On this season’s first snowfall in Burns Lake, Lakes District Maintenance (LDM) invited Lakes District News publisher Laura Blackwell to see it for herself how our roads get cleared in winter.
While on the road with Steve Gailing, LDM’s Operations Manager, Blackwell witnessed all the hard work that takes place behind the scenes to ensure people in the Lakes District can drive home safely every day.
Typically when it snows, LDM crews hit the road to check how much ice or snow is accumulating. Crews drive along the three highways in the area – Hwy. 16, Hwy. 35 and Hwy. 118 - and then report back to the area manager.
Once the area manager receives all the necessary information, LDM is able to make a plan of action and decide what kind of equipment and how many crews will be deployed to clear the streets in the area.
Gailing explained that LDM tries to keep snow accumulation below four centimetres on Hwy. 16 and below six centimetres on Hwy. 35 and Hwy. 118.
Blackwell observed that communication remains constant during all LDM’s operations. While crews are out on the road, they report back to each other and the area manager about every 10 minutes, providing updates on road and weather conditions. When the weather is considered more challenging, LDM also provides hourly updates to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Highways.
The first day of snow in the Lakes District on Oct. 28, 2015, saw LDM out plowing and sanding Hwy. 118, which connects Topley to the Village of Granisle. Gailing said Hwy. 118 always seems to get the most snow because the highway has an elevation of about 4000 feet in some spots. He added that some parts of Hwy. 16 can also present challenges due to its high elevations at Priestly Hill and Hungry Hill.
Another challenging road for LDM has been the Colleymount Road, which extends from Francois Lake’s ferry landing to km 54 (west corner of Francois Lake). According to residents, Colleymount Road has had a significant increase of commercial and non-commercial traffic and presents safety issues such as narrow, blind corners and sloughing on both road portions and embankments.
So while the ministry of transportation has been analyzing the possibility of upgrading the road, LDM has made it a priority to keep the road as clear as possible. Gailing said LDM did lots of shoulder grading and brushing last fall to prepare the road for the winter season. In addition, LDM made a sand pit out at Colleymount and designated a grader specifically for the Hwy. 35/Colleymount corridor during winter operations.
Gailing said it will be much easier to maintain Colleymount Road with a sand pit and a grader designated for that road.
Steven Burkholder, General Manager at Tahtsa Group, has publicly complimented the work LDM has done on Colleymount Road.
Lakes District Maintenance is also in testing mode with a new brine solution to loosen ice on our highways this season. Brine is water saturated or nearly saturated with salt that has a lower freezing point than water. Gailing explained that applying brine to our highways is a “step ahead” of a straight salt application and that it helps the highways dry out quicker.
“Being as it is a new strategy for us, the right application [of brine] in the right conditions is still to be determined,” he said. “We are very optimistic that it [brine] will be yet another tool we can use to improve highway safety and look forward to using it this winter.”