Regarding the controversy over winter road conditions.
It appears that many area residents are of the same opinion, roads are not maintained in a manner anywhere near what they should be or could be or have been in the past.
I don’t see how the statement that the roads are monitored 24/7 could be accurate. MOTI does not have enough staff to do this, so if the monitoring is done by the contractor this leaves the door wide open for issues to occur. It’s something like the fox guarding the henhouse. We hear all about how many snow events have occurred and that this is the reason for the condition of roads etc. etc.
MOTI staff who are responsible for negotiating contracts should know what weather conditions can be like and they should be making sure that the specification will deal with these conditions. They should also know what the commitment should be in terms of equipment and what the cost of operating that equipment would be to satisfy the specification and should not be accepting bids that possibly will fall short of the requirement.
The excuse given that this winter is an exception is far from accurate I have lived and worked outdoors in this area for 50 years and have seen many winters where snowfall events and conditions have been similar and, in many cases, much more snow and harsher conditions.
If as stated by MOTI the Kootenays have some of the most challenging weather conditions to drive in they should be taking a proactive rather than reactive attitude when dealing with those conditions, it should be making sure that resources and specifications are in place to meet those challenges.
It seems the problem here might be complacency and lack of commitment on the part of MOTI to negotiate contracts and set out specifications that will deal with road conditions that can occur not conditions that might occur. MOTI should also probably be more diligent in “holding the contractor’s feet to the fire” when it comes to enforcing the maintenance schedule.
Dean Forester
Castlegar