A Big White Ski Resort official is happy the Coquihalla is getting safety upgrades.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e incredibly encouraged. This has needed to be done for a long time,sa国际传媒� said Michael Ballingall, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at Big White Ski Resort.
At the beginning of April, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced it would be to make highways safer. These measures include stricter vehicle chain up requirements and fines, investing $1.8 million over the next three years for additional weather stations and road condition signs, enhanced road-maintenance contractor monitoring and auditing and extending winter tire and chain regulations on select highways.
Ballingall said regular road closures have affected the resortsa国际传媒檚 clientele and he believes enforcing existing laws should go some distance to remedying current issues.
sa国际传媒淣ow that wesa国际传媒檙e making the 18 -wheelers chain up, wesa国际传媒檙e going to make them abide by the law. This will make it a much easier highway to plow, to travel on. The most important thing in our world is to give travellers the confidence that the road is safe, and thatsa国际传媒檚 the problem wesa国际传媒檙e experiencing now.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淔or us, itsa国际传媒檚 been the biggest problem of the yearsa国际传媒ancouver/the Lower Mainland is our biggest market, and wesa国际传媒檝e heard more caution, complaints, uncomfortable potential customers that said theysa国际传媒檙e not coming because of the conditions of the road and theresa国际传媒檚 been more cancellations this year because (people) couldnsa国际传媒檛 get through,sa国际传媒� said Ballingall.
According to the ministry, this winter saw 830 centimetres of total snowfall at the Coquihalla summit sa国际传媒� 114 per cent higher than the 10-year average. While the Kootenay Pass had the highest-ever recorded snowfall of 1,012 centimetres from Oct. 1, 2017, to the end of February 2018 sa国际传媒� 148 per cent higher than the 10-year average.
Itsa国际传媒檚 too late in the season to see how the highway changes will affect Big White, but sa国际传媒渨esa国际传媒檒l see what happens next year,sa国际传媒� he said.
To report a typo, email: edit@kelownacapnews.com.
<>
carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on and follow us on .
