Politicians lobby government |
to boost Nisga’a Highway
maintenance standards

By JENNIFER LANG
THE KITIMAT-Stikine re-
gional district board is hop-
ing to convince the transpor-
tation ministry to upgrade

-maintenance «standards for _

the Nisga’a Highway.) /

The Nisga’a Highway is
about 160km long, reach-
ing north of Terrace into the
Nass Valley. connecting the
four Nisga‘a villages of New
Aiyansh..  Gitwinksihikw,
Greenville and Kincolith:

Director Harry Nyce. a
resident of the Nass Valley,
said he was surprised to learn
the highway, which has peen
the target of a ‘multi-yea
multi-million improvement
plan, is designated as a Class
C provincial highway. -

The designation means
the highway - the route out
of, the valley for between
1.500 and .2,000 vehicles

~ is patrolled once every 17
hours, 4

Nyce and the rest of
the regional district’ board
don’t think that's frequently
enough.

“Part of’ the road has
coastal reaches,” Nyce said.
“The weather changes very
quickly. It could be raining
then all of a sudden there is
sleet and snow.”

Even more troubling is
the possibility of falling

. rocks.

. Nyce is aware of: at least

‘two occasions where boul-

ders have. fallen onto the
road between Greenville
and Kincolith, posing a risk.
to unsuspecting motorists. -

The board has written the
transportation ministry ask-
ing to boost the highway’s
designation to’ a class A
hi ghway — the same as Hi gh-

Gov't
found
tardy

on treaty

THE PROVINCE’ is in
danger of breaching its for-
estry obligations under the

. Nisga’a Treaty.

Low logging levels in
recent years are largely to
blame, according to the find-
ings of the Forest Practices
Board in its latest audit.

“The audit identified a

- general deterioration in the

State of the road network on
Nisga’a lands and other con-
cerns related to low levels
of logging activity,” board
chair Bruce Fraser said.

He said the govern-
ment has a treaty. obliga-
tion to bring the forest lands
on Nisga’a territory up to.

_ agreed standards. fo

“Environmental risks and
remediation costs are likely
to increase in the coming
months unless government
takes proactive. steps‘to en-
sure its obligations are met,”
Fraser said.

The audit ‘recommends
an action plan be drawn up
by May 10 to deal with road .
and bridge maintenance ob- -
ligations. —

Other logging and re-
planting obligations should
be completed by Aug. 31,
the board said, and asked the
province to report. back on
progress by that date.

The fifth and final au-
dit of. forest practices on
Nisga’a: lands is slated for
September.

The reduced logging on
Nisga’a lands is the result of
the same malaise hitting the
whole northwest industry.

' New Skeena Forest Prod-
ucts, shut down and in, bank-
ruptcy,/is one of the main
licensees on Nisga‘a lands.

Other operators ‘include
West Fraser, Sim Gan Forest
Corporation, and B. C. Tim-
ber Sales.

All the licensees were in
compliance, the audit found.

www. hawkair.ca

Call your local travel agent

4

rere ee ST

Harry Nyce

way 37 between Terrace and
Kitimat. ;

The board decided to
take the step-afier mecting

with officials from Nechako

Northcoast, the local shigh-
ways maintenance: contrac-
tor, | .
B.C.'s transportation
ministry is preparing its re-
sponse to the regional dis-
trict’s request, local ministry
official Don Ramsay said.

As muchas |Ocms, (about
+ inches) of snow can accu-
mulate before it’s ploughed.
‘according to the transporta-
tion minisiry’s .minimum

__Standards {Gr a Class C high.

way, ”

“We dont think four
inches of snow is too much
for the Nisga’a Highway,”

“Ramsay said.

Heconlirmed patrols must

‘he performed a minimum of

every 17 hours ona Class C
highway. but stressed they

ure done more frequently -
during the winter,

Patrols are increased to

meet the demands of chang-.

ing weather conditions.

A weather forecast call-°

ing for a snowstorm § is
enough to bump up the fre-

quency of patrols ona Class .
C highwa ay. . ,
" “They can as frequently

as they need to be,” Ramsay
said. “The trucks are going
constantly when it’s snow-
ing hea vily.” ,

In comparison, highway

_ patrols must be done every -
_ four hours ona Class A high- |

“way and every eight hours

convince the

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ona Class B highway.
Reclassifying highways
is done solely at the discre-
tion of the ministry, Ramsay
said. 2
“The classification — is
guided by the volume and
the type of traffic.” he said.
Major industrial routes,
heavy commuter routes, high
mountain passes are typi-
rally designated us Class A
highways. Ski hills are also
given consideration, he said,
He noted a previous lob-
bying atlempt to convince

‘the ministry to upgrade -the

classification of a highway
in the northwest was: ulti-
mately successful.

Kitimat ., city
Joanne Mondghan, «helped
reclassify Highway 37 .be-
tween Kitimat and Terrace
toa Class A Provincial high-

way.

Monaghan, who is also a

member of the Kitimat- Sti- |

kine regional district, gath-
ered signatures on a petition
and collected eyewitness

reports from: drivers about:

highway conditions.

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