British Columbia Issues Trucker-Friendly 10-Year Plan

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Today's Trucking / March 20, 2015

The four-laning of Highway 1 from Kamloops to Golden; advancement on the George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project; four-laning highway 97, the establishment of a new Office of the Independent Container Trucking Commissioner… the list of improvements to B.C.’s transportation infrastructure goes on and on.

And it will all happen in the next 10 years.

That’s the theme of newly released Provincial Government plan called “BC on the Move: A 10-Year Transportation Plan.” And the British Columbia Trucking Association (BCTA) has deemed the improvements “welcome.”

The to-do list includes not only infrastructure maintenance and improvement plans but it also commits to at least three years of funding (and pursuing federal financing as necessary) to complete or move forward on projects that will benefit both trucking and bus companies.

Some of the improvements that the BCTA asked for, such as a request for six-laning Highway 1 from Hope to Langley, didn’t make the cut, but there is a commitment to initiate design for a six-lane segment at least from Langley to Abbotsford.

The BCTA was also pleased to see "commitments to upgrade infrastructure to accommodate heavy-haul carriers and increase the number of pre-approved corridors, a streamlined permitting process [reducing the number required in some cases] and some expansion to truck parking; e.g., at least two new truck parking areas in the Lower Mainland.”

Here’s the trucking strategy list, with some details, from the 10-Year Plan:

1. Upgrade and replace structures such as bridges and overpasses, so they can accommodate the increasingly heavy and large loads that industry needs to transport (10 upgrades to 10 major bridges);

2. Work with industry to expand the number of provincial highway corridors pre-approved for the transport of 85- to 125-metric-tonne loads;

3. Streamline permitting and reduce the number of truck permits required while ensuring commercial vehicle safety;

4. Establish a new online truck permitting system that will make it easier and faster to purchase permits 24 hours a day, seven days a week with no wait times;

5. Work with industry to identify priority locations for new and expanded parking, staging, inspection pullouts and chain-up/off areas for trucks on key corridors throughout B.C.

6. Construct at least two new truck parking areas in the Lower Mainland;

7. Construct 10 new truck-inspection pullouts throughout B.C.;

8. Explore partnership opportunities with the private sector to identify locations that would suit development of commercial truck stops and facilities;

9. Support the Office of the Independent Container Trucking Commissioner.

Want to read the report yourself? Click here.