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First Nations want details on how Bamfield road will be upgraded

Premier John Horgan to meet with Huu-ay-aht First Nations today to discuss logging road where fatal crash took place
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Dodging potholes is common along Bamfield Main, the gravel logging road between Port Alberni and Bamfield. Sept. 14, 2019.

Premier John Horgan needs to specify how and when the province will upgrade Bamfield Main, the site of a deadly bus crash, when he meets with the Huu-ay-aht First Nations today in Vancouver, said chief councillor Robert Dennis.

“We want to hear how is he going to live up to his commitment to upgrade that road, what is the timing, what are the money factors, who are we going to [sign] to get the work done,” said Dennis.

“Those are all critical things to make the work happen and certainly, from our end, we have our team in place and we’re ready to hit the road running to get that road upgraded and to work with the province to achieve that,” said Dennis.

The premier vowed last week to upgrade the 78-kilometre Bamfield Main logging road.

On Sept. 13, University of Victoria students Emma Machado, 18, of Winnipeg, and John Geerdes, 18, of Iowa City, Iowa, died after a Wilson’s Transportation coach bus carrying 45 students and two teaching assistants crashed down an embankment beside the road, between Port Alberni and Bamfield, while travelling to the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. Three people were flown to Victoria General Hospital and more than a dozen others were injured.

Western Forest Products owns the stretch of road where the crash happened. It was graded a day earlier.

Port Alberni RCMP and Transport Canada are investigating.

Sarah Hunter, one of the UVic students on the bus, started a petition at change.org to pressure the government to redesignate and upgrade the road. The petition had almost 14,000 signatures on Monday night.

“It’s terrible that a tragedy of two lives being lost had to focus our attention on it, but I know that we’re going to be working … to try and find a way to improve that road,” Horgan said on Thursday.

Today, the premier is scheduled to talk with Dennis at the Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

“I’m glad now that he recognizes the tragedy,” said Dennis. “Certainly from my perspective, I only wish it could have been recognized earlier. My focus now is working with him to live up to his vow to upgrade the road.”

Dennis said there have been at least seven deaths “of our citizens” on Bamfield Main prior to the Sept. 13 bus crash. Elders in the community are forced to use the narrow and winding gravel road to get to doctor appointments and health care facilities, he said.

Dennis, who has been advocating for the upgrades for 21 years, said despite talks with provincial ministries, the province has always had an excuse not to do it.

Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said in a statement last week that ministry officials have been looking into the issue to determine whether safety improvements could be made, but “the situation is complex as this is a private, industrial road, operated and maintained by private companies for active forestry operations.”

The Huu-ay-aht can upgrade the road by the end of this fiscal year, said Dennis.

“We believe we can get this done pretty quick,” said Dennis. Preliminary talks with forestry companies — as recent as last week — found support for upgrading the road, he said.

Urban Systems, the Huu-ay-aht First Nations’ road engineers, in a road site visit on May 15 with the province, said the estimated $25.3 million to chip seal Bamfield Main remains credible.

An initial “ballpark” estimate to maintain the upgraded road is $500,000 to $1 million annually.

With regard to safety, Urban Systems suggested poor sight lines are typically addressed by reduced-speed warning signs and other warning signs. Appropriate signage would also be needed to address areas where road standards don’t meet criteria for a 60 km/h speed limit.

Beyond chip sealing the road, Urban Systems noted an issue that needs addressing is enhanced roadside safety through the use of roadside barriers or other protection. To improve sight lines, it proposed tree clearing.

The 78-kilometre Bamfield Main includes 60 kilometres of road owned by Western Forest Products and 18 owned by Mosaic, the Huu-ay-aht First Nations and the Ministry of Transportation, said Dennis.

The province provides annual funding, but the forestry companies are responsible for maintenance.

ceharnett@timescolonist.com