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Whistler council discusses highway construction woes

Council directs staff to request meeting with provincial highway reps
highway
Whistler’s council shares your frustrations about ongoing highway repair work both north and south of Whistler Village this summer.

A summer of construction on Highway 99 has tested the patience of Whistlerites, who haven’t been shy in voicing their displeasure on social media or to Whistler’s mayor and council.

The latest round of roadwork south of the Village on Aug. 16 and 17 led to hours-long delays for some, and prompted a discussion about the highway, which is the province's jurisdiction, at the Whistler council table at the Aug. 17 meeting.

“I’m outraged at the way the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) has handled the highway. I have spoken to no constituents who are happy about what is happening,” said Councillor Ralph Forsyth.

“I understand it was a perfect storm recently with this being the only northern route through the province, and it just happened to be the days that they were doing the construction, but it does seem like every day is a perfect storm.”

Forsyth’s “main frustration,” he added, is that MOTI didn’t add a designated left-hand turn lane at Emerald as it upgraded the highway north of town.

“So that will be another project that has to dig up the road later if we want to have that only common sense arrangement for them to take care of,” he said.

Forsyth requested that staff send a letter to MOTI asking a representative to attend a meeting of council “so that we can express our frustrations with them.”

But Coun. John Grills urged caution, noting that the province has “a very narrow window” in which to complete the work, and Whistler is lucky for the investments it has seen this summer.

“I know it’s an inconvenience and I know there’s been challenges with the staff to get the proper communication from MOTI so they can notify our community appropriately, but I just want to be careful because they have thousands and thousands of kilometres of roadway in this province that is in far greater need than our corridor,” Grills said.

“I don’t want to send them away.”

Grills also noted it has been a tough summer for provincial highways, with closures due to wildfire, mass evacuations and other hazards.

“We have been very lucky with air quality, with a number of things considering what’s going on elsewhere,” he said.

“I just want to be careful in the wording of this letter, or in how we go back to MOTI … we don’t need to have them not want to deal with this community because we’re a pain in the ass.”

Coun. Cathy Jewett supported the letter, noting she was stuck in the Aug. 16 traffic jam herself.

“I think the consultation is something that really has to happen,” she said.

“If we could just get something in the spring—there must be a budget, there must be tenders that they put out, there must be a way that we can find out what’s happening and have more consultation.”

The takeaway from the discussion, concluded Mayor Jack Crompton, was to direct staff to chase a meeting with MOTI.

“And we’ll be really nice to them,” he said with a laugh.

With the annual Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention slated for Sept. 13 to 17, the topic may well be broached when Whistler’s municipal officials meet virtually with their provincial counterparts.