Highway closures report and peoples need for assistance

[bob vernon]

And a leftist truck driver chimes in:
https://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/35 ... aintenance

Imagine, a truck driver wanting to end the gravy train for foreign owned corporations maintaining our roads instead of doing it ourselves.

[I Think]

And a leftist truck driver chimes in:
https://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/35 ... aintenance

Imagine, a truck driver wanting to end the gravy train for foreign owned corporations maintaining our roads instead of doing it ourselves.

In BC, just as in the US, we have been known to elect some idiots into our governments, some of the idiots are even corrupt.
The clowns who privatized highways maintenance are akin to the clowns that fractured the management of BC's health care into regional districts, creating patronage regional health care authorities and legacy dams and faulty fast ferries.

[bob vernon]

Fast ferries? Original cost believed to be about $210 million. The government tried unsuccessfully tried to sell them for $120 million when it turned out they produced a wake that would damage docks all along their routes. Nobody bit on the $120 million price. After the Liberals were elected they were sold to some American friends for $19 million and then flipped to Abu Dhabi Marine, a luxury yacht builder in the Middle East for way more. Some rumours have them still operating as luxury yachts owned by wealthy Middle East oil wealth and another rumour has them operating as ferries in Egypt. Either way, somebody bought them for cheap and likely made a ton of money. Over and under the table.

[I Think]

An interesting but off topic tale re those fast ferries:
Working for a company that was asked to bid on turning over the ferry hulls. It is not unusual to build hulls upside down on smaller yachts and ships. I was one of the people that went to the site meet to analyze the work involved. The first question I asked was how does the architect say the hulls should be lifted?
Answer, Oh no we cannot ask them.............. they were building the vessels without the architects input, a complete travesty.
We assumed that they had fired the architect as a cost saving measure, or they were ignoring his designs to save money so he quit.
My next question was " The hulls are not going to be ready to flip on the date you have selected why not move the date back?
Answer "Oh no we cannot do that, Tuesday is the only date that Glen Clark will be available for a photo op while we lift the hulls.
It meant that the welders who were kneeling or sitting on the hulls welding, would have to be laying on their backs on scaffolding welding the underside of the between hull decks, after the flip.
Just a very expensive gong show.

[Babba_not_Gump]

And I beg to differ with the whiner. As well, this has been discussed on here within the past year or two, government vs private contractors.

Many of you may recall back when the Department of Holidays did all the maintenance on our highways. Was it any better?
No, not from what I recall.

So let's just leave it where it is.

[Queen K]

Has anyone here driven the newly opened Coquihalla yet? Yes? What's it like up there?

[oldtrucker]

Has anyone here driven the newly opened Coquihalla yet? Yes? What's it like up there?

It gives me great pleasure to say' No, I haven't' for the first time in 17 years.

[Queen K]

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#355425

I hope no one is attempting Hwy 3 in the next few days.

[dirtybiker]

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#355425

I hope no one is attempting Hwy 3 in the next few days.

I know of someone doing the trek as I post. Heading from The Fraser Valley
to their new home in Nova Scotia.

Not gonna be too pleasant of conditions for the majority of the trip.

They'll be worn thin by time they hit their destination.

[Queen K]

I am thinking worn thin at Golden. But ya.

I am hoping beyond hope that they close Highway Three on Christmas Day.

I have a cousin hoping to attempt it on Christmas Night, leaving Grand Forks at 4 pm and getting to Abbottsford at 6 am. Then trying for a ride to Tswassen, she has no idea how or with whom. That's right, the Allison Pass around midnight. I would slap her silly if I could. Seriously, yes she wants to see her sister, who is ill but not dying, but she has a full family of her own too.

PRAY Highway Three is closed.

[django]

I took a load down the Coq and brought another back up. It wasn't all that different to travel for me, they've posted a 100km/hour speed limit for the entire Merritt to Hope section, because of gearing in my truck I keep it at a hundred anyway, I haul oversize/heavy equipment. There were a few construction areas at 80 and 50. No rough spots or hold ups where I had to stop. It was a pleasant surprise after all the fear mongering. Nice not having the extra traffic to contend with, hopefully they keep at it until everything is complete and not call it good until spring. My travel time may have been an extra fifteen minutes.

[I Think]

Thursday morning, was headed for Kelowna when my truck froze up, (my fault for ignoring the anti freeze). I was trying to nurse the truck home, drive a minute then wait five mins to let it cool back down from boiling. Was starting to get very cold, as the heater was not working, not much traffic at that time of day, but decided I needed to get outa there, first vehicle to come along stopped when I waved them down, and took me home. If by chance you are reading this, thank you, thank you. We geezers do not have the same tolerance for cold that the young bucks do.

[CanuckFan]

django, thanks for the update.

[I Think]

Truckers that are being stupid and blocking the Coq almost every day, should be held accountable for the full cost of the delays and traffic management.
Used to drive semi's many years ago & it is the drivers who are going too fast for the conditions, or are trying to get by without chaining up, that cause the problems.
Ban drivers who close the highway, that will get their attention.

[bob vernon]

You'll notice that the RCMP described the road conditions as "incredibly poor". The BC MOTH weather station at the top of the hill where these incidents happened reported one centimetre of snow overnight and another one centimetre this morning. Two centimetres of snow over about 16 hours and the highways contractor couldn't keep up.

https://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/35 ... -collision