Has Alberta cut back on road maintenance?

[Dewey Cox]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like road maintenance isn't at the same level as it used to be.
The ditches only get cut once a year, and I don't see crack filling as often as there used to be.
It also seems like the snow plows don't get sent out nearly as early.
I wonder if quebec is also cutting back on their level of road maintenance to save some money?...

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by Dewey Cox

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like road maintenance isn't at the same level as it used to be.
The ditches only get cut once a year, and I don't see crack filling as often as there used to be.
It also seems like the snow plows don't get sent out nearly as early.
I wonder if quebec is also cutting back on their level of road maintenance to save some money?...

Road maintenance is contracted out to private enterprises…….. I’d be talking with your MLA, and the Minister if you feel a proper job isn’t getting done, as there are stipulations in the contracts about levels of service etc.

What’s the best way to make money, as to not have to spend it…………

I’m pretty sure a contract was lost for hi-way maintenance by Fox Creek a while back, because the provider was milking prophets as opposed to paying OT to plow snow when the snow came.

[Stinky Buffalo]

I know in my municipality the road and parks maintenance has gone noticeably downhill.

But we have money to build facilities that the constituents voted against in a plebiscite.

[IL Bar]

They also don’t plow highways anymore they depend on the calcium/salt de-icer that makes the roads a mess for days afterwards. That stuff gets into the rumble strips that they’ve made in the Center and on each side of the highway and is destroying them. It also runs off into our fields along the highway and has made some of the soil sterile.

[Big Grey Wolf]

You can thank the UCP for neglecting road maintenance especially in North Half of the province. I cannot remember last time I saw a paver resurfacing any paved highways. The most neglected highway is the Yellowhead. It is a complete embarresment. Lougheed found money$$ to build the Alberta highways these fools cannot even manage to repave them.

[MoFugger21]

Originally Posted by Dick284

... because the provider was milking prophets as opposed to paying OT to plow snow when the snow came.

Say what now....?

[270hunter]

Originally Posted by MoFugger21

Say what now....?

Now that’s funny

[Red Bullets]

Help is on the way. The Alberta government has its new fleet of highway snowplows ready to go this week.

[Cooeylover]

Originally Posted by Dick284

Road maintenance is contracted out to private enterprises…….. I’d be talking with your MLA, and the Minister if you feel a proper job isn’t getting done, as there are stipulations in the contracts about levels of service etc.

What’s the best way to make money, as to not have to spend it…………

I’m pretty sure a contract was lost for hi-way maintenance by Fox Creek a while back, because the provider was milking prophets as opposed to paying OT to plow snow when the snow came.

Not all contracts are like that.
The are the OP is in is defiantly not like that.
It’s all depending what Transportation wants done, when they want it done, and how they want it done. That’s what determines what when where work is completed.

[88thunderbird]

In Calgary i think Carmacks maintains stoney trail , it was very good this morning. however, hi-way 2 was horrible .

It's worse in rural New Brunswick where i grew up , relatives have mentioned they have not seen major paving work in 30+ years .

[Stinky Buffalo]

[lannie]

Originally Posted by Cooeylover

Not all contracts are like that.
The are the OP is in is defiantly not like that.
It’s all depending what Transportation wants done, when they want it done, and how they want it done. That’s what determines what when where work is completed.

Yes.
The roads are maintained much better now that maintenance is privatized compared to when the Alberta department of holidays had the responsibility. As soon as it was privatized quality of maintenance went way up and costs went way down.
That's where we are headed with healthcare now too IMO.

[Puma]

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

You can thank the UCP for neglecting road maintenance especially in North Half of the province. I cannot remember last time I saw a paver resurfacing any paved highways. The most neglected highway is the Yellowhead. It is a complete embarresment. Lougheed found money$$ to build the Alberta highways these fools cannot even manage to repave them.

Down south, we have Volker Stevin doing the highways. I noticed a big reduction along #766 and contacted the Provincial govt that was then an NDP govt. I was told that based on their new traffic surveys, the service had be cut back due to less traffic. This is a major commuter route into Calgary for the rural area NW of the city. Many new homes and bedroom communities have been built in the last 15 years.
Fast forward to yesterdays snowstorm, 60 km was the fastest I did and saw multiple trucks in the ditch. It was a sheet of ice and drifted snow. No plows in sight.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

You can thank the UCP for neglecting road maintenance especially in North Half of the province. I cannot remember last time I saw a paver resurfacing any paved highways. The most neglected highway is the Yellowhead. It is a complete embarresment. Lougheed found money$$ to build the Alberta highways these fools cannot even manage to repave them.

