DELTA Mayor George V. Harvie has in a letter to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Rob Fleming, asked for a review of the contract currently in place for winter maintenance of the Lower Mainland provincial highway network.

Harvie has also requested a review of the BC Emergency Alerting System to enable notification of highway closures and major issues affecting Lower Mainland commuters.

In his letter dated December 2, Harvie points out “the recent failure of provincial highway winter maintenance that occurred throughout Metro Vancouver on Tuesday, November 29” and asserts that “it is contingent upon all levels of government to take all necessary steps to avoid any future failures of provincial highway networks and provide for the safety of our citizens.”

Harvie states: “It is vital that the snow response plan for provincial highways and crossings of the Fraser River is sufficient and that the necessary resources are in place to prevent traffic gridlock and the failure of our provincial transportation system. With increasing unpredictable weather patterns, BC’s provincial transportation network must have the necessary preparations in place with adequate resources for winter maintenance.”

He adds: “As Mayor of Delta, I would like to request that the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure review the contract currently in place with Mainroad Group for winter maintenance of the Lower Mainland provincial highway network.”

Harvie also points out: “On the evening of November 29 and well into the early morning hours of November 30, many Delta residents were stuck in gridlock on our provincial transportation network for upwards of 9 to 10 hours. It is very concerning that while the transportation network was failing, commuter were still continuing to try to enter the transportation system.”

He then goes on to request a review of the BC Emergency Alerting System in order to notify regional residents when the provincial highway system is out of service. “Effective use of this resource would deter people from entering the provincial transportation system and adding more traffic volume to an already failing system,” Harvie adds.