Whereas many rural and remote communities throughout British Columbia rely on resource roads for food, fuel and medical services; And whereas the lower maintenance standards for these roads compared with other provincial roads have contributed to motor vehicle injuries and fatalities: Therefore be it resolved that the Province establish defined standards for construction, maintenance, and enforcement for resource roads that serve as the primary or secondary access roads for communities, funded similarly to the public highway system.
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure contributes approximately 1 million per year to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development FLNRORD for enhanced maintenance on resource roads with residences. This program has been in place since the early 2000s. Resource roads are typically one to two lane gravel roads built for industrial purposes to access natural resources in remote areas. Over 620,000 kilometers of roads in British Columbia are considered resource roads. Resource roads are not built or maintained to the same standards as paved public roadways maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. Most resource roads are under the jurisdiction of FLNRORD or Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation EMLI and therefore these ministries are responsible for defining the standards for construction and maintenance for resource roads. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure encourages raising this matter with FLNRORD and EMLI.