I moved back to Alberta during the last few months of the NDP being in power and that was the worst I have seen Alberta’s roads. I have seen a slight improvement in the last years of UCP but nothing to jump for joy about. I could not drive hwy16 west of Edmonton at 110km with my boat in fear of blowing straps when I first moved back to Alberta. It’s not as bad now but still meh

It’s likely more to do with crap economy and Covid then past or present parties in my opinion

[Smoky buck]

Anyone in Alberta complaining about how roads are maintained during the winter should go live west of Prince George for a few years where they sand hwy’s with boulders lol

Actually northern BC in general. Alberta winter driving is so much nicer

[rjlester]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

I moved back to Alberta during the last few months of the NDP being in power and that was the worst I have seen Alberta’s roads. I have seen a slight improvement in the last years of UCP but nothing to jump for joy about. I could not drive hwy16 west of Edmonton at 110km with my boat in fear of blowing straps when I first moved back to Alberta. It’s not as bad now but still meh

It’s likely more to do with crap economy and Covid then past or present parties in my opinion

Yes, when Notley came into power, all road prep for winter stopped from what I can tell. I drive the Yellowhead every day, and starting in that summer/fall they were not tarring the cracks in the highway at all. Grass was only getting cut once per year. Been a disaster ever since and it will take a long time to catch up. There was some repaving of rough sections this summer, but some of that was on the Popes route to Lac St Anne lol.

[oilngas]

100% a guess, but I suspect the DBM for the road work was revised way down.

[BuckCuller]

If’in your so inclined to make a call to complain and report horrible road conditions you have to call the company itself that maintains the numbered hi-ways.
It is Main Roads 1(877)875-3263.

[barbless]

I have a friend that pulls extended length Calgary to Edmonton Monday to Friday nights. In the past few years he has said even in the worst conditions on QE 2 north and south there is not even a sniff of a plow. No product what so ever being put down and no clearing. Our Gov officials don't seem to care cause they work from home. Not enough in the budget they say. BULLCRAP.

[Pioneer2]

August

[fordtruckin]

Don't worry you're not the only ones with poor road maintenance. Our local DOT won't have drivers scheduled for weekends, despite having forecast for winter storms. The next problem is they don't have plows and sanders on the trucks. IF they have drivers and plows/sanders on, then they drive around with the plow blade 3" above the pavement refusing to lay sand. Can't tell you how many times we've had the highway and mountain pass here shut down because of a 4-6" west snow. All it takes is 1 truck hauling a camper or a semi to spin out and it's guaranteed shut down for a minimum of 3 hours.

[leeaspell]

When I left Edmonton airport Wednesday nights it was glare ice from in hwy 2 until you hit the welcome to Edmonton sign and then there were plows all over the place in the city. Not a single one on hwy 2, folks in cars doing 50km/h. Hwy 43 is another fine example of how not to maintain a highway.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

[58thecat]

No complaints around here.

[KegRiver]

As some of you know I used to work in highway maintenance.

Yes there have been government cutbacks.
It is also true that some operators do as little as they can get away with.

But for the most part the crews do the best they can under the conditions and with the limitations put on them by government and their employer.

Did you know that we were restricted to no more then 60 km when loaded or plowing?

It takes some time to do 50 km of highway at those speeds.

A load of sand does about 15 km of highway. At that rate it takes one truck 8 hours to sand 50km of highway.
That is if everything goes smoothly and there are no wait times, like at an accident scene.

For a lot of us who did the job, one of the primary reasons we stuck with it was that we knew, at the end of the day we had made life safer, and better for our neighbors. That meant a lot to many of us.

Really, the paycheck is not all that great and it's no fun being berated by the public for things beyond our control.
There had to be something to keep us going, especially when logging and the oilfield paid so much better.

Besides the political games we had to deal with, the job is an inexact science with many variables and constant changes.

Temperature, amount and speed of traffic, amount of and type of precipitation all effected how effective we were.

This time of year was the worst. Early in the season we get heavy wet snows and traffic that is not used to dealing with slippery roads or snowplows.

Some of you may not realize it but we were required to shut off our sanders when meeting traffic or being passed. That often lead to long stretches of highway not getting sanded.

Another problem was heavy, high speed traffic. When you have that, the traffic can blow the sand off of the road before it gets a chance to do it's thing.
Oddly enough the opposite was almost as bad, slow traffic packs the snow and sparse traffic does not grind the sand in where it will have the most effect.

For the sand to work it needs to stay on the road and it needs to be enough to create a strong enough brine to melt any ice or packed snow. And how strong that has to be changes with the temperature and the amount of precipitation.

