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.

Trip

I am a little behind in my posts. This one took place in November 2009.

In November I again had the opportunity to travel the Blackwater Road between Quesnel and Prince George. This trip again amazes me as to the different standards there are in the level of maintenance and construction of roads through out our province.

The roads I have experienced in the Prince George/Quesnel area are all well constructed, wide and with a surface that can be maintained. And, my favourite, cattle guards are done properly. The approach is graded level with the road.

There was snow on the road, not unfamiliar at this time of year. What surprised me more then anything was, and get this, "every logging truck I approached slowed down and moved over. This left much less of a snow cloud (dust) and improved my safety on the road.

A lesson that could be learned down here.

Drive safely

Culverts?

In an earlier post I mentioned that I had heard that culverts (14) were requested for this area. If you have driven around you will see that there definitely is a need. I also mentioned that the request for these culverts was turned down. With all the road construction going on in the central part of BC I understand why there is little to no money for rural roads(?).

I guess what is beginning to get my goat is: OK no new culverts! Does that mean that the works crews can not get out and try to repair the ones that are causing all the problems? Perhaps there is no local works crews! Perhaps salary monies have been withdrawn as well. Perhaps no one cares.

In the scheme of things

On a recent trip to Kamloops there was a lot of construction on 97. Fortunately there were few delays as I had an early start. Even if there was I would not have been put off as we really need improvements on that highway.

On the other had I have been told that the local highways crew requested a number of culverts (see my last post) and were turned down flatly. Now when you take a look at the number of culverts in this area and in particular the large number of damaged ones, it becomes a concern. The question begs: why do we have damaged culverts in the first place?

I suppose that when you look at the big picture, highway 97, gravel roads in the Horsefly area, who do you think is going to win! As the rancher would say: it looks like we are going to have to continue to suck the hind teat. Maybe if everyone contributed to fixing up the road in front of and along there property line, then maybe we would get some good roads to drive on??

As an after thought, I just had to have some work done on my car's front end, a 2008. As I said to the service rep, these cars were not designed to be driven continually on or roads. He agreed. I guess it's back to the fuel gobbling truck.

In the scheme things I guess we are insignificant.