Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes of the opposition BC United/Liberal Party called out the governing NDP on the long discussed replacement of the aging Quesnel River Bridge and its adjoining rail overpass.
The spring freshet is a time of concern for infrastructure, and also the time that kicks off major construction. Oakes demanded answers on this local project.
“Wildfires, floods and landslides in Cariboo North have caused dramatic damage in recent years, with hundreds of roads impacted, washed out and/or collapsed. Urgency is desperately needed for preventative work and maintenance on rural roads, bridges and culverts. The current condition of the Quesnel River Bridge and rail overpass (is) very concerning, and the lack of a concrete plan is equally alarming,” said Oakes, in the Legislature. “Record levels of snow have already fallen this year, and more is expected. People are bracing for a potential disaster with spring freshet. To the premier: what is the plan for the Quesnel River Bridge and rail overpass, a vital link for Highway 97’s transportation network?”
The premier deferred the answer to minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Rob Fleming, who immediately responded to Oakes’ question.
“Thank you to the member for the question,” Fleming said. “She and I have had an opportunity to speak on many occasions, over many freshets and recent calendar years, where roads in the Cariboo have sustained significant damage and where slide activity has emerged, where it was previously not a factor. This is due to the impact of wildfires, as the member correctly noted.
“I think the member also knows that in every instance where we have literally restored connectivity for hundreds of roads, this government has spared no expense to get people to and from work; to and from school; to use the construction seasons in the spring and summer; and to work as quickly as we can to restore the Cariboo communities that have lost road access. We will continue to do that.
“(We have) worked with the federal government...We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the West Fraser Road, for example, to in fact reallocate corridors to areas that are away from climate risk and further damage in the future, to build resiliency (sic). We will continue to do that.”
The Quesnel River Bridge and the rail overpass are the needed first dominos in a series of anticipated upgrades to modernize traffic routing through Quesnel, for future growth and overall safety. While the long-range hope is for an interconnector plan that was recently designed, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has balked at moving ahead on it. However, the need to replace the bridge and address the rail overpass is still high on the list of upgrades local transportation stakeholders are calling for.
See Coralee Oakes’ speech in the Legislature here.
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