Under average conditions it takes one to three hours for the salt in the sand to do it's work. From that point on you need enough traffic to splash the water off the road or more time for it to drain off.

There are no tests, and no instruments to tell an operator how much to put on. Many employers don't even have guidelines to help an operator decide what to do.

A ton to the mile was what we were told, and we were told that salt will not work at temperatures below -20.
But it's never as simple as that.
Plus, that was the extent of our training. Everything else had to be learned the hard way, by trial and error. And done by feel and best guess.

Frankly I am glad I am no longer able to do that job.

The stress was incredible. You don't know what hard driving is until you get called out in the middle of the night, on Christmas eve, to plow a highway when viability is measured in feet and you have to dodge idiots doing 140 km while you track right on the center line.

It's been said many times, if you don't like the way the job is done, go do it yourself.

I'd bet my next six pension checks that most of you couldn't do it any better then the guys out there right now.

[stubblejumper01]

I noticed around the Westlock area, they had the lines painted in September but they only did the center line and one side of the highway. They left the other side unfinished. Sometimes all you can see is the side line to keep you on the road. Not completing the job is poor practice. You wonder if they used up the budget?

[ctd]

I liked how Ontario use to do the 400 series, they lined up in a staggered formation with the plow trucks. Inside lane pushed to the outside lane. In staggered line drove 60-80ish km/hr and plowed the entire road. As they went they salted and sanded the surface.
It was very efficient and worked well unless you were stuck behind them and couldn't stand only driving well below the posted speed limit.
You do not pass them, they set the traffic pace and you followed, they would pull over once they were safe to do so or the highway was safe to do so.

In Ab it seems that due to cuts that the service has gone down hill the past few years. The way our roads are it makes it very difficult for Plow Operators to plow the roads effectively. The divots and bumps make plowing hard, the past few years the roads have taken a kicking, put away soaking wet and left to freeze.

We have let critical old infrastructure to suffer for building of new fancy over passe lane ways when the current stuff is in bad repair. Curt the maintaining budgets while adding to the new build.

The Front line staff are left hanging on a thin rope hoping they can do their job safely and effectively.

[Puma]

[QUOTE=KegRiver;4574819]As some of you know I used to work in highway maintenance.

But for the most part the crews do the best they can under the conditions and with the limitations put on them by government and their employer.
(Keg River)

I don't blame the equipment operators in the least.
I see the frequency of service lacking by cut backs by the contractor.

I used to commute into Calgary from the NW early 0600, usually breaking trail.
Now in semi retirement, I dont leave till mid / late morning if I do a city trip and am genuinely surprised when this secondary highway (766) has been serviced.
Puma

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by stubblejumper01

I noticed around the Westlock area, they had the lines painted in September but they only did the center line and one side of the highway. They left the other side unfinished. Sometimes all you can see is the side line to keep you on the road. Not completing the job is poor practice. You wonder if they used up the budget?

When that happened here it was because some bureaucrat decided he needed that crew to paint lines in another area.
The crew would be told they would be sent back to finish when the new job was finished, but they never were.
Instead they'd get sent to yet another priority job in yet another area.

Like many government controled jobs, the highway maintenance system is top heavy.
There are four levels of authority above the driver.

All four have the authority to give orders directly to the driver and some do, irrispective of any other orders that driver may have recieved.

But the whole system is controled by government agents, most of which have no hands on maintenace experiance.

Those agents, called MCI ( maintenance contract inspectors ) have the final say on everything the contractor and drivers do.

[sewerrat]

In our area ( Red Deer/Innisfail) we have Mainroad as the highway maintenance contractor , I personally think they do a really good job, to me they do spend a lot of time repairing the cables in the median and I don’t think it is cheap to repair that all the time

Also there is way more traffic on the highways and people are impatient even on crappy icy roads they ride your bumper like a hemorrhoid on your ass.

[AlbertanGP]

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

You can thank the UCP for neglecting road maintenance especially in North Half of the province. I cannot remember last time I saw a paver resurfacing any paved highways. The most neglected highway is the Yellowhead. It is a complete embarresment. Lougheed found money$$ to build the Alberta highways these fools cannot even manage to repave them.

I'm not sure what part of northern Alberta you live in, but up here repaving went on non-stop all summer long. There wasn't a single weekend they weren't paving some long stretch between GP and Valleyview. And every time we went to Edmonton, Highway 43 was being resurfaced somewhere between Valleyview and Edmonton.

Nonetheless, our roads are starting to resemble our neighbors to the west up here. Since we're blaming political parties, this occurred on the NDP's watch to the best of my recollection.

But what do you expect with no resource revenues for several years. Don't worry though, the NDP will fix that.