Hwy 97 was s#&t from PG to Dunkley then awesome from there to Quesnel this am. The main difference was the heavy sanding by HMC to keep the blowing snow to a minimum. I find that HMC does a far better job than YRB in my humble Opinion250

Man, I can’t imagine the amount of sand needed to keep the snow from blowing.

No kidding..Have to see to believe.

I will agree HMC does a better job than YRB. I no longer have any faith in YRB’s snow clearing. They are never out on the roads when they should be. IMO they have had this contract far too long and have become too laxed in their work habits.

Popular opinion is that YRB does a subpar job on our roads. Thats not just my opinion either, I’ve heard this countless times over the years from people that drive our roads daily. As soon as you get out of their area and hit another jurisdiction the difference is like night and day, or should I say like life and death. YRB should be made to post a bond and an independent should be monitoring the roads. If they do a crap job, they should lose that bond and their job tendered out. If other areas can do a good job they should be able to do one too. I don’t know what the problem is. But there is one. And I don’t want to hear how if they sand the wind blows it off the road, that’s BS, sure there may be some merit there in the harshest of conditions but I’ve driven the same conditions in other areas and if the roads are sanded/salted there and if HMC (for example) can do it, YRB should be able to do it too. People need to bitch more. Either have an outfit that can handle it or get someone that can. Pretty bad when even the bush roads are better than the damn highways.

I talked to the Dept of highways last winter about no plows being on the highways. It was 10:30 am and the highway was not plowed toward Hixon. There was at least 8 inches of slush on the highway and many vehicles in the ditch. I asked who is responsible for inspecting road conditions and was told the ministry does not do that but YRB have their own people do it. So there you go you have it the fox guarding the chicken house.

Yes, there you go. No wonder their work continues to be subpar. I’ve also heard the complaint a few times that they often don’t get out early enough and get the snow off of the highways before it builds up and freezes into solid ice. It sounds like they are cutting corners and I certainly don’t think it’s conducive to the public’s safety to have them inspecting their own work. If the public wants better service we have to make some changes. Having an independent inspector should surely be one if them.

oldman1, you mean we don’t have highways inspectors anymore? I used to call them when Argo had the contract. I had their business cards and they used to really jump on them.

Give more–Unless things have changed this is what I was told last year and was not very pleased about it. The roads are getting to be like MT Polley problems.

Who owns YRB ? employee owned in the PG area ? one guy ? a few ? , sorry for the ignorance here. Hope someone can answer, Thanks.

YRB was employee owned when the Provincial Government first privatized highway maintenance, but I’m not sure if that is still the case.
I hate to complain about the job that YRB does, because sometimes they do a good job. The problem is, they don’t always do a good job, it seems to be hit and miss.
metalman.

I have to wonder if YRB’s biggest issue is the amount of real estate they have to cover? 1800 km of road or something like that. No idea how much the other guys have to cope with.

Personally, I think YRB does a pretty good job. Just too bad that we have an inordinate number of idiots out on the roads.