Whereas there are increased issues in terms of timeliness and quality of snow and ice removal in rural areas, particularly during the past 2017 2018-winter snow season; And whereas the deteriorating level of winter maintenance in rural areas is creating a public safety issue in regards to emergency response vehicles fire, police, ambulance having the ability to access streets and roadways in the event of emergency, and affecting school bus routes, leading to unsafe situations for drivers, passengers and pedestrians: Therefore be it resolved that the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure be requested to immediately undertake a review of their contractor obligations, and agreement specifications for snow and ice control in the rural areas, including a review of minimum equipment standards and staffing requirements.
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure The current winter maintenance standards have been in place since 2003. At that time these standards were similar to other jurisdictions around North America. For example the maximum snow accumulation standard was the same as New York State and the bare pavement after a weather event standard was the same as Washington State. Since that time the weather and climate has been changing in B.C. with more frequent high intensity snowfall events and greater freeze-thaw cycles occurring. In addition, drivers expectations of maintenance standards have increased. To manage these expectations the Ministry has doubled the level of winter monitoring of the maintenance contractor out in the field over the last few years and has also increased the number of reviews of the maintenance contractors procedures and processes. As part of the retendering of the highway maintenance contracts the Ministry reviewed the current maintenance standards taking into consideration the issues identified from our monitoring, audits and input from our stakeholders over the last several years. In addition, we have also recognized there is a change in climate and drivers expectations. In light of this, some of the changes include quicker response times to return pavement to bare after a weather event when the road temperature is -9 degrees or warmer, specific requirements to maintain compact snow for safe driving when the road temperature is below -9 degrees, specific requirements for the contractor to be more proactive and apply anti-icing chemicals or winter abrasives prior to a weather event and increased patrol frequencies prior to and during a weather event. In addition, the Ministry is updating the Contractor Assessment Program, which is the process used to audit and oversee the maintenance contractors performance to ensure the contractor is meeting their obligations.