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VANRIDERFAN Jul 24, 2013 3:48 AM

Does anyone know if there will be any construction at Kicking Horse Pass this year? Their website has not been updated for over a year now.

craner Jul 25, 2013 6:53 PM

^I know, I keep checking that website for updates but it's gone quiet. This concerns me as I fear work on the other phases will go into hibernation for years now. And they had all that momentum going from phase to phase.
:(:???:

Daguy Jul 26, 2013 6:52 PM

^ I think it will slow down unfortunately. I would expect that one piece of Phase 4 will be announced by 2014, but I can't see it as big of a priority as the initial phases. The safety concerns are the blanket for the government's real concern: time saving to provide economic benefits. There's simply more bang for buck in upgrading other segments along the highway.

I was disappointed to see that the date of completion for Monte Creek Phase II pushed back. Around the election time when I was driving to Kamloops it said fall 2014 completion, but the signs now read summer 2015, and little work has been started.

Phase I of Pritchard to Monte Creek is fully underway. Tree clearing in the alignment has mostly been completed, power lines are being relocated, and some initial earthwork on what will be the connecting roads has begun. One of these days I'll stop to take a few pics. Estimated completion time is summer 2014.

Repaving between Chase and Hoffman's Bluff is completed, along with the Neskolith intersection upgrade, which is making my ride a lot smoother I must say!

Yahoo Jul 26, 2013 7:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 240glt (Post 6207412)
^ I It's people like you that give all Albertans a bad name in BC.

I'm not sure who this is directed to. Probably me. A property owner in BC who pays taxes and spends a lot of tourist dollars in BC. Someone who spends as much time in BC as I can.

I don't get your attitude. If someone complains about the roads in BC you take it as a personal attack - swear and insult every person in Alberta???:shrug:

I guess you might even have a plan - if people think BC residents are jerks I guess you're hoping there will be less traffic. If only you were that smart.

I guess someone from Alberta did you wrong once. Or you saw plates on an idiot driver and they were from Alberta. We all have stories of bad drivers from other areas - and yes there are lots of bad drivers in Alberta (and everywhere).

This is a roads forum. People are generally going to talk about bad areas. Get over it. BC is way behind. It's because they've (politicians) ignored the transcanada highway since it was built - at least through most of the interior. There has been some great progress, but read the government website. They openly state that many of the places they're targeting for repairs are extremely dangerous and they're way behind other provinces. And they also mention roads are economically important - even ones that you don't use. They even have death counts. So pout all you want - BC has not done enough and is far behind. And it's not just Albertan's that think that. It's people from BC, Australia, Hong Kong, and Europe that I know. Some won't even go to BC because of the KCH (personally I think it's cool there - and the bad part isn't so bad now since at least it's short)

It's not like Alberta is any kind of road paradise. There are plenty of badly needed roadworks that are also ignored for decades as the body count piles up. But since this is a BC forum I'll focus on the douchbaggy (your favorite word) parts of the BC road system.

Yahoo Jul 26, 2013 7:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN (Post 6208109)
Does anyone know if there will be any construction at Kicking Horse Pass this year? Their website has not been updated for over a year now.

Gotta love the last photo they posted. It looks like the 2 guys are going to get squished.

http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/kickinghorse/khc_updates.htm

I think they might still be working on the 4 km wall (don't get excited - the 4 km wall is only 1.2 km long). Interesting naming choice :haha:

The big projects we're all hoping for are awaiting federal funding. Politicians like their photo ops so if it's anything like the Alberta twinning they'll be announcing things over an over when they finally do decide. I'm not sure when that'll be though - since it's such an expensive project, and of course they're also asking the Feds to twin the parks. Maybe the feds are awaiting provincial funding for those areas :haha: And then there's the other something like 300 km to go.

At least BC announced funding for a decade. It won't put much of a dent in it, but it's better than nothing.

Stingray2004 Jul 27, 2013 1:01 AM

A couple of points regarding the KHC section of Hwy 1.

1. After the recent May 14 election, new BC MoTI minister Todd Stone was interviewed by the Journal of Commerce on July 3 and confirms that he was given a mandate letter stating the priorities of the ministry and the KHC is in the top 3:

Quote:

As with all members of Christy Clark’s new cabinet, Stone was given a mandate letter that sets out the priorities for his ministry.

