Horsefly Road

If you have been reading my post, you may recall that in July of last year (2009), I wrote about the new paving job. I commented that there was not any prep work done particularly in the bad section near Jessica Lake Road. That's the section that has always been bad for as long as I can recall.

Well guess what? It's back and it is going to be bad. More of our tax dollars thrown away. You may also notice all the lateral cracking going on on the brand new section of road. If you look up on the web, lateral cracking, you will find that it is usually caused be poorly prepared road beds. You probably will recognize that these lateral cracks are showing up in the same place where they were before the resurfacing. I wonder when they will start crack sealing again!

They should be hanged!

I traveled today down the 108 Rd and guess what? It is falling apart as you would expect, in particularly the south part of the North 108. It is always a relief to get on to the 2300 Rd and guess what again: They are actually working on it, smoothing over rough areas and filling in water holes. And this is on SUNDAY and is not the roads construction people, which might be a good thing.

Now I thought that that section was bad! Wait till you try driving on the South 108. It's damn near impassible. I was in 4 wheel drive and considered myself luck to get through to where I was going. And to think that they worked on this road last summer. Oh yes, the same brilliant construction method: Covering the road in 6 to 8" of sand and packing it down. It's amazing how sand liquefies when you add water to it. You should try driving through this S***.

Now I have stated before that I am not a engineer or road construction technician. B U T when I see this type of thing, well I'm lost for words. Although one word keeps coming through "INCOMPETENCE"

And who said that I was running out of things to write about on the state of roads in the Horsefly area.

Different Strokes

I have spent the last 2 months in the Punchaw area, South West of Prince George, along the Black Water road, or just off of it. Now this is not earth shaking in it's self. What I have learned though, is that there is a different standard as far as road construction and maintenance is concerned between this area, and for that matter the rest of the Province, then that of the Cariboo. If you are a little bit of skeptical about this I suggest that you take a trip in any area outside of the Cariboo.

The Black Water road area, from Prince George to Quesnel, is a well constructed and maintained road. Whereas the roads in the Cariboo are narrow, have not been upgraded to today's standards, and are, to say the least, VERY poorly maintained.

I was staying and working on a ranch on the Punchaw Road. It is not a gazetted road yet the level of maintenance is something we can only dream about in the Horsefly area. The Punchaw road is similar in some respects to the 108 Rd. The main difference is that it was constructed properly, and is maintained to a very high standard even though there is very little traffic on it. In fact it actually has gravel on it. Can you imagine that!

So what I am saying here is that the standards used in the rest of the Province are entirely different then those here. What can be done about it? I am at a loss. In talking to Highways in Williams Lake I and others get absolutely no satisfaction talking to the supervisor of the contractor. Talking to the contract authority in Williams Lake is like talking to the wind. No matter how loud you yell the only response you get is your own voice coming back at you. I am open to any suggestions, radical or others.