Taylor woman calls for quicker plowing of Highway 97 turn lanes

TAYLOR, B.C. — A Taylor woman is calling for quicker plowing of turn lanes into Fort St. John from Highway 97 to avoid more “severe damage” to her car in the snowy conditions. 

Amber St. Laurent was driving into the city on December 30th from Taylor when she felt forced to drive all the way to Charlie Lake as the turn lanes were left unplowed. 

Laurent, a resident of Taylor who drives to Fort St. John for work, said: “I was trying to come off of the highway [Highway 97] onto 100th Street. 

“When I tried to go into the turn, it looked like they scraped off in front of me but once you got into it [the lane], there was a very deep rut that I almost high-centred my car.”

Laurent made a post on Facebook to air her concerns.

“I made the post because I was literally driving on the highway and I couldn’t find a turn lane that was actually clear enough for me to get off. 

“I had to go almost all the way to Charlie Lake before I could turn around.” 

Laurent claims Dawson Road Maintenance told her at the time that the ramps would not be cleared for days, in the new year.

Dawson Road Maintenance provides highway maintenance services to areas such as the Cariboo, the North Peace region and Bulkley-Nass region around Smithers.  

Laurent believes others also called Dawson Road Maintenance (DRM), as she said it worked the highway off-ramps on December 31st. 

Energeticcity.ca got in touch with Dawson Road Maintenance, which deferred comment to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Transit, which in turn did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. 

She said: “I’ve had my car stuck in the turn lanes probably three or four times this year. 

“I’ve had severe damage to the undercarriage of my vehicle and I understand, I could get an SUV or truck [but] unfortunately, I can’t afford that.”

She added: “I’ve been to many other winter cities that don’t seem to have this issue.”

This comes after a Clairmont woman raised concerns about poor road maintenance after her sewage was removed after nine weeks, three weeks later than scheduled, because workers could not access the property. 

Environment Canada confirmed on December 18th that the region had already seen about 300 per cent of its average snowfall in December.