With winter on its way, west coast drivers should begin to prepare for the onslaught of bleak and unpredictable weather that can affect roads and driving conditions.
To help make road conditions more bearable and safe for drivers, Mainroad Contracting will service mid-Island highways 24 hours per day, seven days per week this winter.
Mainroad, who have a maintenance yard in Parksville, won a provincial maintenance contract for the mid-Island and also service the North and South Island areas.
Rick Gill, general manager with Mainroad, said this year, the company has higher expectations from the province to more widely promote road and weather conditions for the public.
“We will notify stakeholders on a regular basis, weather changes or events that happen on the highway to keep stakeholders engaged in the process,” Gill said. “Teach people to be prepared.”
Gill said the company gets top-notch reports from a specialized weather forecaster so they can initiate pre-storm preparation on highways.
“We’re always looking for what the impact of the weather is going to have on the road surface,” Gill said. “We don’t really care what comes out of the sky, it’s either going to be snow or rain but what we’re really concerned about is the impact it’s going to have on the highway surface so we know how to treat the surface.”
A big change Mainroad will bring to the mid-Island region will be the addition of a salt brine application.
Salt brine is a mixture of water and salt (23 per cent) that is applied to roadways in preparation for snow and ice.
“It glues itself to the road. If you put an application of it down on a cold day and there’s very little moisture, you can get two or three days of freeze protection out of that product,” Gill said.
“In the old days it was just rock crystal salt. Crystal doesn’t do anything until it becomes a liquid so we just accelerate it and make it become a liquid and distribute it on the road as a liquid. The nice thing about it is once you put it on the road it doesn’t blow off the road.”
Gill said the company has purchased tankers that can carry up to 20,000 litres of salt brine.
“We anticipate we could go through up to about nine million litres of brine to be used every season,” Gill said.
He added that they’re looking at possibly using up to 4,000 tonnes of salt and 4,000 tonnes of sand each winter season.
Mainroad has a 24-hour hotline (1-877-215-6006) that the public can call to report road and safety hazards.
Some winter safety tips for drivers include:
- Install four matched winter tires with the winter tire logo
- Give your vehicle a checkup
- Equip your vehicle with a winter survival kit (water, non-perishable food, blankets, flares, matches and flashlight)
- Know before you go (visit DriveBC for current road conditions)