Mainroad North Island Contracting met up with the Regional District of Mount Waddington (RDMW) to talk all things highway maintenance.
During Port Hardy council’s verbal reports at their Jan. 8 council meeting, coun. Janet Dorward spoke up about Mainroad’s presentation to the RDMW, noting that Mainroad and the RDMW “had quite a lengthy chat about the contract they were awarded.”
Dorward stated it’s a ten year contract with a five-year option, and that the company also talked about “why they moved their yard from Port Hardy to Port McNeill — it’s unfortunate we didn’t get a chance to have any say in that.”
She also pointed out that Mainroad spoke on some improvements the company has already made to operations, with one of the main ones being the sand and gravel size used on the roads has been reduced from 12.5 millimetre maximum size to 9.5. “Hopefully that will reduce all the windshield damage that’s been going on that has affected a whole lot of people,” she said, adding the company also has “a super-sized brine unit for brining the roads, instead of using salt that rolls away or doesn’t stay on the roads long — They have a 20,000 litre unit and they can do 200 kilometres in a single load.”
Dorward noted one of the most important parts about the meeting was that Mainroad stated it has “a 1-800 number where all of the calls are logged when you contact them and they use it to report on their performance to contract.”
Dorward stressed people should call the number and report any areas of the highway in need of attention (1-877-215-7122).
Port Hardy Mayor Dennis Dugas agreed with Dorward’s assessment of Mainroad’s presentation, noting, “It was really nice to have Mainroad there to give a presentation to the RD, and we’ve also invited them to come here and talk to us so we can ask them questions and (express) concerns.”
Dugas noted a couple concerns of his are the Holberg road and the highway 19 turnouts for the logging trucks.
Mainroad has maintained the island highway previously from 1995 to 2003.
