7,000 angry drivers can't be wrong

With snow expected over the next 24 to 48 hours, the fact that Nechako Northcoast Construction has been told to shape up will be comforting for many who travel the roads this winter.

Nechako Northcoast which has the tender for road clearing along the Terrace stretch of Highway 16, found itself the subject of a 7,000 name petition and close to 200 negative reports made to the Ministry of Highways last year.

At a public information session last week, the Ministry advised that they have informed the Terrace contractor that they expect better snow clearing procedures in place for this upcoming winter.

The Daily News had details of the information session in Friday's paper.

Contractor told 'get on right road this winter'
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, November 30, 2007
Pages one and three

After receiving a petition from 7,000 concerned residents from the Northwest, the Ministry of Highways has put its contractor in the Terrace area on notice that it expects better driving conditions this winter.

Speaking at a meeting at the Crest Hotel on Thursday, Don Ramsay, district manager, said Nechako Northcoast Construction - the contractor looking after Highway 16 around Terrace - did not receive a performance bonus last year.

"One of the consequences of the bad winter last year is that the contractor next door (to Prince Rupert's area) did not perform to expectations and did not receive their performance bonus," said Ramsay.

O'Brien's Road and Bridge Maintenance, on the other hand, which maintains roads from 55km east of Prince Rupert on Highway 16, west to the Queen Charlotte Islands, did receive a performance bonus based on ministry audits of road conditions.

Last year, the Terrace area received a significant increase in its annual snowfall and the number of times the temperature crossed the freezing point. Members of the public and those who signed the petition complained that while the Rupert side of the highway was cleared frequently, the Terrace side was often covered with snow.

This made travel dangerous for those on the Highway between Prince Rupert and Smithers.
Since the 7,000-name petition was received, Ramsay said Nechako has committed to improving its performance and has presented the Ministry with a plan to achieve those improvements.

"The petition has made its way to the minister (of transportation) and the minister has made it quite clear to us we are to continue to monitor their performance. If it is not within the terms of the contract, we will escalate intervention procedures."

The Ministry of Transportation signs 10-year contracts with its maintenance providers. It classifies each of its highways based on traffic type and frequency of use and provides standards for conditions that contractors must meet. Within the contract, there are financial performance incentives for contractors that meet the standards.

"It is intended to encourage contractors to exceed the minimum requirements," said Ramsay.

"Two per cent of the overall contract value is available for outstanding contract performance."
Local ministry staff and stakeholder groups conduct 60 per cent of the monitoring, while provincial ministry staff doing random audits complete the other 40 per cent.

The ministry had 354 monitoring reports on the highways around Terrace last year and one third of those were negative.

Ramsay said it has been made clear that they expect better this year.

"Last year is over and this is a fresh start," he said.