Editor,
I am writing this letter regarding the 2018 West Fraser road wash out.
We purchased our farm out here knowing town was 45 minutes away. After the road wash out I honestly had no problem taking the Webster lake Gardner road detour. We chose to live out here, we are blessed to have a ranch and cows and live this amazing lifestyle, what is an extra half an hour on the drive if it is only temporary?
It was not until a few weeks later it really started to sink in how much this is going to affect everyone. Financially the fuel costs are way up. If you take a moment to think about how much supplies farmers and loggers out here need the West Fraser road wash-out is a life changing event.
We operate a logging company so I am travelling for parts every week if not several times a week, the extra fuel adds up quick. There is the extra time and cost for hauling machinery. There is the extra time for some farmers travelling to other hay crops on leased or owned land that is on the other side of Quesnel. For the families that work in town five days a week, that is another hour of travelling on top of what they were travelling before.
I know of one family with three members driving every day into town to get to work. For that household that is a huge amount of money going to fuel and taking away from their ability to pay bills or support local businesses. One lady is thinking about quitting her job and retiring early, even though she loves her job.
At a community meeting we were told it was not fall quite yet; Brad Moores said he should have some answers in two to three months.
I appreciate their honesty for trying and meeting with us. I understand these things take time and, yes, some answers were given and we are grateful for that. Emcon’s representative showed great enthusiasm on maintenance of the detour road. We were told there will be a day and night shift worker out here for winter road maintenance. Thank you for that.
But I and other community members have stated they are still afraid to meet a bus or logging truck at the worst switch back on the Webster Lake road in winter time. Go to the Buckridge Community Association Facebook page for a video of that corner.
Snowfall and ice could make for a horrible scene and we all do not want to see that happen. Ministry of Transportation had all summer to think about this and if they thought or knew it would take this long, why could they not fix that switch back on Webster Lake Road before winter?
I do not want to write this letter, I do not want to put pressure on anyone, but we have been told that the squeaky wheel gets the grease – so here I am.
As for me and my children, we will be in Williams Lake. It is closer for us now and I do not have to drive on a gravel road with logging trucks and switch-back corners. I drive a pick up with a tidy tank, so that means I will also be getting all my fuel in Williams Lake for our logging equipment, more dollars sadly taken out of Quesnel.
To whom it may concern: please fix our road. It is not just the 200-plus community members out here it is affecting. It is affecting all of Quesnel with loss of revenue and it will affect all of the traffic travelling northbound if Highway 97 has to be closed for a period of time, which we all know with winter driving is an absolute possibility.
I am asking all of you reading this, please help us! Here is a list of the people you can contact to help get our road fixed. Call or email, anything will help, tell them Quesnel is suffering from this. Let the government know this is a very serious and important matter. Our community needs help.
Claire Trevena, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure; Mike Lorimer, Southern Interior Region of Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure; Quesnel manager Brad Moores; Cariboo operations manager Ron McCormack; Cariboo district manager Todd Hubner; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; Premier John Horgan; MLA Coralee Oakes; Quesnel mayor Bob Simpson.
Kimberly Hohmann
Buckridge, B.C.