Sections of Highway 101 are being improved this month, a project that is making the road wider and safer.
Clint Monson, area manager for the ministry of transportation and infrastructure, said the section between Wilde and Southview roads north of Wildwood is going to be wider. “The lanes were too narrow,” said Monson. “It was 2.5 metres in sections. The standard is 3.6 or 3.65 metres.”
The wider road means there will be room for bicycles and pedestrians to use the highway safely.
As well, improvements are being made in Wildwood, at the top of the hill and going down the hill toward Townsite. “I’ve been looking for solutions to safely get pedestrians and bicyclists down the Wildwood Hill,” said Monson.
While the switchback trail through the woods provides an alternative route, some people feel safer on the highway, Monson added. “They’re not alone in the woods,” he said. “They’re not exposed to bears or cougars.”
One of the options Monson is looking at is clearing a path alongside the highway from the top of the hill to where City of Powell River’s new water main connects at Atlin Avenue. “People can still use the switchback, but if they have any worries about being alone in the woods or wildlife, they can use the highway,” Monson said.
Crews will also be working on the highway at Willingdon Beach and up to Townsite. Sections will be repaved, but there is no widening planned for that part of the project.
More work is expected to happen between Larson and Pryor roads, near Lund, but first hydro poles have to be moved. Monson said BC Hydro is reviewing the project and once the poles are moved, work will begin there.
Except for the work close to Lund, the project is expected to be completed by the end of March. Capilano Highway Services is cost-sharing in the work, using funds from its annual maintenance budget, Monson said. The ministry’s share of the project is $430,000 for the work in Wildwood and north. The ministry’s share for the work at Willingdon Beach and into Townsite is $100,000. Capilano is also cost-sharing in those improvements.
In 2007, the ministry funded a study to estimate the cost of a entirely new highway from Sutherland Avenue to Larson Road. The ministry contracted R.F. Binnie and Associates to do the study and it estimated that the cost of the project was $25 million. “That shut it down,” said Monson. “The price skyrocketed because of property acquisition.”
Monson has a Twitter account and is providing daily updates about any activity that is going on, road reports, alerts and information about single-lane alternating traffic during construction. Interested readers can follow RoadsBC_PR on Twitter to receive the updates.
