The company that recently took over road maintenance on the North Island is reassuring drivers after a serious crash near Port McNeill Monday morning that sent two people to hospital in Victoria.
Mainroad North Island Contracting operating manager Leon Bohmer the company had flaggers on the scene during incident investigation and met its obligations for keeping the road safe prior to the crash. It had dispatched a salt truck at 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
“We did respond and provide traffic control,” Bohmer said, adding that Mainroad responds based on forecasting and patrols.
“We had patrols … and it was bare and dry. We have to patrol within 90 minutes” of an incident. We were within that specification. Obviously, we’d like to be there more proactively. We met our obligation but we would like to be more proactive.”
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He disputed concerns that the company does not having enough equipment.
“We actually have five units in the area. We have adequate equipment, plus we have a lot of new equipment (with) bigger capacity than what was used in the area.”
He also stated Mainroad has five plows onsite, which has what is called wings, and one salt truck that is regularly dispatched for the North Island. The company also preordered new units with specialized equipment last January.
“(We wanted to) hit the ground running. We’re in a position to be proactive with what we have.”
The plow trucks are near double in capacity, with around 20,000 litres of brine per truck, instead of the prior 11,000 litres tanker size. Mainroad’s brine and salt trucks are capable of covering around 200 kilometres of highway with one load of crystal salt or sand, which is just shy of the 230 kilometres of highway spanning between Port Hardy and Campbell River.
Brine is a type of salty water which is used to clear ice from roadways. Bohmer pointed out the company has “a tremendous amount of salt, probably enough for two years. Far more than what’s needed” for this season.
“We felt that we could cover the entire area with one single load,” he said of the company’s frost and ice prevention along the highway.
As for moving the maintenance yard to Port McNeill, the company noted that Port McNeIll is better located to service the North Island compared to when it was based in Port Hardy.
In response to the incident, Bohmer said it was “quite unfortunate.” The company had around three months to mobilize for the winter season since winning the contract, he concluded.
Mainroad has maintained the island highway previously from 1995 to 2003. Bohmer made mention that a number of managers, including himself, and the majority of the company’s staff have worked on the North Island for some time.
In a Nov. 20 media release, the company also reminded locals of the dangers of driving during winter time.
“Slow down. No matter how much driving experience you have, the way your vehicle will handle on snow, ice or rain can be unpredictable.”