The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s new district manager in Williams Lake said freshet is on the top of everyone’s mind.
Sandi Griffiths told the Tribune she has already connected formally with local government officials and partners.
“As the ministry we also connect daily with the public through platforms such as DriveBC, Twitter and Facebook and that information is generated from our office here and provincially as well.”
Griffiths replaced Todd Hubner, who retired after being the district manager for many years.
She is not a stranger to the region and previously worked in Williams Lake for nine and a half years with Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement (CVSE) before taking a job in Dease Lake as the operations manager.
Read more: CRD seeks meeting with MoTI ahead of spring freshet
“In 2016 I had some acting opportunities as district operations manager in Williams Lake so I had a little bit of a taste of the road and operations portion of MOTI before I headed north,” she said.
Slides, washouts and freshets have been major challenges in the region in recent years and Griffiths said she does not see them moving down the list at all.
“I’ve come into it and joined a team of dedicated ministry and maintenance contractor people that tirelessly work to protect our infrastructure, minimize damage and restore access so we will certainly be looking to continue on that path,” she added.
The district spans west to Bella Coola, Shearwater, Ocean Falls, south to Lillooet and Spence’s Bridge, east to Likely, Horsefly and north to Red Bluff.
A tender was issued in December 2020 for the West Fraser Road rebuild and realign project and construction is anticipated to begin spring 2021, she confirmed.
Read more: Tender issued for West Fraser Road rebuild
Her interest in roads began during her work with CVSE and the division being under the envelope of the MOTI.
“It was a natural progression for me to move into the operations side,” Griffiths said.
Born on Vancouver Island, she has lived in almost every corner of the province.
“I used to say, ‘every dam town,’ because my father worked for hydro.”
Happy to be back in the Cariboo, she said she is looking forward to buying a house and making Williams Lake her home.
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