Several projects were at the top of his list.


First, was completion of the South Fraser Perimeter Road by the end of 2013.

Second, was continued work on the Cariboo Connector, a five-year project to widen Highway 97 to four lanes between Cache Creek and Prince George.

Next is a joint project with the federal government on major improvements to the vulnerable Kicking Horse Canyon route, east of Golden, Stone said.
http://www.journalofcommerce.com/art...ildingenvelope

2. The fed's new, 10-year, $58 Building Canada Fund was announced in ~June and will likely be the source to provide 50 -50 funding for different stages of Phase 4 as we move forward.

Am not familiar with the bureaucracy behind the new Building Canada Fund, but I suspect that a new section of the KHC within phase 4 will be announced either later this fall or next spring at the latest - also suspect that things will proceed in this manner over the coming years until the remaining ~4 km is completed.

craner Jul 29, 2013 6:50 PM

^Thanks for the info Stingray. I guess we'll just watch for the announcements.

Stingray2004 Jul 30, 2013 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daguy (Post 6211701)
I was disappointed to see that the date of completion for Monte Creek Phase II pushed back. Around the election time when I was driving to Kamloops it said fall 2014 completion, but the signs now read summer 2015, and little work has been started.

Phase I of Pritchard to Monte Creek is fully underway. Tree clearing in the alignment has mostly been completed, power lines are being relocated, and some initial earthwork on what will be the connecting roads has begun. One of these days I'll stop to take a few pics. Estimated completion time is summer 2014.

BC MoTI press release from today:

Quote:

Monday, July 29, 2013
PRITCHARD - The start of construction on two projects that will improve safety on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Kamloops was celebrated today by Cathy McLeod, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue and Member of Parliament for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo and British Columbia's Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone.

"The Government of Canada is committed to making sure our roads are safe, modern and efficient," said Parliamentary Secretary McLeod. "By investing in these projects, we are helping to improve safety and ease traffic congestion for residents and travellers along these heavily-used stretches of Highway 1."

"With shovels in the ground on these two projects, we're moving forward on these much anticipated safety improvements to the Trans-Canada Highway," said Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone. "It's part of our commitment to continue upgrading the Trans-Canada Highway to four lanes between Kamloops and Alberta, to improve safety for all highway users."

The two Highway 1 projects include Phase 2 of the Monte Creek to Pritchard project and Phase 1 of the Pritchard to Hoffman's Bluff project. The governments of Canada and British Columbia are investing $110.6 million to improve Highway 1 between Monte Creek and Hoffman's Bluff, with the Government of Canada contributing a maximum of $43.6 million through the Building Canada Fund.
http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2013/0...rovements.html

Yahoo Aug 12, 2013 7:18 PM

Just got back from a Kamloops to Alberta border trip. From what I remember this is a list of the construction activity in BC along this route that they claim to be twinning:

1.
2.
3.

That's right - pretty much nothing being done at all.

There were a few short single lane sections that were repaved, and someone was nice enough to add "bump" signs in some of the worst sections. But even the KHC short little "4 km" project (which is 1 km long) looks like it's abandoned. I realize we're in "the between period" though. That's the period where politicians like to look like something is being done, and the long "design" stage where apparently nothing is done. As a result, we never see new projects done until 4-6 years after they completed old ones. They're really keeping up with the snails pace. New signs and website though - if you call that progress. (taxpayers I guess needed new signs and new websites to replace the old inadequate ones lol, but if history repeats itself there will be little to know updates).

There is some minor construction in Salmon Arm - near where they announced a new project (a new project that apparently ignores the extremely narrow bridge that needs to be replaced). But for now I think it's just local construction getting utilities in place for the new Waly-Mart rather than the twinning project which is still in its multi-year design phase (flat land, nothing in the way, easy terrain, long design process lol). Even when that's doubled it's not a big project. There might also be a few feet of construction into Yoho on the Banff side, but I can't tell because the border marking is gone. They recently finished repairing the Yoho bridges that were in danger of collapse so that's a good indication there is no intention to twin the highway near Field anytime soon.

