WHEREAS load width restrictions under the Commercial Transport Act prevent the transportation of mobile or modular homes over 16 feet wide on BC highways, even though special permits can be obtained for commercial and industrial transportation purposes for loads up to 20 feet wide; AND WHEREAS the cost of erecting a stick built home in northern British Columbia is very high and citizens should be entitled to have enhanced accommodation options in the north since healthy communities depend on strong economies, which include access to housing options with a variety of styles and price ranges to choose from and especially in those areas where there are short building seasons, limited housing and rental markets, and a limited number of housing developers: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Minister of Attorney General, the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, and the Minister of Transportation be requested to work with municipal and regional elected officials of northern British Columbia in amending existing legislation to allow for the safe transportation of mobile or modular homes up to 20 feet in width on BC highways to allow all British Columbians equitable housing options no matter what area of the province they reside in.
Ministry of Transportation Safety concerns factor highly in deciding where and to what degree allowable overwidth loads can be permitted. This limitation is intended to minimize road safety risk, such as encroachment of loads into adjacent and oncoming lanes and load security of wider loads. Manufactured homes and other large loads are limited to 4.4 metres 14 4 in width on all British Columbia highways. On a route specific permit basis, the maximum allowable width for regularly transported loads in British Columbia can be extended to 5.0 metres 16 4, providing certain criteria are met. These limits are set on the basis of infrastructure limitations and safety considerations i.e., narrow winding nature of the road, the road infrastructure including bridges and snow sheds, shoulder widths, etc.. Loads in excess of 5.0 metres can be moved, but due to safety considerations they are assessed and handled on an exceptional one-time only basis. Infrastructure capacity and road safety remain the primary factors considered in the review of requests to permit wider over-dimensional loads. The exceptions to these rules involve the movement of loads of up to 5.0 metres in width along pre-approved routes. These loads are normally building components, manufactured homes and houseboats. These 5.0 metre load routes are assessed and approved through cooperation between the Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement, Ministry of Transportation, the RCMP, and any municipality on the route. Approval occurs where the route is found to be safe and where only minor impediments to other private and commercial highway users will result. While special permits can be obtained for commercial and industrial transportation purposes for loads up to 20 feet wide, these loads are considered on an individual, on-off basis within 100 km range and are permitted to move between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. on weekdays. The difference in the movement of these loads compared to the movement of mobile homes is that the latter has only one articulating point causing substantially more off tracking. Heavy haul combination may have up to four articulating points which greatly increases their maneuverability and safety on-road. The Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement Branch did a load evaluation of a 6.1 metres 20 mobile home in the Fort St. John area in 2003. Their evaluation identified numerous safety issues, and it was determined that loads of that size could not be managed satisfactorily given the current road infrastructure. Specific challenges along the route include a maximum road width of 11.0 metres, several bridges with widths as narrow as 7.9 metres, and tight turns in the highway. Therefore, incidents may arise where a 4.4 m or 5.0 m wide load and a 6.1 m wide load meet on a narrow stretch of two-lane highway. At best, this would require the closing of a section of the highway. At worst, this type of incident could result in an endangerment to others traveling that same stretch of road. The opportunity for this type of incident to occur is likely to be considerable on Highway 97 north of Dawson Creek where the volume of truck traffic is substantial.