In the story ‘Colleymount Road petition has gathered 600 signatures’ published in the Lakes District News’ Aug. 19, 2015 edition, Colleymount residents had hoped to collect 1000 signatures before the end of August for a petition to improve conditions of Colleymount Road.
The group of concerned residents, known as the Colleymount Road working group, was close to reach their goal, gathering 929 signatures.
A package is now being sent to Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, including the petition, letters of support from residents and photos of the road.
Eileen Benedict, Director of Electoral Area E for the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako, will personally deliver the package to minister Stone during a meeting this week in Prince George. The package will also be sent to John Rustad, MLA for Nechako Lakes, and Nathan Cullen, Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP.
In addition, the package will include the results of a traffic count conducted by the Colleymount Road working group earlier this month. According to the group, during a 12-hour road count, 281 vehicles travelled the road carrying 371 individuals.
“Looking at these numbers, over a five-day period from Monday to Friday, there would be 1405 vehicles transporting 1855 individuals,” explained Rita Lavoie, member of the Colleymount Road working group.
The traffic count was conducted at the junction of Hwy. 35 and Colleymount Road from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sept. 3; and from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 4.
This traffic count did not include logging trucks. A traffic count conducted earlier this year by the same group suggested that there could be up to 65 logging trucks per day travelling along the road.
“When you look at this road, there is no way that, with the number of logging trucks we see every day, we can keep the road in shape year after year,” said Lavoie.
The Colleymount Road working group is now starting a letter-writing campaign in the hope that politicians will start paying attention to their concerns.
“We will be asking people to give their mailing address in the letters and to request that Todd Stone respond to their concerns,” said Lavoie.
The group expects that the letter-writing campaign will take at least two to three months.
“So in the next few weeks we will move into the letter-writing initiative and await a response from minister Todd Stone.”
Colleymount Road extends from Francois Lake’s ferry landing to km 54 (west corner of Francois Lake). According to residents, safety issues include a major increase of commercial and non-commercial traffic; narrow, blind corners and sloughing on both road portions and embankments. In addition, there are maintenance concerns relating to snow removal, sanding, grading and brushing.
In the letter recently sent to minister Stone, the group acknowledges that Lakes District Maintenance (LDM) and ministry contractors have been trying to maintain the road to a higher standard. However, the letter refers to the work done as “temporary” and “Band-Aid.”
According to Lavoie, the recent work done by the LDM to repair the road is already showing problems.
“One can see the potholes and rough spots showing through the seal coat and gravel,” she said.
“Next year will see a need to clean up the same areas, the same potholes, the same sloughing,” reads the letter sent to minister Stone. “And the issue of safety, beyond road maintenance, continues to be ignored.”