I confirmed that Craigellachie is actually only single lane in the two bridges in the area where BC marked the project complete on the new website. Seems they replaced an old bridge at the end of it's life with a new single lane bridge and they consider that twinned??? They're forgetting 1 lane in each direction isn't "twinned", and of course the second very narrow bridge in that area is also 1 lane.

KHC is nice on the sections that are done, but the 100 km design speed seems a bit fast for some areas around the big bridge. I hate to say it but 90 kph makes more sense there. Sure, it's one of the few places worthy of a center median but the turns are sharp, the shoulders are narrow, and it's still pretty steep - enough to get an inexperienced driver in trouble at 100k. Perhaps just a recommended 90 k would be safer.

Donald and Clanwilliam are great now (but sadly very little roadway is doubled as a result, and the BC government is ignoring the serious safety issues by not putting in center barriers or medians on new sections - Clanwilliam only has them over the bridge, Donald doesn't even have them at all).

My guess for all the foot dragging is perhaps they're waiting word from the feds on funding help (which may never come)? I thought BC brought in a big gasoline tax to help pay for roadworks? In any case the prices of gasoline along the route are in full gouge mode - 30+ cents higher in some areas than others. Repeat tourists & truckers know which towns to avoid.

If they were on the ball designs and funding requests would be made well ahead of time so we don't have 5 year waits on projects that only take 2 years to complete. But politicians like the waits so they can make announcements when it's politically adventitious. Ideally we wouldn't have years where nothing is done and then years with multiple projects and disruptions. I really feel for the truckers and interior BC folks.

The TCH highway closures barely make the news anymore. I talked to a trucker and he said the backup on the August 3rd weekend was the worst he's seen in 30 years of running from BC to Alberta. This was a week after the 8 hr highway closure. I guess he was returning to BC and the traffic was backed up from Golden all the way to Lake Louise. Unfortunately he was stuck in it and unable to take the 7 hr extra detour.

What struck me is the number of easy sections that are still single lane. Ones that should have been done say 30-40 years ago. Some of the new sections they announced near Kamloops I was imagining some difficult dangerous roadway. Turns out that rather than Chase/Golden type terrain, it's mostly Saskatchewan class. You see that all along the drive - easy places to at least build cheap passing lanes, but there is nothing. The excuse some people have given about how difficult it is to build in BC really shows that it's just an excuse, not a reality. If it was really the issue the easy congested sections would be been done years ago. Oh well, minor progress from time to time is much better than the old method of virtually no progress.

Daguy Aug 13, 2013 3:24 AM

^ I think the message on median barriers has finally sunk in because most of the projects currently announced are proposed to have them. I agree that it is snail's pace in general however.

The widening to four lanes between 10 and 30 St SW in Salmon Arm is underway to coincide with Walmart's opening in November, but it looks like only the more westerly portion is being worked on at the moment. The wait times have been pretty frustrating with all the holiday traffic right now.

I guess I'm just happy that the sections that are currently underway are between Salmon Arm and Kamloops, the main part of the highway I use lol

craner Aug 13, 2013 7:02 PM

Has a Salmon Arm by-pass ever been considered?
I'm really starting to doubt I'll see the TCH twinned through BC in my lifetime.:brickwall:

Metro-One Aug 13, 2013 7:50 PM

For fuck sakes, it is Yahoo's periodic post again, and again everyone falls for it, and again he fails to realize everything explained to him the last time he posted a huge rant.

Yahoo, instead of doing this every few months please just go back read you previous rant, and read all the responses to it over the last few pages of this thread.

But or fun, here is quick summary:

Huge portions of the TCH between Kamloops and Alberta are federal, not provincial.

Building highways in BC is insanely expensive compared to Alberta for various geographical and geological reasons.

BC is not linear, we have many other important highways than just the TCH to improve upon, and have been doing so (quick examples are the Cariboo Connecter 4 lanning project to Prince George, the Okanagan corridor 4 lanning projects which are insanely expensive being built along cliffs over hanging lakes)

BC has no major population centers east of Salmon Arm, hence connections between Kamloops / Okanagan / Lower Mainland / Vancouver Island / and now Prince George take priority.

BC is criss-crossed with huge rivers / lakes not found in Alberta, and big bridges are very expensive, and many have recently been built.

