Beaverly Residents Say Hwy 16 Brake Check Is A Hazard
Beaverly residents say vehicles have opted for the ditch to avoid trucks pulling into and out of brake check photo submitted
Prince George, BC – The Beaverly Community Association and Beaverly Volunteer Fire Rescue Department are calling for a public meeting with the Ministry of Transportation to discuss what local residents feel is a potentially deadly situation along Highway 16, at the site of a new mandatory brake check.
"We first noticed safety issues as soon as it became operational, as soon as they took the covers off the signs," says Community Association Vice-President Tim Drewcock. "We thought it was a little strange that they decided to put it in such a ‘residential’ rural area."
The mandatory pull-out for rigs is located along a higher density area of the highway, just before the entrance to the Beaverly Fire Department. Drewcock says, "With trucks descelerating to turn off, 100-kilometre per hour traffic all of a sudden is slowing to 40-k and 20-k and when you get enough trucks in there, they kind of start to hang out onto the highway – some of them can’t get in there fully."
"Over the winter, we’ve seen quite a few near-misses and vehicles going into the ditch because they have no where else to go as they have to brake hard to avoid these trucks."
Compounding the situation he adds, "The brake check practically sits on the entrance to the fire hall and if there’s an accident there, the volunteer responders wouldn’t be able to get into the hall to get their equipment."
The unpaved pull-out became operational in late fall, with paving, acceleration and deceleration lanes expected to be completed this spring. Drewcock says, "We were all kind of shell-shocked that this went into place with no discussion as to whether this was a good place to put it – it was just kind of put there, none of the residents were informed."
The community association and fire department met with ministry officials mid-winter to share their concerns. Drewcock says ministry officials felt it was safe, but said they would monitor the site. At a more recent meeting, ministry officials advised them the site completion plans would be going ahead.
Beaverly residents are calling for a public meeting to have ministry officials explain the reasoning behind the site selection. They’d also like the opportunity to express their concerns. The community association is proposing the brake check be moved further west, just beyond the Mud River Hill.
Comments
Well it tells me something if drivers are ditching their vehicles and that is those drivers are not driving defensibility and are not paying attention to road conditions and most likely are going to fast as well.
Well it tells me something if drivers are ditching their vehicles and that is those drivers are not driving defensibility and are not paying attention to road conditions and most likely are going to fast as well.
It should have been paved and had acceleration and deceleration lanes before it was ever opened IMO.
Correct my if I understood this wrong, but it says “The community association is proposing the brake check be moved further west, just beyond the Mud River Hill.”
Doesn’t a brake check have to be before the hill? To make sure the brakes work before going down the Mud River hill?
What part of “just beyond the mud river hill” is hard to understand? To me thats says they want it on the other side of the mud river hill on the other side of the chilako river.
Dearth read the post again, the part tucks hanging out onto the road. Have you driven that stretch, I have it is a hazard.
I think the brake check is more for Peden Hill rather than Mud river. Mud River is a hill of 100km/hr, while Peden has a stop light at the bottom. Hence the brake check is only for traffic east bound. If trucks turning off the highway are a hazard perhaps some people should use public transit for the safety of others. I think the Beaverly Fire department has a point.
No consultation is required with this type of thing. Those in charge know whats best for everyone!
All truckers know that this brake check is not for the Mud river hill. This is because of the run-away on Pedan Hill that ended up in Boston Pizza’s lot below. This brake-check is definitely a safety hazard for both the driving public and truckers.It should have been put closer to Parkridge heights or on the property by Bon Voyage that was once a campground. BUT , the government will never admit that a mistake was made here on their part. Especially after the thousands they have spent AGAIN, after thousands were spent to STUDY the problem. It’s like the steep hill they decided to put to reach the weight scales on 97 south of town . Might look pretty on paper but we live in the north which our MLA’s seem to forget AGAIN
Taxed Out
There is no public transit in the Beaverly area. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have a brake check that covered two steep hills? As I understand it a mandatory brake check requires the operator to get out of the vehicle and check for air leaks in the tractor and trailer units,also check the travel in the brake linkage and adjust if neccessary. I drive this section of road daily and have yet to see any long haul driver do anything more than knock the mud and snow off the mudflaps and check the tires with a hammer. The majority don’t even get out of the cab and a lot pull in, cruise through and pull back onto the highway without stopping at all! I have even seen some blow right by without even dropping their speed.They seem to know when CVSE is around or not and act accordingly.The exception are the chip carriers traveling that stretch-I have not seen any not stop there.There have been numerous occasions where traffic has been brought to a standstill(sometimes suddenly) when trucks are moving in and out and when two trucks are leaving at the same time and the rear truck decides to overtake the lead unit.This makes the highway skinny real fast and when school buses are put into the mix it gets scary!
What Dearth said twice…
Time to install a runaway lane at the bottom of Peden Hill right through the cemetery. Talk about waking the dead! Besides, who eats a pizza in a cemetery?
Poppa has it right, they do that at the breakcheck on Foothills too.
The brake check is in a bad spot, poor visibility, there is a uphill grade for the truckers going back onto the highway therefore slowing down the traffic and it is an accident waiting to happen. The area is not large enough for the amount of trucks that are stopped in there, especially when the log haulers are on the road.
The summer will bring all of the RV’ers onto the highway, which will pose more problems.
The brake check should be located before the mud river hill so that hill can be included in the safety as well as Peden Hill. Numerous accidents have happened on mud river hill and there is many options on the west side of mud river hill for a brake check to be located. It should have proper on/off ramps, large enough area to hold 10+ trucks, and it should not affect the flow of highway traffic.
MOT does not realize how many trucks are on the highway and they should spend the money on a proper brake check in a good location. They spent good money on the overpass by Bednesti, the South Scales, and the handy road report sign (that doesn’t get updated when the highway gets shut down).
A brake check for the Mud River hill is pointless. Its a short little bugger that is only a blip when it comes to being called a hill. One brake application along with a jake is all thats required to maintain a safe speed while east bound loaded coming down that one. Peden Hill is a long one, a different animal!
The current brake check refered in this story was a known problem before it was built. The govt built it anyway.
I agree with all the points mentioned above regarding the hazzards of this brake check. I commute the area on a regular basis and have personally been placed in danger as a result of this brake check numerous times including encounters with road-rage incidents. Air quality from the dust is disgusting!!! Snow/ice falling from beneath trucks causes more highway hazards. What was the Ministry thinking when they chose the location. Shame on them and I pray the issue is resolved before they “have blood on their hands”.
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