Resource Road Act Pulled

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 04:00 AM

Prince George, B.C. - The Resource Road Act, which would have married road requirements and safety rules of several provincial ministries, has been pulled.

Introduced in the Provincial Legislature April 16^th, the act was a framework to develop standards that were to be met by workers in all sectors. It was to apply common standards for resources road construction, maintenance, use and deactivation.

Now it may be years away from becoming a reality.

“I have to say I am disappointed” says MaryAnne Arcand, the Director of Forestry Truck Safe and Northern Initiatives for B.C. “This was just the framework and it would have taken at least another 15 months to develop the regulations.”

With an election next May it is unlikely this legislation will be back before a Provincial Government until the fall of 2009, Arcand worries any possible new rules will be 3-4 years down the road. “It means the current way of doing business will carry on, which is not safe” says Arcand.

She says many of the forestry roads now being used for access to gravel pits, or oil and gas, were never designed to carry the kind of heavy equipment that is using them “Some of the forestry roads were designed 40 to 50 years ago, this legislation would have had several ministries sharing the cost to maintain the roads, and bring the infrastructure to a level that accurately reflects the type of traffic that uses the roads.”

The act was supposed to :

permit consistent standards for road construction, maintenance, use and deactivation to improve safety and enhance enforcement;
create a single resource road permit for industrial users rather than requiring them to obtain several permits;
enable primary road authorization holders to recover their capital investment in roads as well as reasonable road maintenance costs from secondary industrial users;
allow road permit holders to work with each other to improve safety, reduce potential conflicts and reduce the potential duplication of road systems; and
establish a Resource Road Authority that will ensure consistent application of the act and regulations. The authority will resolve disputes and restrict the use of high-use resource roads in order to improve safety.

Arcand says she will continue to work towards having such legislation introduced and passed “It was part of my action plan three years ago, We (Forestry Truck Safe) will continue to lobby for it . We’re not giving up.”

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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on May 14 2008 7:45 AM

Was the impact going to be too costly for industry? About 80% of the gravel roads in BC require drivers to pay attention and be on the radio. The problem is the Darwin nominees will continue to endanger the rest of the population that use these road responsibly.

Posted by: owl on May 14 2008 8:29 AM

There is also resistance to educating the Darwinian drivers ....

I liken it to the signs on 5th avenue which are supposed to prevent bicyclists from using the road from Central eastward since there is no lane for them and the street is narrow compared to most such streets in town. They should be smart enough to do so on their own. So who gives a chit, right?

The fact that a facility is not designed for the use to which it is put on a daily basis is an important one to consider and should not be brushed off lightly.

While the drivers may be Darwinian, so is everyone in the Industry and government that has anything to do with having infrastructure in place that is capable to handle the use to the appropriate level.

It really shows that safety comes last, cost comes first and people really do not care about anything else. Says something about our BC society in the 21st century that is not exactly pleasant in my mind.

I see this as another north-south issue as well. $Billion spent to upgrade the sea to sky highway for Darwinian recreation oriented drivers there while nothing is spent on Darwinian industry drivers here.

Not only totally Darwinian but also bizzare, stupid and criminal. Maybe we need to make a few aware of West Ray Mine and Bill C-45 addition to the Criminal Code regarding the due diligence of corporate entities, governments and people in responsible positions.

Nothing to be flippantly brushed off, YDPC, as you so often do in your Darwinian fashion just to create a bit of controversy.

;-)

Posted by: lostfaith on May 14 2008 10:57 AM

Calling loaded on the Kluskus FSR a few yrs ago with my pickup and 22ft travel trailer I was almost killed because some lowbed wasn't calling empty. I exploded on the radio at him and his response was "It's common practice here that we don't call empty and I knew where you were".

Posted by: realitysetsin on May 14 2008 12:20 PM

I almost think it would be safer if people didn't use radio's. My experience is that people drive to the radio and make assumption that no one is coming.

The best practice is to slow down and drive defensively.

Posted by: owl on May 14 2008 12:21 PM

He is correct ...... however it is rather stuppid, isn't it .... he is flying with "vision" .. you are flying "blind" .... there goes half of a failsafe system .....

Posted by: Harbinger on May 14 2008 12:53 PM

While driving east on 5th Ave. last week I honked at a guy riding a bike on the road. He gave me the finger after that. I wonder how many times he will get away with that before he has B.F. Goodrich tire tracks on him?.

Posted by: lostfaith on May 14 2008 1:03 PM

Bikes have the same rights on the road as do motor vehicles. However I believe they are not permitted on 5th ave.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on May 14 2008 8:10 PM

Owl "..Nothing to be flippantly brushed off, YDPC, as you so often do in your Darwinian fashion just to create a bit of controversy.."

Huh???

Posted by: RRrabbitt on May 15 2008 2:02 PM

Actually bikes have MORE rights on the road than do motor vehicles... WAY MORE ... bikes can go up or down a street in the wrong lane... they can ride face-on into traffic on the highway... they don't have to stop at stop signs or yield at yield signs... they can drive down the sidewalk... they can park laying on the ground in front of a business doorway... they don't have to signal their intentions to anyone following or meeting them...

Yep... bikes can do pretty much anything they want to without respect for anyone else on the road... or even a legal responsibility to avoid getting run over by a law abiding driver in a motor vehicle.

Especially good when old bikes teach young bikes how to perform as mentioned above.

Goodtimes ... :-)

Posted by: interceptor on May 15 2008 5:04 PM

Actually lostfaith, if a road gets busy sometimes the empties will keep quiet so there is less clutter on the radio. I have also seen signs that say "only call loaded kms". The empties should always be out of the way though - unless you were driving to the radio and, assuming no one was coming, didnt "quite" stay completely on your own side of the road? ;-)

Posted by: lostfaith on May 16 2008 5:24 PM

This happened on a Sunday afternoon and there was no other radio traffic. This lowbed came screaming around the corner in the center of the road. I'm pretty sur there are no such signs on the Kluskus.