I could go on, but it is pointless.

All I can say is my trips to Kamloops this summer have been a breeze from Vancouver with nice freeways the entire length ;)

It is also nice to see all the twinning action in the Cariboo to where my parents live near 100 mile ;)

And to answer Craner's question, yes a by-pass has been toyed with in the past, but it would involve a very long bridge over the lake. Therefore it would be very expensive, also the city of Salmon Arm would probably be against it as would environmentalists, etc...

240glt Aug 13, 2013 8:24 PM

^ He'll never be happy until he can get to his little shack on Shuswap in 3.5 hours. That's all he really cares about. Should'a bought in Windermere I guess :haha:


In other highway news, Got back from my big BC tour, a few notable highway related items.

- NW Stoney Trail around Calgary is awesome! 20 minutes, done. No screwing around at all. SOOOO happy that there is proper Calgary bypass, too bad the SW portion is still so up in the air.

Kootenay Parkway still a nice drive, but lots of SLOOWWW drivers and dirtbags who want to go 140+, few passing opportunities making it a very confrontational highway. It seems to have gotten worse in the past few years

All highways in the Kootenays seem to be the same as always, Hwy 6 from Nakusp to Fauquier is really really rough (badly heaved) and if anyone actually wants to see what a piece of highway worth complaining about looks like, take the Monashee pass. Wow.. my partner who's born & bred Albertan was starting to turn green on the stretch west from Needles. I had fun though.

THey are just about ready to open the new section of 97 above Woods lake, they were painting lines as we went through. Kelowna congestion is as bad as I have ever seen it. Rolling in at OUC, traffic basically stopped, adnd it stayed that way all the way to the bridge. Traffic going in the other direction was backed up for miles.. it's exactly the same as it was when the old floating bridge used to be there. Just goes to show that upgrading road capacity is somewhat futile, as traffic will always grow to fill it. Decided to take Westside road back to Vernon from Westbank.. always a fun & pleasant drive.

Construction south of 70 mile wasn't too bad and didn't have to stop, just slow down.

Highway 5 from Little Fort to the 5/16 interchange is usually an easy drive as the traffic is moderate and there's tonnes of passing but this past weekend it was packed, making for a very slow trip. Saw three crashes involving travel trailers. a new passing stretch was completed at Blue River, but the road could usa a few more

Yahoo Aug 13, 2013 10:30 PM

See I got lotsa feathers ruffled here by the regulars. Hopefully some of them are with some people who can actually do something about the sad state of the road.

I guess they don't understand that people have opinions that don't necessarily agree with yours. And that discussing the problem once isn't enough.

I repeat myself, because people pick and choose and ignore the reality when they comment, and believe it or not people don't always go back and read every old comment. If you don't like my comments skip them. Personally I love reading comments - even negative ones about me.

I know huge portions are federal. That's why I comment about the national park areas. I know the terrain is difficult, that's why I mention things not being done in areas even where the terrain isn't difficult. I know it's costly, and comment about how the inaction is what lead to the mess and how you could save money if you actually did something instead of talk about it.

What are some of you people - politicians? You think posting a sign saying you'll upgrade the highway with no information, then posting new signs 5 years later is progress? :shrug: Read the own BC gov website and you'll hear honest opinions about the issues.

This is a comment forum, and that's what I'm doing. Relating experiences and comments. The road is bad for the BC economy, bad for tourism (which BC spends a fortune on advertizing for), and it's frigging dangerous. Talk to the family of the guy in Revelstoke that died 2 weeks ago. Talk to the people stuck on the highway for 8 hours or about the highway closures that frustrate local politicians. This isn't about driving to Shuswap you shmuck. I think it's about how hostile BC people are becoming to Albertans. I don't know what it is - jealousy? Believe me, there is no reason to be jealous of Alberta - the roads in Alberta are not great and like BC upgrades occur at a snails pace. (Alberta snails are slightly faster though). And the last section being done in Banff is Federal you see - not provincial. But for some reason BC hasn't been pressuring the Feds to fix their parks like Alberta has. Heck, even environmentalists are on board now and agree that fixing Banff has been a big success for wildlife protection. (if you bother to read the Parks Canada info)

Whatever - I'll post when and if I chose - which is usually when I drive the road. If I state anything that's wrong please call me out on it. But I don't care or want to hear from people who aren't willing to discuss or listen. A twinned TCH in BC has huge economic benefits.

