busing system, and the buses themselves.

‘They kind of described them as damage being extensive, no detours are available, have to drive over the indents that could do damage to our buses after long travelling on some of these areas.  They went into some detail on each one of them, and 14 was quite shocking.”

Goulet says the report also included the number of students that were going on each of these routes.

“West Fraser Road, it says that there is damage, a washout, they are monitoring this.   The damage is extensive and about 26 students travel this route at a given time.”

Goulet says all of the roads are provincial and in dire need of repair.

He also says they are asking the province to just do band-aid repairs.

School District No. 28 (Quesnel) Bus Route/Road Conditions Report 

May 14, 2021 

1. Highway 97N slide near Cottonwood 

Updates are monitored via Drive BC. No detour is available at this time. One bus travels this area for eight students. 

2. Quesnel-Hixon Rd near Cottonwood 

The road is closed. Bus routes had been re-routed in prior years around this area and no further changes are needed. Buses do not travel past Rau Rd on the Quesnel-Hixon south side, and Morgan Rd area on the north side. Currently there are no bus students affected or living in the slide area. Three buses share these duties and area. 

3. West Fraser Rd at Marsh Dr 

Emcon regularly patches this area, and has marked off the northbound shoulder which has fallen. Five buses and approximately 104 students cross this area. 

4. Garner Rd/Webster Lake Rd Detour 

Currently, Emcon and MOTI have assured the district that this route is being graded. The road has caused time delays for much of this school year and this has been reported to MOTI and Emcon many times. The bus travelling this route suffered a cracked bus body panel due to flexing through these roads and had to be repaired under warranty. The top speed is 50km/h, with most of the drive spent under 30km/h. This district is having to pay additional time for the route, as due to the conditions, is unable to maintain the schedule. One bus and 26 students travel this area. 

5. West Fraser Rd 

Sealcoating damage and washout areas due to water flow across the road have been part of the situations we are monitoring in this area. MOTI reports the damage is extensive. One bus and 26 students travel this route. 

6. 6. Lepetich Rd 

There is a sinkhole on this road and it is used for access by the district’s home based bus on the West Fraser route. The road is currently being repaired. One bus and two students are affected. 

7. 7. Ernst Rd 

Currently, the district has paused busing out Ernst Rd. The road has recently had extensive work done but the bus still cannot exceed 20km/h despite the recent repairs. Families in the area. have been offered a transportation allowance to drive their kids to the closest bus stop. One bus and two students are affected. 

8. 8. Quesnel–Hydraulic Rd 

The Hydraulic Rd has washed out near the 20km mark. The bus has a turnaround on Bell Hill, the families beyond the washout use French Rd as a detour. There are three students and one bus affected by this closure. 

9. 9. French Rd 

French Rd is the detour route for the Quesnel-Hydraulic Rd. The district has concerns with the road past Hill Lake Rd with regards to some of the hills and corners. MOTI and Emcon are working on the road at that time. Transportation assistance has been offered to the families using this route to meet the bus at Hill Lake Rd. The portion of French Rd that is travelled (to Hill Lake Rd) when it is not a detour is mostly paved and unaffected by the poor conditions. One bus and two students are affected by the detour. 

10. Kersley-Dale Landing Rd 

This road is not a bus route, rather the bus stops at the end of the road to pick up students from any families living there. Families have been evacuated. One bus and two students are affected. 

11, Durrell Rd 

Durrell Rd has had buses rerouted to avoid the slide area prior to the road closure. Dale Lake Rd is the official detour route. Access is from Hwy 975 to the Durrell trailer park and Dale Lake Rd to the top of the hill. Two buses and four students are affected. 

12. 12. Knickerbocker Hill 

Knickerbocker is an active slide area and is regularly graded and monitored at this point. Seven buses and approximately 240 students cross this area. 

13. Pinnacles Rd 

Pinnacles Rd has had some movement on Pinnacles hill near Baker Creek. There is road patching and monitoring in this area. One bus and approximately 47 students are affected. 

14. Nazko Hwy Flooding 

The Nazko Hwy flooded earlier this spring at Rainbow Lake. The bus was cancelled for two days, and was able to reroute around the Harrington Rd after Emcon was called out to perform additional grading to that route. High waters have subsided and the bus has returned to it‘s regularly scheduled routing. One bus and 31 students were affected.