Editor,
I’m concerned about the safety of B.C. citizens during our snow season.
The contract for road maintenance is up for bids in October 2019. New regulations are being implemented. Now is the time to contact our MLA. We need to pressure her to advocate for the welfare of her constituents.
Since the privatization of road maintenance our driveways are being blocked with up to three feet of snow and ice. This practice prevents access by all emergency vehicles. If your home is on fire, you and the fire department may have to watch it burn down. If anyone in your home is gravely ill or severely injured, you may have to watch them pass away. If someone in your home is being attacked, they may be crippled or killed. Any of these very possible incidents could have been prevented by the pull of a lever to lift the blade.
There is now a gate attachment which can be deployed to restrict snow from being pushed into driveways while still clearing roads. Instead, there is now a new policy to put our minds at ease. In the event that emergency vehicles are blocked, a call will be made to highway maintenance to go to that driveway. You and the emergency personnel would wait for the call to be made, wait for someone to drive a clearing machine (loaders and graders are not built for speed) to your home and then wait while the driveway is cleared.
This is intended to alleviate apprehension about the disabled and the elderly regardless of the distance from the highways work yard.
At this time of advanced technology, it is unacceptable for us to allow our homes and lives to be jeopardized. Particularly when there is a simple solution. Furthermore, it is illegal in many provinces to block access for emergency vehicles.
Jacqueline Bews
Quesnel, B.C.