The roads in BC need work - and I appreciate that it's being done. But I'm not going to accept some politicians BS. If it wasn't BS we'd have ONE BLOODY TCH PROJECT UNDERWAY now wouldn't we? But of the what 20 km/300 km of new projects announced last year none are under construction. Not one.

DRIVE THE ROAD AND YOU'LL SEE THAT THIS ENTIRE CONSTRUCTION SEASON IS BEING WASTED IN BC. Except for the sign installers I guess :-)

Yahoo Aug 13, 2013 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craner (Post 6231267)
Has a Salmon Arm by-pass ever been considered?
I'm really starting to doubt I'll see the TCH twinned through BC in my lifetime.:brickwall:

Yes, but I believe it involves an expensive bridge over the Shuswap so it'll likely never happen. Like with the potential Golden bypass I think you'd upset too many locals and businesses to ever do it.

Yahoo Aug 13, 2013 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daguy (Post 6230413)
^ The wait times have been pretty frustrating with all the holiday traffic right now.

I guess I'm just happy that the sections that are currently underway are between Salmon Arm and Kamloops, the main part of the highway I use lol

I made about 6 trips through SA in the last couple weeks (visiting someone in the hospital) and I guess I was lucky, I never had to wait anymore than a typical light cycle.

Someday I'll retire in Salmon Arm, I love that little city. The upgrades they've done between there and Kamloops are pretty sweet - although some sections are still awaiting center barriers.

Yahoo Aug 13, 2013 11:20 PM

Sorry about all the posts - I have free time :-)

Would it make sense to award a continual design & build contract to complete the TCH twinning project in BC and give a budget of say $50M per year? (that's even less than they budgeted for).

The construction companies would have assured jobs, the cost wouldn't be excessive and there would be faster progress. Even for the last expensive KHC section they indicated it could be built in phases, so $50M/yr could work for the most part even on that section - especially when you know there will be another $50M the next year, and the next etc. I think some politicians just mention high costs to delay things, where if you spread it out and made continual reasonable budgets things could really happen.

Mazrim Aug 14, 2013 6:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 240glt (Post 6231413)
Hwy 6 from Nakusp to Fauquier is really really rough (badly heaved) and if anyone actually wants to see what a piece of highway worth complaining about looks like, take the Monashee pass. Wow.. my partner who's born & bred Albertan was starting to turn green on the stretch west from Needles. I had fun though.

Kelowna congestion is as bad as I have ever seen it. Rolling in at OUC, traffic basically stopped, adnd it stayed that way all the way to the bridge. Traffic going in the other direction was backed up for miles.. it's exactly the same as it was when the old floating bridge used to be there. Just goes to show that upgrading road capacity is somewhat futile, as traffic will always grow to fill it.

Highway 6 has been like that for a long time. Give them some credit though...they're actually making changes near Lumby and did some paving this year. Once you get past the twisty stuff North of Fauquier the drive to Nakusp and on to Galena Bay is quite nice. Monashee Pass is very fun to drive! :)

You were driving through Kelowna at the busiest time of the year, so I wouldn't say that's a fair assessment of the traffic there. Even a couple weeks from now will be worlds different on Highway 97 through the City. The bridge has been a huge improvement to the area, though it may not be apparent during the peak tourist season.

Stingray2004 Aug 15, 2013 12:42 AM

Update on the Winfield to Oyama section of Hwy 97:

Looks like it has now been virtually completely line-striped as well as all barrier installed. Wouldn`t be surprised now to see it open within the next day or two:

North End facing north:

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/httphandlers/i...6796&mode=prev

North End facing south:

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/httphandlers/i...7061&mode=prev

South End facing north:

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/httphandlers/i...7006&mode=prev

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/httphandlers/i...7138&mode=prev

Facing South

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/httphandlers/i...6072&mode=prev

Facing North:

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/httphandlers/i...6094&mode=prev

craner Aug 16, 2013 5:42 AM

^ Very Nice !


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